Well, it turns out that the West is primarily the reason why
Japan has a panty obsession. It is also fairly new. It started
in the Meiji era (1868-1912) when western clothing started
becoming popular with the wealthy. Common people still wore
kimono and koshimaki, a traditional waist wrapped undergarment.
During World War II, women were encouraged to wear loose pants
with ankle drawstrings called monpe. Because they no longer
could wear koshimaki, women started wearing western style
undergarments called drawers. After the war, Japan suffered from
extreme poverty and the only women who could afford to wear the
more expensive Western underclothes were the high-class
prostitutes that serviced American and Ally soldiers. Western
style underclothes quickly become associated with sexual
promiscuity. After the economy began to recover, women had more
spending money but there was still a shortage on fabrics. Ladies
began spending more money on the newly imported panty and its
more expensive fabrics and styles. The go