[From Ryogoku to Hongo. The fashion freak's walk continues, forever] Hello. I'm Yamashita Eisuke, a fashion editor. I was surprised and happy at the great response to "Namikiya," which I introduced last time. The owner, Nakajima-san, was also very happy. In fact, it was decided to relocate due to road widening construction shortly after that, but it will open in a new store this spring. I'll visit again when that happens! So, for the second time, I would like to introduce a shop called "Zubondo" in Hongo. By the way, my favorite TV show is "Adachikku Tengoku." My favorite magazine is "Stroll Master." On my days off, I wander around downtown areas such as Hongo, Asakusa, and Yanaka with my Leica with an old lens, and I came across this shop during one of those downtown walks. The area around Hongo Kikusaka miraculously escaped the Great Tokyo Air Raid, and the streets reminiscent of pre-war Tokyo are really tasteful. You can tell at a glance by looking at the sign, but this shop is a pants specialty store. Its roots lie in the "Horie Order Pants Store," a pants specialty tailor that opened in 1937. After the war, the store started selling jeans worn by the occupying army soldiers, and they were a big hit. So they decided to make it a specialty store for ready-made pants! In 1950, they changed the name to "Zubon-do," and have been in business ever since. By the way, when I asked the second-generation owner, Horie Osamu, if he still had any pre-war archives, he told me that they were burned in the Great Tokyo Air Raid. Apparently, they had entrusted them to the government in preparation for the air raid, but the government was the one that was damaged. What a twist of fate. Although there are no pre-war items left, the main selling point of this store is the American deadstock, such as Levi's, Lee, and Farrer. From the moment you enter the store, you will be overwhelmed by the number of pants stored in plastic bags, but in fact, those are only a small part of the inventory. Including those stored in the warehouse of the store's own building (!), the inventory is about 4,000 pairs! Horie-san manages each and every pair perfectly. Yes, Horie-san is an extremely meticulous person! Even so, the number of fixtures that give a sense of the era is overwhelming. After all, it's "Revis", "Revis". So when you visit this store, it is bad manners to silently turn over the inventory. If you ask Horie-san, "I want this," he will immediately pull out what you are looking for, so don't rush. Not only at "Zubondo", but in any clothing store that is the embodiment of the owner's taste, the owner is the rule and the god. We should keep quiet and follow the way of the god! That's why I visited this store this time to look at flare pants. Zubondo has been in business for over 70 years, but Levi's from the 50s and 60s are no longer in existence, and the thickest items in the store are deadstock from the 70s and 80s. This was the era when flare and piped stem silhouettes were at their peak for both jeans and slacks. However, they are not bell-bottoms like the hippies wore. They are 23-24cm wide at the hem and have a slight flare, which is called "gently flare" as they were called back then! Basically, I thought I could buy pants here that would go perfectly with the blazer I bought at Namikiya last time. The one I was looking for was the American pants manufacturer "FARAH". Founded in the 1920s, it was in the 1970s that this company gained attention in Japan. Their slightly flared pants made of 100% synthetic hopsack and double knit fabric were a big hit among the young people of the second Ivy League generation! At that time, the campus was full of styles like "Farrer" pants and sweatshirts with "Fukuzo" or "Ships" logos. Hmm, somehow crystal. "Zubondo" has a huge stock of these, but as a middle-aged man with a belly, it seems that everyone has the same idea, and there are almost no sizes that I can wear. Hmm, what should I do? I was pondering, and Horie suggested "Pendleton" pants. I had no idea that this brand, famous for American outdoor wear such as buffalo check Mackinaw jackets, had trousers with a center crease. I was slightly shocked that I could wear 38 inches without a belt, but I finally tried on the 34 inches that Horie found for me. Finally, I found the flare pants that were just the right size for me, just as I imagined. If only my waist was 5 cm thinner, I could have bought "Farrer"... I was a little disappointed, but for now I found a bargain, so I'll call it a day. Yahoo! On the way back, we had a debriefing session with Ogiyama while eating anmitsu at Echigoya, a sweet shop founded in 1877. This is the best part of touring the downtown clothing stores. [Product inquiries] Zubondo 4-29 Hongo, Bu