The Fundoshi – All What They’re Cracked Up to be?

The Fundoshi in ActionJapan is a country that is obsessive about packaging. From wrapping goods in simple furoshiki cloth to the thirteenth layer of plastic on your box of evening gumboots, anyone who has had anything to do with Japan knows how they love to package things here. So it makes sense that they should have a solution for wrapping certain body parts. Enter the fundoshi (above).
Simplicity in design is paramount and the “wrap around effect” is really something to be experienced. On a sweaty summers day in Japan boxers and briefs cannot protect you from a nasty rash or “overcooking the goods”. A fundoshi on the other hand is lauded for its ability to “pocket” the frank and beans, keeping those future All Blacks intact and air-conditioned. Perfect for a Japanese summer and the 98% humidity.
Fundoshi are not just about health and hygiene during the summer months. They have also been the cause of much admiration from j-girls. I attribute this to the “thong” effect (see photo). There is something irresistable about the fundoshi for chicks, which I have yet to fully understand. More research is needed.

The downside of fundoshi would have to be what I call the crapability factor. Yes, when you have a beer bog alert, there is no time to muck around with untying loincloth string. It has to be one smooth split-second movement, with the alternative not being an option when you are at the office. My advice: Use fundoshi with best effect when you are with the woman, and only if you are All-bran regular and haven’t had a bender the night before.

19 thoughts on “The Fundoshi – All What They’re Cracked Up to be?”

  1. I’m proud to say that as a good Boy Scout, I was able to put my fundoshi to good use this weekend and show all around that I was “always prepared.” Just moved house. Washing is piled up a mile high on the bathroom floor. No undies to wear in sight…. but hold on a sec… didn’t I have some nice fundoshi hidden away in the bottom drawer! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s Fundoshi-man! Haven’t enjoyed the “breeze” so much in a long time. Thanks, Pink, for the idea!

  2. I find the fundoshi very comfortable to wear. My wife likes it also, and sometimes helps me put it on. I use it as a swimsuit in our pool, and our sons also wear it there.

  3. I haven’t had the best of luck when I’ve had girl meet fundoshi. Most of the time the reaction has been a lukewarm “meh”, but one girlfriend gave me a bit of the ‘ol “kimochi warui” because it reminded her of her father.

    Ah, well. *I* like ’em, and that’s what matters. (^-^)

  4. I just got back from a long holiday and after a few days back on the job ran out of underwear. By the time I realized yesterday morning, it was too late to wash any more so I decided to just rip out my fundoshi instead (like you do, right?).

    The only problem was that I forgot that I had a Doctor appointment for a routine checkup that day. Or perhaps more accurately, I hadn’t expected the Doctor to need to check my genetalia. Just imagine the look on my face when he says to me “Sotei-guy, please pull your pants down and lie on that bed.”

    He was nice enough to close the curtain so that no-one else could see me but you should have seen how red my cheeks were. The Doctor just stood there with a huge smile on his face and mumbled: “Ah… loin cloth…”

    After it was all over, he looked me straight in the eyes – with a pretty decent poker face – and said “Well Sotei-guy, I’m pleased to say that there is nothing wrong with you. But… I think you should buy some new underwear”

    True story.

  5. Half the fun of wearing a sexy fundoshi is the ceremony to wrap it around yourself with others watching in the gym. It is even more fun if someone else wraps it arounf you.

  6. The fundoshi worn by taiko drummers in their formal performances look unbelievably flat and neat; this also looks to be more comfortable than the “twisted” style fundoshi I wear. Does anyone know (and will share) the technique that’s used in wearing this style of fundoshi?

  7. I have been a fan since my return from the conflict in SEA, some 35 years ago. They are a part of me and my spouse enjoys me in them and out of them. I love them, just so darned expensive to buy them from Japan. So I improvise and make my own.

  8. I find the Fundoshi a very good alternative to regular western underwater. This is especially true of one like me, who has an Alaric reaction to elastic. I make my own out of cloth, 3 shaku long and 1 ahaku wide.

  9. Popular underwear resembles a loincloth used by the people of Japan during the 11th-12th centuries mostly men & boys & also for women & girls became popular mostly of briefs & trunks & in popular culture in TV films comics animation & media throughout the world.

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