23 August 2010

the fundoshi wears YOU.

Each picture I've found has a story. Some of them take place at Japanese winter festivals, some are in windowless rooms. Some are public, and full of levity, others carry a pensive sexual charge or a note of voyeurism. The first mention of fundoshi is in the Nihongi, one of the earliest chronicles of Japanese history, written around 697 A.D. With that kind of time on its hands, no doubt fundoshi has been involved in all sorts of situations: simple and unseen under clothing, sweetly under blossoming cherry trees, or sweat-soaked and inflamed with desire in anonymous brothels.

Fundoshi in and of itself is a simple piece of cloth, and when we put ourselves in fundoshi we are still ourselves. So if we are inclined toward adventure, fundoshi is adventurous. If we are amorous, fundoshi is sensual. If we are pragmatic, fundoshi is functional.

The poet and priest Ikkyu wrote a rather spicy verse concerning his own fundoshi, and what it contained. Considering he lived between 1394-1481, before Columbus had even sailed the ocean blue, his risque poem leaves little to the imagination:

A Man's Root:

Eight inches strong, it is my favourite thing;
If I'm alone at night, I embrace it fully -
A beautiful woman hasn't touched it for ages.
Within my fundoshi there is an entire universe!












5 comments:

Ron said...

Enjoyed your post this week, especially the poem by Ikkyu. Also finished reading through your older blog entries this evening - quite interesting and informative. You made a comment in May that caught my attention...

"I've discovered a few VERY sexy ways to wear fundoshi that aren't in any of the books or diagrams"

I would love to read more about this in a future blog entry if you are willing to elaborate!

You mentioned in your last comment that the lighter the fabric weight, the less bulky and more comfortable the fundoshi. So I was wondering, what is your favorite fundoshi fabric?

Ryan Rokushaku said...

lightweight cotton of some kind -- it has the advantage of coming in a dizzying range of colors!

Unknown said...

I love fundoshi. Just enough coverage, natural fabrics, and they can look sexy as hell on the right guy. Does anyone else remember some awful “circus with the stars” type show on ABC back when Ellen had her sitcom? When it was first aired, Jeremy Piven showed his furry tush in a fundoshi when he took on a sumo wrestler. WOOF!!! Sadly, they reshot the segment for the repeat showings, shaved his butt and covered all that lovely furriness up. Of course, now he shaves down everything visible on camera. What a waste!

Ronnie said...

I am fixing to make me some Fundoshi, I wonder about the term lightweight cotton. Are you thinking of the type of cotton used for finer shirts?

Ryan Rokushaku said...

I think that would work, but the dense weave and crispness of the fabric might not be the most comfortable. No doubt it would look smashing though! While researching fundoshi, the fabric that gets named the most is "cotton drill" cloth. To this day, I'm not exactly sure what that is! I've been using thin, inexpensive colored cotton from the fabric store. Just make sure it is soft and breathable.