Faith, Fortune… and a Fundoshi in 1875

Описание: A festival for… a woman’s fundoshi?
Yes — and in 1875 Tokyo, it drew crowds, laughter, prayers, and plenty of raised eyebrows.

This woodblock news print retells a story that began in 1845, when a sake brewer from Kamezaki climbed Mount Fuji — then off-limits to women — and discovered a woman’s fundoshi at the summit. Instead of discarding it, he treated it as a lucky omen, brought it home, enshrined it, and soon saw his business flourish. From then on, he held an annual celebration that became known as the Fundoshi Festival.

In the print, the scene is lively and theatrical:

At the centre sits a makeshift saidan altar, surrounded by guests who argue, laugh, pray, or look politely embarrassed.
On the altar itself:
• a miniature shrine
• sakaki branches announcing the presence of the kami
• kagamimochi for renewal and good fortune
• lacquered sake flasks sealed with white paper caps
• shinsen offerings arranged neatly on trays

Meanwhile, at the far left, several visitors ignore the ritual entirely, happily eating sekihan, the celebratory red-bean rice. Faith or feasting? Even the original newspaper wondered aloud whether this was devotion or indulgence dressed up as religion.

The brewer behind the festival was almost certainly Kamezakiya, maker of Shikishima sake — one of Japan’s major producers, shipping thousands of barrels to Edo. For Meiji newspapers, the combination of broken taboos, a woman’s undergarment, and merchant wealth was irresistible. Shinbun nishiki-e turned such stories into colourful moral theatre, equal parts gossip and cautionary tale.

And today?
The fundoshi is long gone, but Kamezakiya lives on as Ito Inc., still brewing Shikishima and preserving their historic site as a cultural space. Perhaps the lasting lesson is simple: real prosperity comes not from spectacle, but from craft, continuity, and care.

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