Naturism in Asian Cultures
Welcome to the first article in which we delve into naturism within the asian countries, asking how it can best be promoted and to provide encouragement and resources to those interested. To do so, it’s necessary to uncover each different country’s cultures and history of how they see the unclothed body. If you’re an asian from many of the south, east, and southeast asian countries* and you’ve found yourself on this site, we hope that these writings will answer your questions and concerns about the lifestyle and provide advice on how to effectively promote it among friends and family, as well as finding a like-minded community. So I invite you to sit back, relax, kick off your shoes and socks, and, if you’re in the privacy of your own home, the rest of your garments and relax as we explore this topic together. Here you are among friends.
Everyone has different ways of understanding the world. Our perceptions help shape us and make sense of our surroundings. Therefore, when promoting the naturist lifestyle, it’s important to understand how someone sees life and society. But this goes beyond the individual. For every individual is part of a dominate culture. Being aware of the societal aspect is especially imperative when trying to promote naturism to friends and family of cultures that tend to equate nudity with sex.
And if you’re new here, let’s be unequivocal when we state that naturism is not about sex! It’s about freedom, a love and respect for nature, and a love and respect towards one another, regardless of how we look or what our profession in life is. The naturist credo is “everyBody is beautiful!” Within naturism we see everyone has self-worth.
Many of the asian cultures today see nudity as something sexual. This didn’t use to be the case. For instance, coed bathing used to be the norm in Japan with all ages and genders bathing together, while Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and India used to not bat an eye about women going topless. But cultures, and what is and what is not acceptable within them, change over time. Today many asian cultures frown upon the idea of nudity or at least mixed gender nudity. For instance, in the case of Japan, western thought shamed such an innocent practice. Likewise, western thought also shamed the southeast asian societies for their women going topless. Meanwhile in south Asia, central asian Mughal culture shamed Indian women for going topless, and later on strict Victorian British Christianity reinforced these views. Likewise in Indonesia, Islam frowned upon women going bare breasted.
So societies have changed, and today’s south, east, and southeast asian countries are much more prudish about nudity, thanks to American and European, middle eastern, and central asian cultural influences. * That said, within dominate cultures there are still individuals who don’t subscribe to everything that their culture deems appropriate or inappropriate. This goes for naturists confined in a clothed society.
As mentioned before, some of you reading this may be naturists, or those curious about it, living in a country that frowns upon it. This is comforting, because you are not alone. There are naturists in your country, whether it be the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, etc., who want to live the lifestyle and make friends and connect with people and nature on a deeper level. It’s just a matter of finding those already involved in it or introducing them to it.
In terms of introducing naturism to your family and friends, it’s important to examine the culture of your country and ask how you can best speak their cultural language. What do I mean by that? Well, say you are from Japan. Maybe you can bring up the history of coed bathing and how that used to be the norm and ask why that had to change? Maybe you can point to the cleanliness aspect of naturism, and how it coincides with the cleanliness of the culture. Or say you are from the Philippines, a highly devout Catholic country, then speak in Christian terms. Mention the Sistine Chapel and how Pope John Paul said that the human body could be nude and retain its splendor. Maybe your country is India, in which the dominant culture also frowns upon it. In this case, maybe holy men within Hinduism and Jainism who practice nudity can be brought up, while asking why holy women can’t have the same rights to worship while sky-clad. This could open doors to a conversation about why it’s okay for certain people to go nude in society, while others are exempt.
However, don’t get too gung-ho. Take baby steps. It’s important to note that society doesn’t change overnight, or within a decade or two, much less a year. It can take decades, if not more. But it’s alway good to plant the seeds. For it is with planting the seeds that wonderful gardens eventually grow, if given care, attention, and time. I believe that in time naturism can blossom and grow within these countries. To those who doubt, remember, Europe used to be much more conservative when it came to clothing. It was in the late 19th century, still during the age of Romanticism, that naturism was introduced in Germany by a group of Germans that wanted to get away from the smog of the factories, the crowding of the cities, and be naked in nature. I believe that the same can eventually happen in Asia. Given how many large cities, sprawl, and factories there are in Asia, maybe they are due for their own age of Romanticism (hopefully without the violent nationalism), thus opening their doors to naturism.
Naturism has already taken root in Thailand. Thailand is the most naturist friendly country in Asia, with the most resorts. And while naturism has a lot of room for growth in Thailand, it has grown exponentially since the first naturist club was established their way back in 1931 by Mr. Sarin Foothai. It’s been a slow growth, but a growth nonetheless, with their own organization, Naturist Association Thailand Co., LTD, founded in 2007. Even Bali has a couple of resorts.
While promoting naturism in these countries, it’s important that we follow the laws of the land and not try to intentionally cause offense. We don’t advocate breaking the law. In other words, don’t go walking out in public naked. Such won’t help the cause but hinder it.
While planting the seeds, you can find those who share your naturist principles. That’s the other goal of this site, to meet other people online to collaborate and share ideas with about how to best promote naturism to your family or friends, whether they be Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Japanese, South Korea, Indian, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, etc, etc.
So don’t be discouraged. Naturism is about joy and happiness. Cast off your worries as your cast off your clothes. We’ll discuss ideas how about to promote naturism among family and friends, and in time maybe this movement can grow bigger. We are glad to have you here.
* The middle eastern nations, as well as China and North Korea, will not be covered due to political and religious extremism.
** The purpose of the page is not to guilt Christians, Muslims, or those of any other faiths. Besides, there are devoutly religious people, including within Abrahamic faiths, who practice naturism.
