Embarassing Question

Hello all, it's me again.
In two weeks I will be heading to Japan on my year-long homestay. Today I did some shopping for my trip and bought some underwear... thongs included. Now, I know from past experience and general knowledge that host mothers often wash all of the families clothes. My question is, will she be offended/disguisted when she sees the thongs??
In America, some women occasionally wear them and it isn't a big deal to most(as long as it isn't visible!) but I do not know how things like that are viewed in Japanese society.
Any help?

Well, I don't think your host mother will be offended/disguted by thongs. (She may be a bit surprised at first...)

If you worry her reaction or don't want your thongs washed/hung with other clothes (ex. hostfather's underwears or socks !!), you can wash them by hands while taking a bath and hang them in your room.

Or just buy 14, wear a different thong every day, and wash them when you get back home! ^_^

Like J Lady said, I don't think she will be offended but might be a little surprised. It is a good idea to help her with lthe laundry (or around the house) whether you wear thongs or not. She will love you for that.

I don't think she will mind that much, but obviously evrybody is different, and if you think that your host mother may find it pecuilar wash them by hand when you have a bath and hang them in your room on a radiator or something... I even do this with my knickers at home!!! *cringe*

Yea lol... Anyway

Most Japanese houses don't have hotwater radiators. if they have modern split-unit air conditioners in each room you can stop the louvers in one position and the air current will hit your thongs and dry them faster. As someone said you could also ask her if you can help her, wash them yourself and hang them to dry on the clothesline inside a shirt or T-shirt as US women did in the 1950s when drying underwear on a clothesline was frowned upon. Or you can do the washing and drying if they have a washer and dryer ...by the way I am a man and the first time I stayed at the home of a friend all the woman in the house found an excuse to come in the bathroom while I was shaving to see if I was an hairy ape or not...Most mature Japanese women have a hearthy sense of humour. they washed my rather skimpy European style underwear and didn't say anything about it....

Haha thanks you guys.
The last time I did a homestay I did many things around the house and offered to help with laundry. She washed the clothes in a washer then would hang them outside on a line on the balcony. Do most Japanese families do that?

I will see what I can do about washing them myself. I have no problem with her seeing it but I just don't want her to think badly of me.

Thanks for all of the input, I really appreciate it!

Thong underwear is increasingly popular among young women in Japan these days. Plenty of underwear shops sell them. I can't imagine your host mother being offended by them at all.
If she an older lady from a more rural area she might not have seen one before, but she isn't going to be shocked by the discovery!

Usually in Japan things are washed in cold water in the machine, with delicate items in a mesh bag. The washing is then hung either outside or inside or both- many women prefer to dry their underwear inside because of the possibility of having it stolen- this happens occasionally. I dry most of my clothes inside because we have a tiny balcony.

Maybe I'm just not "in touch" with the world we live in, but it's only clothes. Why would anyone be disgusted or shocked at your underwear ?

We're not talking about something "special" in PVC or latex, are we ? Just normal, everyday underwear that happens to be of a particular design. What about if they had a Hello Kitty motif ? Do people judge others by their underwear these days ?