m's Akihabara, known during warmer months for their "chilled striped panties," has begun a winter campaign with "hot striped panties." There is a limited quantity available for this weekend (February 4th and 5th) only. 

The underwear come in three colors: green, pink, and blue. Each costs 800 yen (about US $10.50) and as you can see they are kept nice and steamy in what would usually hold pork buns or some other hot food at a convenience store. 

Because the Akiba blog post about a pantie fishing event was tweeted over a thousand times, purchasers can receive a striped panties flag as a bonus.

The cute little packages are billed as containing red bean paste, but Akiba blog reports a black stocking is used as stand in. 

Message board comments run from "If they're not used, then there's no point," to calls for police to arrest anyone who buys a pair. One person notes, "This is why Japanese people are called HENTAI." What do you guys think?

via Yaraon!