Translation guide
A garment worn around the hips and groin, often minimal. In Japanese contexts, this includes traditional sumo belts, festival wear, and historical undergarments.
The classic Japanese loincloth, a long strip of cloth wrapped around the waist and between the legs, worn by sumo wrestlers, at festivals, and historically as everyday underwear.
The general term for a traditional Japanese loincloth. It comes in several styles, most commonly the rokushaku (six-foot) fundoshi.
力士はまわしの下にふんどしを着けている。
Sumo wrestlers wear a fundoshi under their mawashi.
祭りで男たちはふんどし姿で神輿を担ぐ。
At the festival, men carry the portable shrine wearing only fundoshi.
The classic six-foot-long fundoshi, often associated with traditional festivals and sumo training.
彼は六尺ふんどしを締めて海に入った。
He put on a rokushaku fundoshi and went into the sea.
A shorter, more practical style of fundoshi with a waistband and a front panel, historically common as everyday men's underwear.
祖父は若い頃、越中ふんどしを愛用していた。
My grandfather used to wear ecchū fundoshi when he was young.
The thick, elaborate belt worn by sumo wrestlers during matches and training, which functions as a loincloth but is specifically called mawashi.
The sumo belt. In competition, it is made of silk and stiffened; in training, it is cotton. It is not typically called a 'loincloth' in English, but it serves the same basic function.
力士はまわしを締めて土俵に上がる。
The sumo wrestler ties his mawashi and enters the ring.
A simple cloth or covering worn around the waist, often associated with indigenous or ancient peoples.
Literally 'waist cloth', a general term for a cloth wrapped around the hips, used in descriptions of traditional or tribal attire.
その部族の男性は腰布だけを身に着けていた。
The men of the tribe wore only a loincloth.
Can be used in historical or fictional contexts to describe a loincloth-like garment, even for non-Japanese settings, due to its basic shape.
Used metaphorically to mean something barely covering or minimal, or in a joking context.
An idiom meaning 'to brace oneself for a difficult task', literally 'to tighten one's loincloth'. It conveys determination and readiness.
試験に向けてふんどしを締めてかかる。
I'll tighten my loincloth and tackle the exam.
The direct loanword ロインクロス (roinkurosu) is not commonly used in Japanese. Stick to the native terms above.
Fundoshi (ふんどし) is the general traditional loincloth. Mawashi (まわし) is specifically the sumo belt. In English both might be called a loincloth, but in Japanese they are distinct.
漫画の原始人はふんどしを着けている。
The caveman in the manga wears a loincloth.