SHITAGIBUNKA

As well as the various fetishes men have for women's underwear, women themselves are involved quite deeply in shitagibunka, translated as "lingerie culture", with women's magazines regularly running features on what is the sexiest underwear to buy. Both panties and bras come in a staggering range of colors and patterns, often more decorative than outer wear. Triumph International, Japan's second largest lingerie company, well known for producing novelty lingerie, recently introduced a bra that gives off a fragrance supposedly helping the wearer to quit smoking, but perhaps the strangest is the Armageddon bra, introduced in the run up to Y2K. This bra came equipped with a sensor that would supposedly forewarn the wearer of any objects falling from the sky.
It is rare however to find Japanese women modeling lingerie. Most of the ads use Western women as models. This could be because the Western woman is considered the epitomy of beauty in Japan, or because, in general, Japanese women consider it brazen to show underwear in public. Most older Japanese women are extremely embarrassed if just their bra-strap is showing. However, many younger Japanese women have no such qualms and misebura (derived from (miseruburaja- lit. "showing brassiere") has become a recent fad.
Almost all women in Japan wear bras, and the notion of removing bras as a form of liberation has never taken hold.
Shitagibunka has even spread to women's feet, with much of the latest footwear made from the same materials as, and being similar in design to, conventional lingerie.