03 November 2010

More vintage fundoshi photographs

It's been dubbed "the world's oldest menswear:" with it's simple construction and utilitarian fit, the fundoshi has been the choice of warriors, fishermen, bodybuilders, tattoo enthusiasts, athletes, swimmers and divers for centuries. The basic design hasn't changed in nearly 1,000 years -- how cool is that?









[while the photo below doesn't depict a fundoshi per se, it's still a classic male form wearing a loincloth... for the purposes of this blog, close enough!]







[awkward!]

6 comments:

Francisco said...

Japanese men love and feel comfortable in clothes that show her buttocks in public, for me is more masculine than a thong...

Maybe use it as a piece of work in the massage sessions :-)

Greetings

Ryan Rokushaku said...

I agree, there is something wrapped up in the warrior past of the fundoshi that the modern thong -- a byproduct of the sexual revolution -- lacks.

Fundoshi even fell out of favor in Japan after World War 2 (temporarily) while Western-style briefs and boxers were adopted. Fundoshi were seen as symbolic of Japan's martial past. Yukio Mishima, who attempted a paramilitary overthrow of the government in 1970, was an advocate of the wearing the fundoshi.

So it has always had that warrior connotation, something the thong most decidedly has not. This may also be due to the supportiveness of a well-tied fundoshi; fundoshi was the basic undergear for martial arts long before the jockstrap was invented, and performs as a great athletic supporter -- another thing thongs (being more of a cosmetic/fashion choice) simply aren't expected to do.

Ron said...

I really enjoy all the photos you post. I concur that men look much better in fundoshi (or a jockstrap) than in a thong - but fundoshi looks best.

Ryan Rokushaku said...

It's my pleasure to post all the best fundoshi photos I can find -- I'm always looking for more!

Francisco said...

I'm glad you've made a blog theme :-)
Put another video, I love the Taiko

http://www.flickr.com/photos/real-poneglyph/4715924030/in/photostream/

Ryan Rokushaku said...

Another great Taiko video! Thank you.