Down the street from my place, there's this new store that opened up. It's called Thanks. But it's not the previously mentioned convenience store chain. It's a different Thanks. Actually the convenience store chain is called "Sunkus."
Anyway, this store is kinda weird in a lot of ways. It's only open on certain times of the day. And regardless of whether it's open or not, the blinds are always down so that you can't see inside. I've never seen anybody go into the store, but I've seen people come out. Actually, I should be more specific. Only grandma and grandpa type people are coming out of the store. And I'm not talking about 60-some year grandma and grandpa. I'm talking about "always-looking-down-because-their-back-is-severely-curved" grandma and grandpa (how they survive the cold is a complete mystery to me). I've asked a bunch of people what Thanks sells, but nobody knows.
I'm now thoroughly convinced that Thanks isn't a store at all but a government conspiracy agent to sap the life of Japanese citizens. People go in, curious to find out what the "store" sells... and come out a number of decades older. I'll take a picture of the store sometime soon and link it to this posting. Maybe I'll be so daring as to go in and take some pictures of the insides.