Possible influences:
-Showing your wealth (in the same way as men in some societies show off being able to feed many fat wives)
- The Chinese and Japanese philosophy of your mystic energy (気-ki, or chi in Chinese) being centred on your belly
- Wanting to look like rikishi (sumo wrestlers), the ultimate Japanese men
- Just to make a distinction between the female shape (also in a kimono and with breasts flattened, but with a big obi emphasizing any bumps at the back) and the male shape (obi worn under the belly to emphasize its shape at the front)
- Some kind of cultural universal of manliness that has been lost in the West (see paintings of Henry VIII of England for examples)
Blooming in Japan said,
June 15, 2008 at 3:07 am
I found a shop today that sells them (online) for tall fellows (180cm, 6 ft plus) It’s on my blog.