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{{Short description|Traditional Japanese undergarment}}
{{Italic title}}
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| footer = A man wearing a red {{transl|ja|rokushaku fundoshi}} (front and back)
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{{nihongo3||ふんどし/褌|'''Fundoshi'''}} is a traditional Japanese [[undergarment]] for males and females, made from a length of [[cotton]].

Before [[World War II]], the {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} was the main form of underwear for Japanese men and women.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Arita |first=Eriko |date=2009-05-10 |title=Fundoshi: undercover revolution |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2009/05/10/style/undercover-revolution/ |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=The Japan Times |language=en-US}}</ref> However, it fell out of use quickly after the war with the introduction of new underpants to the Japanese market, such as [[briefs]], [[boxer briefs]] and [[panties]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-08-16 |title=Cool loincloths breathe new life into Japan underwear market |language=en |work=Mainichi Daily News |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190816/p2a/00m/0bu/045000c |access-date=2023-02-11}}</ref> Nowadays, the {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} is mainly used not as underwear but as festival ({{transl|ja|[[matsuri]]}}) clothing at {{transl|ja|[[Hadaka Matsuri]]}} or, sometimes, as swimwear.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The Fundoshi and Japanese Male Fashion {{!}} YABAI - The Modern, Vibrant Face of Japan |url=http://yabai.com/p/2213 |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=YABAI|date= 25 July 2017}}</ref>

==Types and uses==
[[File:Samurai putting on Fundoshi (loincloth).png|thumb|An [[Edo period]] wood block print of a [[samurai]] putting on a {{transl|ja|fundoshi}}]]
The {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} is first mentioned in the classic Japanese history text, the {{transl|ja|[[Nihon Shoki]]}}. They are also depicted on clay figures, {{transl|ja|haniwa}}. The {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} was the underwear of choice of every Japanese adult male and female, rich or poor, high or low status, until after the [[World War II|Second World War]], when [[Americanization]] popularized elasticized undergarments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Loincloths are making a comeback this summer in Japan |url=https://sg.style.yahoo.com/loincloths-making-comeback-summer-japan-034947880.html |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=sg.style.yahoo.com |date=22 June 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref> There are several types of {{transl|ja|fundoshi}}, including {{transl|ja|rokushaku}}, {{transl|ja|kuroneko}}, {{transl|ja|mokko}} and {{transl|ja|etchū}}.<ref name=":1" />

The {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} comes in several basic styles. The most relaxed type consists of a strip of cloth, wound around the hips, secured at the small of the back by knotting or twisting, with the excess brought forward between the legs, and tucked through the cloth belt in front to hang as an [[apron]].

The second style, for people who are active, is formed when the cloth is wound around the hips so that there is an excess of an apron, which is brought back again between the legs and twisted around the belt-cloth in the back. The {{transl|ja|rokushaku fundoshi}} is a length of cloth, the dimensions being one {{transl|ja|[[Shaku (unit)|shaku]]}} ({{cvt|30.3|cm}}) wide and six {{transl|ja|shaku}} ({{cvt|1.818|m}}) long; {{transl|ja|roku}} is [[Japanese language|Japanese]] for 'six', hence {{transl|ja|roku-shaku}}. The {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} is often twisted to create a [[thong]] effect at the back. It was also the standard male bathing suit. Male children learning to swim during the early 1960s were often told to wear this kind of {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} because a boy in trouble could be easily lifted out of the water by the back cloth of his {{transl|ja|fundoshi}}.<ref name=":1" />

The third style, called {{transl|ja|[[Etchū Province|Etchū]] fundoshi}}, which originated in the vicinity of [[Toyama Prefecture]], is a long rectangle of cloth with tapes at one narrow end. {{transl|ja|Etchū fundoshi}} is a length of cloth; however, it has a strip of material at the waist to form a fastening or string. The dimensions are {{convert|14|in}} width by about {{convert|40|in}} length, and it is tied with the material strip in front of the body. One ties the tapes around the hips, with the cloth at the small of the back, and then pulls the cloth between the legs and through the belt, letting the remainder hang as an apron. Such {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} was issued to Japanese troops in World War II, and often were the sole garb of [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[prisoner of war|POWs]] in tropic areas.
The best material for this is white linen or white cotton. Silk crepe may be used according to one's taste, but plain silk is not suitable. In winter it may be lined with similar material, but in other seasons it is always single. Both ends (or front and back) are hemmed to put cords through. One of the cords forms a loop to suspend the front end from the neck, and the other secures the back end by being tied in the front.<ref name=":1" />

===Variations===
[[File:Hadaka Matsuri small.JPG|thumb|Participants receiving purification by water at the [[Hadaka Matsuri|naked festival]] in [[Okayama]].]]
There are many other varieties of {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} as there are many variations on the principle of a loincloth. For example, the {{transl|ja|mokko-fundoshi}} (literally "earth-basket loincloth" because it looks like the traditional baskets used in construction), is made like the {{transl|ja|Etchū-fundoshi}} but without a front apron; the cloth is secured to the belt to make a bikini effect. The {{transl|ja|kuro-neko fundoshi}} (literally "black cat {{transl|ja|fundoshi}}") is like the {{transl|ja|mokko-fundoshi}} except that the portion that passes from front to back is tailored to create a thong effect.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Cheapo |first=Tokyo |title=Fundoshi: All About the Traditional Japanese Loincloth and Where to Buy {{!}} Tokyo Cheapo |url=https://tokyocheapo.com/lifestyle/fundoshi-japanese-loincloth/ |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=Tokyo Cheapo |language=en-US}}</ref>  {{transl|ja|Fundoshi}} are not typically worn as everyday clothing. {{transl|ja|Fundoshi}} is mainly worn on specific, traditional occasions, particularly when participating in {{transl|ja|[[Hadaka Matsuri]]}}. During February, nearly 10,000 men will gather at [[Saidai-ji|Saidaiji Temple]] in [[Okayama]] wearing only {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} to participate in the festival in hopes of gaining luck for the entire year.<ref name=":2" />

The [[samurai]] wore {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} as underwear with [[armor]], combined with a {{transl|ja|[[shitagi]]}} shirt.<ref name=":2" /> [[Sumo]] wrestlers also wear a form of this garment, the {{transl|ja|[[mawashi]]}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MATCHA |title=Fundoshi: The History and Recent Trends in Japanese Traditional Underwear |url=https://matcha-jp.com/en/3167 |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=MATCHA - JAPAN TRAVEL WEB MAGAZINE |date=24 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref> {{transl|ja|Fundoshi}} are often worn with a {{transl|ja|[[hanten]]}} or {{transl|ja|[[happi]]}} (a short cotton jacket with straight sleeves) during summer festivals by men and women who carry {{transl|ja|[[mikoshi]]}} (portable shrines) in [[Shinto]] processions. Outside Japan it is perhaps best known from the drumming groups [[Ondekoza]] and [[Kodo (taiko group)|Kodo]], who appear dressed in only a white {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} and a headband. {{transl|ja|Fundoshi}} is sometimes used as traditional [[swimsuit]]s. In some high schools, boys swim wearing {{transl|ja|fundoshi}}. Incumbent Emperor of Japan [[Naruhito]] also swam in {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} in his childhood. In the pools and beaches of Japan, {{transl|ja|fundoshi}}-wearing swimmers occasionally can be seen, as in the case with {{transl|ja|[[Ama (diving)|ama]]}} divers in the past.

In late 2008, the Japanese firm Wacoal began marketing {{transl|ja|fundoshi}} for women and have had greater than expected sales. The loincloths for women come in seven different colors and two designs—plain and chequered.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-loincloths-idUSTRE52T5GR20090330 |title=Lingerie firm offers women 'liberating' loincloths |last1=Maeda |first1=Toshi |editor=Miral Fahmy |date=30 March 2009 |website=[[Reuters]] |access-date=6 August 2012}}</ref>

==Cultural comparisons==
The Japanese idiom {{transliteration|ja|"fundoshi o shimete kakaru"}} ('tighten your loincloth') means the same as the English phrase "roll up your sleeves" or even more accurately "gird up your loins"—in other words, get ready for some hard work.<ref name=":0" /> The Japanese idiom {{transliteration|ja|"tanin no fundoshi"}} (literally, 'anyone else's {{transliteration|ja|fundoshi}}') is often used in a cautionary context about borrowing or using tools or materials belonging to someone else, the meaning extended to that of profiting at another's expense or taking risks with someone else's money.

==See also==
{{Portal|Japan|Fashion}}
*[[Loincloth]]
*[[Kaupina]]
*{{nihongo3|naked festival|裸祭り|[[Hadaka Matsuri]]}}
*[[List of Japanese clothing]]
*{{transl|ja|[[Ondekoza]]}}
*[[Kodo (taiko group)|Kodō]]
*{{transl|ja|[[Mawashi]]}}, loincloth worn in [[sumo wrestling]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|v=no|n=no|q=no|s=no|b=no}}
* [http://www.ikanlundu.com/literary/borneo_loincloth.html "The Loincloth of Borneo"] by Otto Steinmayer – A scholarly article on the wearing of loincloths, with brief mentions of fundoshi. Includes social and cultural connotations, modesty issues, etc.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041011233251/http://plaza18.mbn.or.jp/~yoshiki/akaba/index23.htm Fundoshi – Japanese Loincloth] – the three basic types of fundoshi (via the [[Wayback Machine]])
* [http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/fundoshi.html Fundoshi (loincloth)] – brief history and types
* Tying fundoshi:
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090903054940/http://geocities.com/sg_tiger.geo/fundoshi.html How to tie a Fundoshi] – via the [[Wayback Machine]]
** [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_G_cH_9Z9tmA/RhxrbJDd-TI/AAAAAAAAApM/CYvvvYBXQYY/s1600-h/rokusyakudiagramgf4.jpg Knotting the ''Rokusyaku Fundoshi''] – diagram
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090201060102/http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/how-to-put-on-a-fundoshi-%E8%A4%8C-japanese-loin-cloth-video/ How to put on a Fundoshi 褌 Japanese loin cloth video] – via the [[Wayback Machine]]

{{Japanese clothing}}
{{Men's undergarments}}
{{Lingerie}}

[[Category:Japanese lower-body garments]]
[[Category:Samurai clothing]]
[[Category:Shinto religious clothing]]
[[Category:Undergarments]]
[[Category:Japanese words and phrases]]