Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Underwear

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Furtive photographers foiled?

In attempt to keep one step ahead of the nation’s furtive photographers, Japanese manufacturer Cramer Japan has produced some anti-peeking pants that block see-through snaps of female athletes.

Infrared rays it seems can pass through most materials, which has led many perverted picture takers to adapt their equipment accordingly. A recent increase of such ‘technology’ at sporting events prompting the previously mentioned pants from Cramer — the first piece of clothing in a line that will go by the name of Shot Guard. Company president Takashi Hakazono boasting that such products should make athletes feel more at ease, which “will probably release them from the fear of not knowing when or by whom they will next be photographed, and allow them to concentrate on their events, leading to better results.”

Japanese shot guard

A claim that these young ladies from the Japanese Olympic swimming team seem to agree with, as it finally allows them the chance to relax after a work out in the gym,

Japanese model risa kudo

or a practice in the pool.

Japanese models mao miyaji/yoko mitsuya

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High up haul

A Japanese construction worker was arrested on Tuesday for underwear theft, with police finding a humongous haul of 4,400 pieces of women’s undergarments in the 54-year-old’s Hiroshima apartment.

japanese panty haul


Panty pervert Shigeo Kodama’s capture came after being rumbled for stealing a measly six items of underclothing from two homes in February; however during questioning he inadvertently gave away his powers of panty pilfering by boasting — in reference to his work on tall buildings — that, “I’m very good at climbing to high places.”

How good Kodama-san is at climbing high prison walls on the other hand remains to be seen.

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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.

an asuka ruike DVD

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.

asuka ruike

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.”

asuka ruike

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

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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,

loincloth

the bashful,

loincloth

and the bad English buff.

loincloth literature

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

loincloths for ladies

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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.

panties

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.