The latest craze in Japan . . . Not!!
What is it about Japanese women that people around the world are ready to believe just about any outrageous hoax about them that some knucklehead throws together and posts on the Internet? The hoaxes are easy to spot, because they always have a sexual theme that is touted as “the latest craze in Japan,” and they are always accompanied by Photo Shopped images claiming to be “proof.”
Two of the most famous Japan craze hoaxes are the see-through skirt hoax (neither the see-through version nor the printed-on version of this hoax is true) and the scanty bathing suit hoax.
See-through skirt hoax

Scanty swimsuit hoax



And now. . . the panty pulling hoax
The latest hoax is “panty pulling, ” which (of course) is being reported as Japan’s latest craze. Unlike previous Japan craze hoaxes, however, the “proof ” comes in the form of a video clip, which you can see by clicking here.
Take it from me folks, there is no public panty pulling going on in Japan.
I think i read something on Japundit about some special nite vision lens or camera that was used to film Japanese swim team members that gave the appearance of ‘invisibility.’ Mighta been ninjashot…
July 10th, 2005 at 4:04 pmhey, I totally believed the swimsuit one! How do you fake something like that?
July 10th, 2005 at 7:11 pmit is picture which is not suitable
July 10th, 2005 at 9:15 pmaithought a woman is expressed,
and a japanese woman dose not wear sucha a skirt, such a swimming suit not worn,
as for a japanese woman, a kimono matche well, a yukata is worn is summer
it is picture which os not suitable aithought a woman is expressed.
July 10th, 2005 at 9:17 pmPoor Japan, always getting hit with these “stories” on the Interblog! I mean, why not do this for Thailand or South Korea or Taiwan? It is always Japan that gets the sex image label. So not true, so not true, in real life…
July 10th, 2005 at 10:17 pmAt the risk of being asked how I know, naked women in public are rather more common in Japan than in other Asian countries (not counting those plying their wares). It’s called “roshutsu play” and those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time (or with the right internet friends) will see naked women in rush hour train stations or being gangbanged in the city park.
These particular swimsuit photos might be Photoshopped, but there are certainly plenty of real examples. The one taking the picture is usually the husband.
July 10th, 2005 at 10:27 pmSo Ghoti, how do you know?
We *all* want to know!
Hey, you brought it up.
July 10th, 2005 at 11:48 pmlate sunday links
The North Koreans have agreed to return
July 11th, 2005 at 3:22 amof course we all want to know. Post that in any major webpage and you’ll have full-time occupation of ueno park for several years.
July 11th, 2005 at 4:01 amThe panty pulling video is fairly disturbing. Women deserve more respect.
July 11th, 2005 at 10:23 amI will provide weblinks (Japanese only)by email via JP if anyone really wants to follow up, but don;t want to post here. For some reason, people, who have no second thoughts about stripping in busy thoroughfares or engaging in SM in a populated park, get upset when their website is overrrun by gawkers. Funny, that.
July 11th, 2005 at 9:32 pmお願いします。
July 12th, 2005 at 2:45 am[...] illegally. The images are taken at such places as public baths and restrooms. Last week, JP reported on a panty-pulling hoax, but loyal Japundit reader ghoti pointed out that rather than be [...]
July 15th, 2005 at 11:55 pmI think ghotis is pulling our legs here. Roshutsu play is NOT part of Japanese culture, now or ever. It is part of A.Vee culture, yes, with the term used to title many videos that yakuza produce. But it’s not a real past-time. Ghoti is joshing here.
July 16th, 2005 at 2:35 pmIf you want to know why people believe this stuff, look at Japanese porn.
July 19th, 2005 at 10:16 amGood point!
July 19th, 2005 at 10:33 amghoti, I’m interested at seeing those follow-ups you were talking about
If you read this, mail me at showmethemana@hotmail.com :p
July 25th, 2005 at 2:53 amReally, guys. Just search roshutsu, in kanji, on any search engine. Follow the links, and if you want, go ahead and contact some of the people. They are real, and many have off-kais.
So far as it being “culture,” well that depends on the definition. I wouldn’t say group sex is part of British culture, though it exists.
BTW, the involvement of yakuza in porn videos is way overestimated by people. Many, if not most, of the producers are regular perverts trying to turn a little profit on their compulsions.
July 25th, 2005 at 7:45 amskirts are available for real at http://www.colorful-dreams.com
August 5th, 2005 at 11:29 am[...] an update on the “hoax” regarding the midget fighting club……B.E.) Japundit » The latest craze in Japan . . . Not!! This entry was posted [...]
August 16th, 2005 at 11:23 am[...] (now who doesn’t love a good hoax, especially if it regards the fanny. B.E.) Japundit » The latest craze in Japan . . . Not!! What is it about Japanese women that people around [...]
August 17th, 2005 at 12:02 pmNot easy to find its in italy shops !!!
August 25th, 2005 at 9:43 pmhola desde israel:cool::oops::razz::mrgreen:saludos y shalom shalom
November 1st, 2005 at 6:39 pmYour wrong – I wonder what makes you claim your the pundit, unless you actually live in Toyko? I live in Hong Kong and I can tell you for a fact these are NOT hoaxes – at least I am sure for the panty-skirts because many of Japan’s craze catches on to HK and some shops actually sell these skirts…as for the panty-pulling in videos, though hard to believe, I won’t be surprised if its really happening..it is just SOOO like the Japs to do things like that, and really, I have seen worst on the Japanese TV shows aired in HK…after all, Japs are the ones who made scatology and whatnots big
December 9th, 2005 at 12:55 am^^^^^
December 9th, 2005 at 12:57 amI forgot to leave my email if you want to challenge my comment
Umm…. I do live in Tokyo.
And as you say, you live in Hong Kong.
And since this article is about what is happening in Tokyo, not on Hong Kong TV, your point is. . . . . What?
December 9th, 2005 at 1:15 am[...] ough this video is an obvious spoof, I wonder whether it will turn up one day as a serious documentary on Hong Kong TV. . . Thanks to Lord George Nathaniel Curson over at Com [...]
December 9th, 2005 at 9:11 pm[...] e pornography along with other non-consensual themes. Panty men in action Panty pulling Panty perverts No Responses to “Japa [...]
January 3rd, 2006 at 3:25 amThis is definitely not a hoax. Having lived in Japan for some time, I know that this is typical of what one would expect. The video proves the authenticity because the reaction of the women is exactly what one would expect from Japanese women.
March 7th, 2006 at 4:16 pmThis is definitely not a hoax. Well, thanks for clearing that up for us, dude. Like you saw it happen?
Having lived in Japan for some time
Really? Wow. Like are there Japanese people living there and everything?
I know that this is typical of what one would expect
Yeah? And that makes it true? Kind of like, if the dots can be connected by a sick mind, it means they are connected in real life?
The video proves the authenticity
Video proof. What a concept. Kind of like flying saucers and the Loch Ness monster. But in those cases as well, it means nothing without physical evidence. If panty pulling is really the “latest craze” in Japan, don’t you think it would have been reported in the news by now? Don’t you think the police would be cracking down on the practice? Don’t you think we would have heard of is from even one other source besides this stupid video?
the reaction of the women is exactly what one would expect from Japanese women
March 7th, 2006 at 4:31 pmYeah. The reactions are perfect. Just what you would expect. Almost like they were ACTING.
Based upon your analytical skills, nothing means anything, taken to its logical extreme.
March 7th, 2006 at 5:34 pmFurther to the above, what makes your”this is an obvious spoof” so authentic? Were you there? You have nothing to make such a strong assertion.
March 7th, 2006 at 5:51 pmIf panty pulling is really the “latest craze” in Japan, don’t you think it would have been reported in the news by now? Don’t you think the police would be cracking down on the practice? Don’t you think we would have heard of it from even one other source besides this stupid video?
You jump in here and said, “This is definitely not a hoax.”
This means you are saying panty pulling is definitely going on in Japan.
Definitely. No doubt about it.
Where? When? Who were the victims? Didn’t anyone report it the police? Why wasn’t it reported in the news? etc., etc., etc., etc. In other words, your claim (definitely not a hoax) is based upon what?
Now you are demanding that the person who is asking these logical questions needs to proove a negative (that this type of thing does not go on).
Me thinks, sire, you use the word “logical” with narry a notion of what it means.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:44 pmOne more thing – read your own note.
“this is typical of what one would expect”
the reaction of the women is exactly what one would expect from Japanese women
Every successful hoax plays to expectations and reinforces preconceptions. That’s why the rubes fall for it so easily.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:52 pm“Don’t you think the police would be cracking down on the practice?”
Not necessarily. This is Japan, after all.
March 7th, 2006 at 7:28 pmYou need to read your own notes a little more closely and not keep repeating yourself. To categorically make an assertion like you have requires proof. You have stated that this is “an obvious spoof”. Yet, you are unable or unwilling to prove it so. Therefore both of our assertions are valid. “Don’t you think..” “Don’t you think…” is not proof at all, but sheer emmotionalism. All I have wanted to say and which I will qualify is that being immersed in the Japanese culture ( my family) is that this looks real to me, and does not at all appear to be a spoof. Can I prove it? Of course not. Can you prove it is an”obvious spoof”? No, you can not. Japanese women are especially shy at reporting abuses like this. Also, there is the family shame that would be involved. Once again, this is my conjecture- not proof. However it is equally as valid as your assertion. Neither of us can prove anything. P.S. You need to avail yourself of a dictionary. Logic does require proof to the contrary.
March 9th, 2006 at 1:52 am1. Errr — You are saying that panty pulling is going on. I am saying it is not. How am I to prove it is not when it simply is not?
Followers of Asahara Shoko like to carry around photographs of their guru levitating. The photos do, indeed, show Asahara in the lotus position, hovering several inches above the ground. Does this photographic proof mean that man can fly? Does it mean we need to test every human on the planet for airworthiness in order to prove otherwise? Of course not. We simply look around. We see no one is flying anywhere except in pictures being published by Aum Shinrikyo. And so we conclude, without any proof per se, that what is being suggested by the Aum photographs is untrue. A “hoax,” if you will.
2. Congratulations on your marriage to a Japanese lady. Now let’s get back to the discussion at hand.
3. Trotting out well-worn clichés about shy Japanese womanhood and family shame indicates that you may not be as immersed in modern Japanese culture as you fancy yourself to be.
4. I take your admission that you are engaging in “conjecture” as an indication you searched the web for further proof that panty pulling is “definitely not a hoax,” and you came up empty handed.
March 9th, 2006 at 11:34 amErr– I am not saying “panty pulling” is going on in Japan. I am not saying it isn’t going on. I am saying that the video in question looks authentic. You say the video in queststion is an obvious spoof. Therefore my assertion is equally as valid as yours. You cannot prove that it is an obvious spoof or you would have done so. You have the video in front of you. Analyze it! What part of you looks like acting? These scenes look very candid to me. To give an example of a an obvious spoof does not necessarily negate the authenticity of any of these scenes in question.
March 10th, 2006 at 1:53 amI THINK THIS IS STUPID!!!:twisted:
April 2nd, 2006 at 6:33 amim sure the cops in jap and other asian lands have locked up ppl for less,.. i think its fack to oas the gurls just seem too be waiting for some thing too happen
April 2nd, 2006 at 7:50 am[...] One of the things we like to do here at Japundit whenever possible, is to debunk some of the hoaxes about Japan that are making the round around the Internet. We have reported on see-through dresses, scanty swimsuits, and panty pulling – labeling all of them as hoaxes foisted upon a gullible global audience that is only too ready and willing to believe anything they hear about strange Japanese behavior. [...]
May 12th, 2006 at 12:14 am[...] Being asian has many perks. One of them is that I get to play the race card and make fun of asian people and their silly ways. Take the Japanese and their numerous odd inventions, like the see-through skirt. Well, guess what? The people of China have decided they want to build a theme park. This may not sound like a big deal to you but what if I told you it’s going to be a BRUCE LEE themed park?! What’s more is that it will have BRUCE LEE ROBOTS! [...]
September 14th, 2006 at 3:32 am[...] DE NE PAS S’Y AVENTURE POUR GARDER L’AMITIE PAR NOTRE PUDEUR MAIS POUR INFO ET C’EST TOUT Japundit The latest craze in Japan . . . Not!! l’ami qui a affiche le sujet dit Il ne faut surtout pas laisser de role a [...]
July 11th, 2007 at 2:48 am[...] DE NE PAS S’Y AVENTURE POUR GARDER L’AMITIE PAR NOTRE PUDEUR MAIS POUR INFO ET C’EST TOUT Japundit The latest craze in Japan . . . Not!! l’ami qui a affiche le sujet dit Il ne faut surtout pas laisser de role a l’imagination… [...]
July 11th, 2007 at 5:46 pmman i totally fell for the panty pulling one ….how do you fake something like that … ???
November 2nd, 2008 at 2:21 ambeats me
[...] Well darn, it all turns out to be a hoax: The latest craze in Japan . . . Not!! Japundit Blog [...]
July 13th, 2009 at 3:58 am