Men's bras getting a lot of support

"This bra does wonders for your figure, sir."

Why do I suddenly feel ill?

"There are bras for men. And men are buying them. In droves."

Men bras? Being bought in droves? Only in Japan! Although I am a pretty flexible guy, I do not get this at all. I have no problem with women wearing fundoshi, and men wearing t-back underwear, or even going cowboy, but come on, men's bras?!

"It's not a bra! It's a pectoral muscle supporter!"

("ブラじゃないよっ！！　大胸筋矯正サポーターだよぉぉ！")

Only in Japan

Hey come on there are some guys that would rather wear the Manzier than to go to the gym and tone their body up. I mean I am a big guy and there is no way in hell that I would wear that. I mean how would a girl look at you when you try and get close. I mean she is going to think your GAY too. So that is why we say GAY. Look they are selling this thing to men who have no self confidence. I mean what is going to be next...The Mankini? I mean if I see that at the beach I will have to move. Guys don't waste your money on this. Put it into a gym membership and go. It's the New Year. Trust me. You will be happier with the gym then the Manzier.

I dont care if you are secure in your manhood, its still extremely gay!!! not the happy kind, the pillow biter kind!!!! gay!!!

If these garments were supposed to be manly, they wouldn't come in pink satin. They're just an excuse to crossdress. I have no problem with people crossdressing in their free time, but trying to pass off wearing a satiny bra as necessary for some men is silly.

Wow a lot of anti-fatties here. The story also gave equal time to Mr. Svelt and he seemed to like also. Perhaps he's being ignored because he threatens many of the svelt posers on this board.

Not many men have man boobs, but women always have some.

Not always.

This is straight outt Seinfeld xD. Not many men have man boobs, but women always have some. This is not a lucrative market except for the folks that don't really take care of themselves. But with obesity going up in JPN, maybe they might make a lot more... but its a slim chance.

They had abaht this on the BBC a bit ago.

Blooming fatties should try living on a pensioners money, wouldn't have man boobs then. Or maybe tehy is just kinky like. You know, like wearing womens clobber an all that.

Maybe younger men should exercise and lay offf the American fast food junk and you don't get womens style bodies.

am131 wrote: 'JmannGod, I like to know how you know 30% of japanese men sit down to take a leak. I think bakko in the article could've just put a couple of band aids if he wanted to cover his nipples.'

It was reported on in the Guardian earlier in the year after research into growing trends in Japan (sorry no link... look for it yourself)

I think they need a better name and something a bit more sporty

telecaster -- wow, live a little. Your seriousness about everything is what "is wrong on so many levels".

My nipples are dark and very big. They show even through a T-shirt

Sorry to disappoint you, but they may still show through a bra. There are other things you can do to hide your nipples such as using pasties.

I guess it's true then when they say the human race will be sexless in the future, like angels have no sex. Naaah...I join bcbrownboy, pass me the barf bag quick!

seems obvious to me that the reason this product is so popular is because the men can dress up just like mummy!

This is wrong on so many levels.

“Normally, whenever I go up or down stairs I can feel my breasts flopping around,” says stout Naoi, “but with a bra on, I don’t get that at all.”

Nor would you if you cut your portions in half and did some push-ups everyday. The next time you want to eat fried-something, eat an apple. Perhaps someone over there ought to ask Mr. Average Japan.. do you think that anyone in the 1,000,000 member Chinese military is wearing a man-bra? Does ANYONE over there remember Toshiro Mifune?

herefornow,

Probably most guys have slipped on their girlfriend's thong and pranced around the apartment.

Uh.... no.

So, are we going with "Bro" or "Manzier" on this? I'm for the latter.

Everton -- I think you miss the point. Probably most guys have slipped on their girlfriend's thong and pranced around the apartment. That is not the issue here. This is about guys buying bras designed for guys. Totally different concept. But, I'm sure glad to hear you are so secure in your hetrosexuality. I just worry about your need to proclaim it here.

Do they come in smap and sumoh sizes?

JmannGod, I like to know how you know 30% of japanese men sit down to take a leak. I think bakko in the article could've just put a couple of band aids if he wanted to cover his nipples.

Come on guys, don't feel threatened by this, saying it is gay does not reaffirm your manhood. I once had a Japanese girl who wanted me to wear her panties, those laced ones hahaha. It turned her on to no ends, hell i did! It turned me on when she wore my shirt. Whats the big deal I am just too secure in being a heterosexual male to even worry about that kind of thing

tzr250 -- lighten up. It is "gay" in the sense that it is extremely effeminite, like much of men's dress and personal grooming here -- long nails, over-styled hair, etc.

It's vomit time again, in ol' Japan . . . tra la la.

I think the only target of such an article is to shock and to sell. I showed the ad photo to my girl friends (many of whom love Manga) along with a translation of the advertisement at the store in Rakuten, and the best comment was one that said, 'I don't know if I should laugh or weep bitterly' XD.

But really, if some men are so unsatisfied and unhappy with their bodies, getting a trainer bra is WAY cheaper. Sad part is, it's also a part of 13 year old girls clothing. Now that would be even more disturbing.

Time to take a stand for men's rights...off with those bras and toss 'em into the bonfire! We can all sing kum bra yah while the bras go up in flames. Speaking of flames, if you own one of these, you could be one.

I wouldn't think a man's bone structure would allow him to reach back to fasten it.

I think it's daft. Men should wear proper clothes for blokes, not birds underwear, it's daft.

"gay" as in it makes you happy? Wtf? When did cross dressing determine your sexual prefernce? I have a word for you IGNORANT. Its a funny story that doesn't apply to the vast majority of men. Perhaps we have some latent homosexuals posting here, who cant help their suppressed homoerotic aggression and call everything gay?

"Why are so many of you calling it gay?"

Because it is.

I was going to get my wife a new wood lathe....

hahahaha

Why are so many of you calling it "gay?" A man wanting to wear an article of woman's clothing is not the same thing as being gay. The ignorance level of some posters here is astronomical.

utterly gay beyond redemption. In a country where 30% of men sit down to take a leak...　totally believeable.

not even a bad joke - completely Japanese to the core... no surprise.

Get a life, join a gym ... or just accept being gay.

Holy crap. I don't think I will ever have any kind of insecurity about any aspect of my body after reading this article.

I was going to get my wife a new wood lathe....

Ahahaha, thanks guys, you gave me a great idea for a funny Christmas' present !

that's sexy...

This article is true. I have seen it on The Japan Times. The success of this bra is closely related to wish of J-men of appearing more well-built, stronger, even if they have to make use of bras and eteceteras.

It's like women playing football, it just wern't meant to be!!

Farmboy: You'll get used to it. But it's a strange collection you mention for just one floor.

I am curious about cup sizes and how to determine the best size for sport or other activities :-)

That's definitely gay...

"My nipples are dark and very big."

But are they pointy?

"With this bra, you can't see my giant nipples!"

Hee hee!

This is retarded

Something about wearing a bra makes a man feel … well, “like first love,” says Bakko, “an inexpressible tightness in the chest, to the point that when I play the cello with a bra on, I seem to get a mellower tone out of it.”

That's great. So after he plays the cello, people will be shoting "Bra-vo! Bra-vo!" Get the yoke?

no thanks

Must be all the hormones in our food.

Well just go to the Man Bra web site, it's there in black and white... and pink. <g>

Doesn't the source of this article lead anyone to believe it's one of the many stories completely fabricated to make people giggle? Honestly, we shouldn't be believing everything printed in a tabloid.

I guess j-guys, like J-girls, want to be chestier.

Suggested Models: The Ed Wood. The Edgar Hoover.

What is it about Ed's and lingerie, anyway?

Bakko plays baseball too, and he finds a bra gives him better batting form. “I recommend it to pro baseball players with batting problems."

What, like batting for the other team?

A more in-depth article on the subject pointed to a survey of men who admitted to wearing this product (at least to the survey, if not to the people around them), and revealed that those with other cross-dressing proclivities (which have nothing to do with being gay, by the way--the majority of cross-dressers are straight men) were actually just a fraction of the total, with the most prominent groups being men in positions of power (doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc.) and those in sales jobs.

The most common reasons giving for liking the product were "It makes me straighten up (no pun intended), like knotting my tie smartly" and "It makes me feel like being nicer to other people" (something that's noted even in the marketing copy from the manufacturer).

Go figure...

hey, the manzier/the bro has made a comeback!

thanks for the laugh

Sarge -

Two words: Breathe Right.

I do! He don't. I've tried everything, but so far the only thing that 'works' is a short sharp jab in the ribs, but that's only temporary and leaves him black and blue by morning.....

Don't really see how a bra would actually stop snoring, though.

Moderator: Readers, stay on topic please. No discussion of snoring unless it relates to men's bras.

Reading this all I could think of was that Seinfield episode where Kramer had the idea of a bra for overwirght men, except he called it a "Bro."

Sarge: get a clue. Please.

"Breathing right" does nothing for snoring, since it's not the breathing that causes snoring.

Scrote & herefornow: see advice to Sarge. Please.

"Man boobs" are an actual medical condition that won't go away (much) with weight loss. And that has little or nothing to do with this fad.

I agree with TheguyNextdoor.

Cleo - Two words: Breathe Right. You're welcome.

This is so gay!

Women are the centre of Japanese culture, so men are much more inclined to impersonate them.

God forbid these guys should actually DO something, like go to a gym and workout. Much easier to just buy a bra and pretend you actually have a manly chest -- while you eat and drink every night with your buds. Typical Japan, treat the symptom, rather than the cause.

It's not just Japan. In Australia there's a gang called the Bra Boys who have been wearing this stuff for years - Russell Crowe even made a documentary about them!

I know half of you would want to buy this. Be a man!

And when I sleep with it on, I don’t snore like a chainsaw!

I'm gonna get Mr Cleo one for nightwear. Nothing else has worked.

This must be a new fashion excessory for confirmed batchelors.

Bet Cliff Richard buys a gross or 2 , know what i mean?

Sound a bit kinky to me, but I thought that kind of person preferred women's underwear.

It could explain why bras are stolen from washing lines.

what next? Bra for the lower dangler? only in Japan, awesome !!

Manzier!

If you're suffering from man-boobs a diet is recommended.

There are women who can manage and live comfortable life without a piece of cloth called 'bra', so there is no surprise if some men feel comfortable with a bra. However, Man's Iron Chest is better than Bra(ss) Chest.

Hmmm indeed..But this is Japan after all

Hmmm...