Japan fashion: Swimsuit Season

Everybody Swim Suit Up!

So now it is actually the end of swim suit season, but no less of a reason to talk about it. 

I have been absent from Japan for well, nearly all of the summer so I never got to see the style choice of Japan's finest in their water clothes, until recently when the times called for a trip to Nagashima Spaland, a water park in Nagoya. 

So I guess you can say that the fashions are largely similar in the largest area for concerned men. Yes, they all do wear bikinis. Or nearly all. Many girls seem to prefer a fashion that is very similar to their clothing choices: in specifics, mini skirts. Their bikinis are comprised of a top and a mini skirt bottom. This bottom would be one with the typical bottom of a bikini suit, more like a skort. And a pretty unanimous factor would be the multiple ruffles cascading down below their butt. 

Though another interesting choice that I saw all too much of, was denim short bottoms. A friend informed me after I was vocalizing the uncomfortability of wet denim shorts and the rashes they give, that they make and sell denim shorts that are made of a lighter material, so that they dry faster, specifically to be worn in the water. No, before someone says it, they were not bathing suits made to look denim, and also they would have a bathing suit matching to their top underneath their shorts (you know they because they would have it sticking out or their shorts lowered on their waist and the barest hint of the bathing suit to be seen above). 

Another style that would make men rather more eager to see, would be the T-back swim suits. T-back is what the Japanese call a G-string, a thong, butt floss. Mostly due to the 'T' shape it makes. And when I say this, do not get excited that they are walking around a family water park wearing only a bra and thong. No, they are wearing something like two bikinis, and in one case, three. I can't actually tell if it is multiple bikinis or just one with a look-alike stringy thing attached. I mostly assume the latter, but you can never really tell, especially with some of the more hostess-looking patrons. 

In addition to the multiple bottom style of swimsuits, is the multiple tops as well. This one seems to be less popular, but is still seen often enough. It looks like the girl is wearing two different tops in two different colors, often only solid colors or at the very least, a patter with a solid compliment. These two tops are again likely a single top, and just appearing as two separate tops. One would be an over the shoulders strap and the other would be an around the neck strap. Leading to what must be some awkward tan lines. To describe the shape a bit more, one of the bikini tops would looks like a normal top or bra in all shape and form and the second one would look more like some sort of false bra only used to as a push up, without covering much of anything. 

Notably there was a sincere absence of the strapless bikini tops. Everything seemed to be overly straps. Their tops and bottoms alike. Also gone are the triangle tops that can be scrunched or expanded to the wearers whim. You know the kind that slid along the string that ties at the back. 

Among the bikini top clasps, a simple sliding hook seemed to be the most popular choice, with knot tying the least popular. Another alternative were bra hooks, but again they were less popular. Japan seems to vastly favor these, typically plastic, hooks, having multiple attaching loops for tighter fits.

And lastly, I saw a lot of dress like clothing. I could not tell if they were actually swimsuits, or if they would transform into swim suits, or if the girls just wore them around for looks. These are a less popular choice, with bikinis being vastly more popular, but still a present difference between cultures.

As far as the men went, trunks were most preferred with only small boys ever wearing speedos or jammers. Stripes and solids seem to be the way to go, with not much decoration or accouterment. Simple I know, but I fee like not much more needs to be expanded upon this. Actually, I suppose there is this as well, they do not typically wear their boxers, or boxer briefs as it is in Japan, under their swim suit as men occasionally do in America. They prefer a style au naturale, as seen when their trunks slip just too far down then the wave pool's current progresses outward.