The Fundoshi Questionaire Extraordinaire!

Getting to know other fundoshi-wearers shows how diverse and different everyone is -- different backgrounds, different paths, different futures. One of Fundoshi 4 All's readers (Tim) had a great idea for some reader feedback. I adapted it and played with some of the questions, including my own answers as examples.

It'd be great to hear everyone's own experiences -- just cut and past the questions into the comments if you'd like! Be as forthcoming as you'd like, even if you are new to fundoshi your impressions and ideas will be great to hear in this non-judgmental format.

The Fundoshi Questionaire Extraordinaire!

1. How did you first discover fundoshi?

I was looking at a Time-Life book about Japan, and there was a black and white photo, taken with flash, from the 1940s, of a "seething mass of swarming youths, naked except for loincloths" taken during one of the winter festivals. The "loincloths" were rokushaku fundoshi. It was a grainy and dark photograph, with young men lined up on every beam and rafter in the ancient temple. Some of them were diving off the rafters into the crowd below. It was physical, dangerous-looking, and completely exotic and foreign to me. It really captured my imagination. I think I was about 9 at the time, but I kept furtively returning to that photo. Paintings in National Geographic magazines of the Aztecs, Egyptians, or Native Americans wearing loincloths had a similar effect. I wanted to be wearing loincloths too!

2. Do you prefer fundoshi to underwear?

Yes I do. I still wear regular underwear 50-75% of the time (usually boxer-briefs or trunks), but if it was practical, I'd wear fundoshi all the time. Also, most of my fundoshi are homemade, out of what is probably a slightly bulkier fabric than traditional. I think that plays a factor. That said, I wear fundoshi all day at least a few times a week, and when I wear etchū fundoshi I am so, so, so comfy. I really think etchū fundoshi could catch on in a big way.

3. What's your favorite color fundoshi?

Light sky blue. White is very nice too.

4. Are you wearing fundoshi right now? What color? What fabric?

I am! It's olive green, made out of a lightweight cotton fabric that has a slight sheen to it. Very breathable and comfortable.

5. How long did you know about fundoshi before you tried it for yourself?

Years and years. I think I was in my mid- to late 20s before I got interested enough to try it myself, though I had made loincloths and breech cloths a few times over the years. After moving out on my own, I felt free to express myself more with underwear, and meeting girls at college made me more concerned with looking good in my skivvies. I started off wearing boxers, but moved relatively quickly to boxer-briefs, which I preferred for the support since I kept fairly active.

6. What was your first fundoshi-tying experience like?

Well, I ripped up a soft old white bedsheet. I think the first several tries were awkward, getting the tightness just right and figuring out the steps. It felt pretty strange, but I was flushed with excitement and nervousness, in case my housemate walked in on me. I think I was erect the entire time, excited by the idea and the unfamiliar sensations of the lightweight cloth sliding over my penis. At first the portion between my buttocks felt pretty uncomfortable, but I really liked how the fundoshi looked from the front! At last, I was wearing a loincloth like the men in that old photo. And I looked hot. I spent a little time admiring my fundoshi in the mirror, and then I'm pretty sure I masturbated and it was very, very erotic.

7. Do other people know you wear fundoshi? Have they seen you in fundoshi? What do they think?

Yes, a couple girlfriends have seen me in my fundoshi. I think they regarded it as a little strange, but fun and sexy at the same time. I incorporated it into massage and lovemaking and showed them how it was tied. My current girlfriend of several years loves my fundoshi. It's often present in our love life, and she likes untying it, or seeing me cleaning house in only a fundoshi. It makes me think of those "Porn for Women" books. Outside of that, no one else really knows -- but then I don't know anything about their undergarments either.

8. Do you know others who wear fundoshi? Have you seen them in their fundoshi?

Strangely, no -- outside of the fundoshi-appreciators I've found on the internet I don't know anyone else firsthand who has ever worn fundoshi. That said, I know lots of people in the tattoo community, people who attend Burning Man, and people who have visited Japan and gotten deeply into the culture -- so I can't say for sure at all that no one around me isn't wrapped up in a fundoshi at any given time. I like that thought.

9. What's your favorite fundoshi fantasy?

Wow. I have many, and they are long and have lots going on in them. Many are pretty spicy. I think my favorite is one where a man and woman are both wearing fundoshi. They leave their fundoshi on, but kiss and touch and embrace each other languidly, truly enjoying one another and stoking their arousal to blissful heights. It could also be two men, or two women. Or two men with a woman, or two women with a man. There just needs to be lots and lots of fundoshi, and they should be creative with them. If it culminates in sex, it should be because every other means of enjoying their wrappings has been explored and there's just no other way to quench their desire for one another. It's not entirely clear to me whether I'm an observer or a participant -- I think either would be just fine!

10. What's your favorite thing, overall, about fundoshi?

That it's simple -- just folds and twists, no buttons, zippers, or elastic. It's infinitely adjustable, and there are many, many different ways of tying it. It's beautiful and ancient, easy to make, easy to use, inexpensive, and as sexy as you want it to be.

11. How would you describe your lifestyle?

I'm a young, lower middle-class guy living in a modest neighborhood in a a committed relationship. I'm not quite as active as I used to be, but I try to exercise and eat well. When I'm doing push-ups, curls, or pull-ups I wear my fundoshi. It makes the glances in the mirror to measure my progress that much better! I shed the fundoshi for crunches/sit-ups, since the knot in back can interfere. I walk a lot, and I'm up and down ladders for work. I limit the amount of meat, processed foods, salt and sugar I eat; and instead try to eat as much fresh and organic food as I can afford. A spoonful of raw honey everyday and drinking lots of water is the key to health, in my opinion.

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Tim made and answered his own variation of the questionaire, if you'd like to answer these questions as an alternative, I found his take on the fundoshi refreshing and different.

1. What was your first exposure to fundoshi?

My first exposure to specifically rokushaku fundoshi came while viewing pictures of irezumi bodysuits while researching the topic of traditional Japanese tattoos, and then wanting to know more about them. However, my first exposure to loincloths was actually over 20 years ago when reading the novel Young Legionary, when the protagonist, Keill Randor wore only a loincloth during a ritual/qualifying endurance test. During this time, he used the cloth to defend himself from a predatory flying creature by stripping and tangling it in the wraps. After reading that, I knew I wanted to wear a loincloth, but my mother would not allow it, and the intent to wear one was forgotten until I encountered rokushaku fundoshi. This time however, not only was my mother unable to make such sanctions on my behaviour as when I was a child, but she also knowingly purchased the three meters of material as a gift, which became my first true rokushaku fundoshi (they are also still my most comfortable to wear) How times change...

2. What made you decide to wear fundoshi rather than 'conventional' underwear?

As discussed in a previous column, I have plans for extensive tattoo work in the buttock and thigh regions, and wanted something I could wear during the process so my artist wouldn't have to see my junk during the sessions. Also, the time had come to stop going commando and suffering summer chaffing, and the fundoshi seemed a better 'put together' and more functional garment than the various Western options available for consideration, and once trying on a fundoshi, I instinctively knew I had found the right option for myself.

3. Do you view fundoshi as 'fetish wear'?

I like to think a garment is a garment, it is only an individual's fetishes snd tastes which make any garment 'fetish' rather than a garment itself being 'inherently fetish' (maybe with the exception to that rule being a gimp hood :D ) I no more consider a fundoshi a 'fetish garment' than I would view Y-Fronts or jeans as a 'fetish garment', I view them all solely as functional items of clothing, even though I understand their [all] potential for fetishization in the eyes of others.

4. Do you wear fundoshi 'for the thrill' of it?

I wear fundoshi to be clothed in a dignified and traditional manner, not for any sexual thrill. I have worn fundoshi infront of my mother in law without feeling ashamed, embarassed or under-dressed. Had I been wearing boxers or 'tighty whiteys', I doubt I (or indeed she) would have felt the same way...

5. Have you worn fundoshi while having sex?

I have. Personally, I like to keep my fundoshi on, as it allows for quick and easy access. I consider it 'practical', my wife considers it 'lazy'... C'est la vie...

6. Do you think that fundoshi should only be worn by Japanese?

Certainly not, I think that anyone with an ounce of self-respect and dignity should wear fundoshi regardless of their ethnic origin. I've always been happy to discuss fundoshi with my friends, and while I don't think I've made any converts, I've never had any negative reactions either. Maybe they felt that as I have visited Japan, I've 'earned the right' to wear Japanese garments, rather than simply being viewed as a culturally co-opting eccentric... Not that I think someone has to actually be Japanese or visit Japan to appreciate and wear fundoshi, I just think that sometimes people need 'an angle' to be able to grasp certain concepts which are outside their comfort zone, and that my travels may have provided an angle for those I have discussed fundoshi with. I think as per the name of the blog, Fundoshi For All :)

7. Do you think it is better to wear 'conventional' underwear or fundoshi?

I'd like to answer that question with another question: Do you think a samurai or a ninja would consider boxer shorts with prints of superheros or suggestive slogans 'manly' ? Or a sign of immaturity and a reason to not take the wearer seriously? I was in a sports store recently and saw a pair of trunk-shorts retailing for £10 for a single pair of shorts. £10.50 will pay for enough material to make 4/5 rokushaku fundoshi (depending on preference of width) so from an economic point of view, there is no reason for not choosing fundoshi over 'conventional' Western underwear as they are better value for money.

8. Do you think that 'branded' fundoshi would increase popularity in the garment?

I think the fundoshi is a garment which deserves more recognition and 'visibility', but, people nowadays wear labels, rather than garments, and are often unwilling to take the necessary effort to create their own garments, no matter their simplicity, so I think that if a brand of fundoshi was available, that might increase their appeal. However, I also think that it would also 'cheapen' them (despite obviously becoming a more expensive product) by lowering the garment into the realm of branded commercialism. I would continue to wear fundoshi, but would continue to make my own, due to my inherant dislike of consumerism. I think that the fundoshi works best as a private garment, as with any other kind of underwear, but I've also always been happy to discuss fundoshi with my friends, given how historically, the garment alone would have been considered being 'sufficiently dressed' for the sake of decency. I think it something of an irony how a garment of dignity, the bare minimum requirement as a marker of civilization, may be viewed by others as a sign of primitivism, rather than appreciated for its elegant simplicity.

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Some pretty cool observations there at the end. I think International Male tried marketing the fundoshi in the early nineties, and there have been several other companies that have tried "Japanese Wrestler Briefs" or thongs that are styled to look like rokushaku or kuroneko fundoshi. Outside of Xzytes, no one in the US seems to be currently selling straight-up rokushaku fundoshi. Etchū fundoshi would be very easy to brand -- in fact there's a British site called sorazora that markets a hemp blend fundoshi with their logo on it. Check it out, it looks pretty great in the photos!