Here at RocketNews24 there’s nothing we like more on a man (or indeed a woman) than a dashing fundoshi. While we believe the traditional Japanese underwear that’s part-apron, part-loincloth is suitable for any occasion, we’re prepared to accept that they’re mainly seen at matsuri (festivals) these days.
So when we found this wondrous video of a group of men doing a special festival bird-catching dance in fundoshi, we knew we were in for a treat. Join us after the jump for some very genki dancing men having a lot of body-slappin’ good fun!
The torisashi odori (bird-catching dance) is a tradition unique to Unzen city, Nagasaki Prefecture. Like real old-fashioned bird-catchers, men carry a special pole called a mochizao. Unlike real bird-catchers, they only wear fundoshi. They also dance around chirping and pretending to be birds.
▼ FUN-doshi!
▼ They slap their backsides to make them red. Just like the scarlet fundoshi!
▼ Only men can perform this dance. We’ll leave you to decide whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
▼ They say once you try a fundoshi, you’ll never look back…well ok, maybe they don’t say that. But they should.
You can catch the full video here:
▼ Skip to 1:30 if you don’t fancy the introductory speech.
Although Unzen City’s torisashi dance is also sometimes performed outside, this one was filmed at an event called ‘Fundoshi Meeting in Nagasaki‘. Clearly, we’ll have to head to Nagasaki to get our fundoshi fix next year!
Sources: Niconico news, YouTube
Images: YouTube