Underwear

Aug 18 2006 1 Comment

Pants performance

Thousands of Japanese swimsuit aficionados have dipped their hands into their pockets this week due to the release of Asuka Ruike’s new DVD — a tastefully shot enterprise showing the 21-year-old donning beachwear from around the globe.

Yet the decidedly less than lardy young lady is apparently a member of the ‘tarudoru’ faction of female flesh flaunters, an expression used to describe those purported to have a rather plumper figure than the norm.

A term that despite her success, Ruike-san now appears keen to shed — as she is said to be on a diet. A regime that regrettably could lead to some unwelcome results, with the currently shapely star rather alarmingly claiming, “I want to get thin enough to lose all the pounds in my pants.”

To regularly follow Ruike emptying her undergarments, clicking here will take you directly to her blog.

Jun 26 2006 1 Comment

Loincloths for the ladies

The humble loincloth (or fundoshi) has recently been making something of a comeback, with swashbuckling salary men joining senior shoppers in the loincloth line; the distinctive garment even earning the moniker ‘power underwear’, although this is purely in regards to business matters and in no way related to pulling or, erm, poking prowess.

However with increasing numbers of men now once again brazenly baring their buttocks, women have begun to have pangs of retro resentment — so much so in fact that a line of ladies loincloths has hit the shelves. A collection catering for a wide variety of derriere displaying devotees, including the bold,

the bashful,

and the bad English buff.

These and other fundoshi proving to be fun, feisty even, but not necessarily flattering.

May 11 2006 4 Comments

Bottoms up

Underwear maker Triumph International has never shied away from cashing in on social or sporting affairs, producing goods marking the creation of a new baseball team, Japan’s energy saving ‘Warm Biz’ campaign and even the issue of postal privatisation. Now however it’s the more penetrating problem of the nation’s overall well-being.

Yet what may initially appear as a garment designed to rebuff possible rear-guard reconnaissance missions, is actually — and quite literally —about more productive forms of activity, namely halting the country’s falling birth rate; Triumph’s pioneering panties reading, ‘stop the birth rate decline’.

A drive that whilst hopefully successful, will not produce too many youngsters like the one pictured above.

May 01 2006 5 Comments

Panty plunder

Japanese women are often reluctant to live on the ground (first) floor of an apartment building due to the supposed danger of underwear theft. In fact, so often is this alleged threat mentioned, that one can almost imagine huge packs of lingerie lovers roaming the streets in search of unattended underclothes.

Yet as absurd as that sounds, it may not be too far from the truth; however instead of gangs, the perpetrators may be lone individuals blessed with prodigious plundering capabilities — Hideki Aoki being a prime example.

The 50-year-old’s panty pinching prowess came to light on April 11, when he was busted for illegally entering a woman’s apartment in Nagoya; a heist that bagged him an incredible 67 undergarments. Yet such greed worsened his predicament, as the arresting officers decided to investigate Aoki further, and the search of a garage listed as his work place unearthed a staggering 1,700 pieces of underwear. The fruits of his labour lovingly laid out by the police and then photographed for good measure.

Under questioning, Aoki-san admitted to the allegations, telling the police, “I was responsible for around 250 incidents from 1990.” Later attempting to explain his behaviour — and at the same time providing an unsurpassable punchline — by adding, â€œI haven’t been able to talk to girls since I was a student, so I became interested in underwear.”

Mar 15 2006 1 Comment

Cleaning clanger

Perhaps proving just how efficient its stain removal service is — and at the same time justifying the ‘plus’ boast — the dry cleaning shop below appears to have laundered this sign so much that the ‘e’ and ‘a’ have been completely eradicated.

Rather embarrassing it has to be said, although such a simple spelling mistake is nothing compared to the potential pitfalls of a visit to such an establishment — at least for an unsuspecting non-native. Fresh off the boat at the time, but due to the summer humidity possessing less than fresh clothing, I valiantly ventured into a store offering similar services; the price list below displaying the very reasonable rates on offer.

Unfortunately I couldn’t read anything other than the prices, but the second option seemed fairly obvious, if a little unusual: ‘Yã‚·ãƒ£ãƒ„’ simply had to be ‘Y-fronts’ (briefs), the super low price of 178 yen appearing to confirm this. Thus, armed with a few shirts and a parcel of pungent pants, and pleased at avoiding a gruelling boil wash, I sheepishly handed over my cleaning.

The resultant awkward silence was excruciating — broken only briefly by a barely suppressed giggle from the lady behind me — until at last the crimson-faced woman in charge managed to explain that underpants were unacceptable, tentatively pushing the opened bag back in my direction. Frantic gestures and embarrassed pointing eventually revealing that ‘Yã‚·ãƒ£ãƒ„’ are actually shirts, and not the similarly (in my mind at least) named undergarments.

Presumably in fear of other unsuspecting foreigners presenting her with their pants, the poor lady had produced a helpful sign upon my return, displaying in no uncertain terms what was acceptable. And perhaps more importantly, what was not.*

*Large parts of this story may have been exaggerated or even entirely made up in order to get some mileage out of a rather dull picture of a misspelled sign. Alternatively, this could be a ploy by the writer to desperately disassociate himself with an unpleasant underpants related experience.

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