You’ll need more than hot water to fully appreciate the beauty of this towel.
In Japan, you can buy a wide variety of souvenirs designed to suit a wide variety of tastes, and if your tastes veer towards magic and art appreciation, the Fushigi Towel is for you.
▼ Fushigi Towel, made in Japan.
Fushigi is a word used to mean “mysterious” or “wonderful” and the towel is both these things, plus more. Available in a range of designs, these towels tend to feature women–in fact, we searched for a towel with a man on it and couldn’t find one–and they’re often inspired by traditionally dressed “bijin” or “beauties” from famous ukiyo-e prints.
Bijin-ga (literally “beautiful women picture”) is a term commonly used for Japanese art that contains images of beautiful women, especially those seen in ukiyo-e prints from the 17th to 19th centuries. This particular towel we’re using today has “Nami Ura Bijin” printed on it, which translates to “Woman with Wave Behind“.
It’s a gorgeous print, and one that wouldn’t look out of place framed and hung on a wall. However, there’s another secret to be unveiled behind the beauty, and it’s not just the wave behind her.
The secret is revealed once the towel becomes wet, as it would when being used to dry the body. To get the best results, however, the towel can be soaked in hot water.
Once soaked, the magic happens, as part of the image disappears to reveal another side to the woman in the picture…
▼ Her kimono is magically washed away, revealing her naked body.
Customers who purchase the towel sometimes find that the kimono doesn’t completely disappear, but according to the Japanese Internet, that can be fixed with a hack involving a hairdryer.
▼ Simply aim it at the image, and the secret reveal becomes clear.
These souvenir towels have been on the market for years now in Japan, and are particularly popular with foreign tourists. They can be found online and at tourist shops around Japan…hairdryer not included.
Photos © SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]