Although it has a deserved reputation for being an effortlessly clean place, Japan sometimes stinks to high heaven, especially in those packed commuter trains clich d movies like Lost in Translation go to town on (metaphorically, y'know?).

The problem, you see, is the working-himself-to-death salaryman and his delicate morning fragrance of bitter coffee, cheap aftershave, Seven Star cigarettes and —of course— the stench of last night's sake marathon. What to do about this national scourge? There's a service that can help. See how that's done, after the jump.

The plague of kuse oyaji (stinky old men) is apparently so bad now, a company called Menza has opened a "Grooming Quick Support Service" to offer on-street personal advice in downtown Tokyo. After using Menza's cell phone website to find the nearest support station, worried road warriors can have everything from armpits to halitosis checked by pros for just ¥200 (US$1.70). Once through their ritual humiliation, customers get high-fived back into that sweaty old rat race. Bleh. – Jonny Hiratsuka

New grooming service offers pedigree pit stop for stinky salarymen [WaiWai]

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