I'm MASA, the Creative Director at SIDO.
In my role as Creative Director, to ensure the brand's ongoing growth, I often make decisions and execute strategies based on data.
While looking back at SIDO's 20-year history and analyzing the data, I discovered something curious, which is what I'd like to blog about today.
It is...
There is an unusually high number of business owners, artists, and athletes among SIDO HOHTAI (bandage) pants users...
Why is this the case?
These are people constantly exposed to high pressure.
What is this "invisible investment" that they secretly prioritize?
By unraveling the customer feedback and data accumulated from 20 years of producing and selling HOHTAI pants, as well as actual data from the global health and men's underwear markets, we have conducted our own unique investigation into why SIDO's HOHTAI pants continue to be chosen.
Why do business owners, athletes, and artists keep choosing SIDO HOHTAI pants?
As of 2026, in the business scene, I feel that a fundamental factor is that the lifestyles of business owners and top leaders have undergone a paradigm shift from showing off "vanity" or "status symbols" to "maximizing essential performance."
In my position, I meet many business owners, corporate executives, artists, and athletes, and what they all commonly care about on a daily basis is...
"Avoiding even the slightest invisible stress."
Just as represented by Steve Jobs' black turtleneck or Mark Zuckerberg's gray T-shirt, I feel that finding ways to avoid decision fatigue is a consciousness they all share.
In fact, they are making their greatest investments in the "most private area that directly touches the skin."
This can be read from the data of our SIDO customers.
So, why do they choose our SIDO underwear...
Let's thoroughly unravel this mystery based on the latest market data and the deep psychology of business owners' mindsets.
"Physical Comfort" that dictates the quality of decision-making
The daily lives of business owners, corporate executives, artists, and athletes are a series of schedules mapped out by the minute and decisions accompanied by pressure.
In neuroscience, it is proven that human willpower is finite within a day and can be easily depleted by trivial stress.
Success depends on how you maintain your own strong willpower and focus your resources on critical moments.
To those of you saying, "What does underwear have to do with it? Isn't it a matter of mental strength?"...
What is often overlooked here is the impact that "clothing-induced discomfort" has on the autonomic nervous system.
The human body is such that...
If the size is wrong, it's too tight, or it has poor breathability and gets stuffy...
With just these things, it promotes the secretion of cortisol (stress hormone) and
continues to send a "persistent alert of discomfort" to the brain.
They naturally desire to bring this "physical noise" as close to zero as possible.
For them, clothing is not merely decoration, but an "OS (operating system) extension" for maximizing the performance of their own body hardware.
With a fit provided by a special knitting method, just the right amount of compression, and breathability from our uniquely developed HOHTAI®︎ fabric structure, it allows heat to escape when it is hot and humid, while the special fabric structure retains warm air to keep you cozy when it is cold.
SIDO's HOHTAI pants align perfectly with their consciousness and values.
Sublimation from "consumable" to "performance gear"
The world's rising health consciousness is also directly triggering changes in the men's underwear market.
Underwear has often been treated as mere daily necessities or consumables.
However, the luxury men's underwear market is currently experiencing unprecedented growth.
According to research data from Global Market Insights, the global men's underwear market reached 78.3 billion USD (approx. 11 trillion yen) in 2024, and is projected to expand at a staggering rate—with a CAGR of approximately 5.7% through 2035, and reaching up to 19.4% in some high-function segments.
This growth is being driven by a significant expansion in the segment of people seeking "comfort," "functionality," and "sustainability."
Having exhausted investment in "items to show others," such as suits and watches, the market has begun pursuing "ultimate comfort for oneself" as the next frontier of wellness.
In a seamless lifestyle that goes from long flights to boardroom meetings, and from gym workouts straight to the office, high-function underwear that keeps the body comfortable in any environment and releases it from constriction has already become an indispensable "business gear / performance gear."
The revolution brought by the patented "HOHTAI®︎" material
SIDO HOHTAI pants offer the perfect answer to the demands of such a rigorous men's underwear market.
HOHTAI®︎ is, as the name suggests, a fabric uniquely developed (and patented) based on medical bandages. This fabric boasts specs that fundamentally overturn the common sense of existing apparel.
1. Phenomenal breathability and thermal insulation
The greatest feature of HOHTAI pants lies in their overwhelming breathability and thermal insulation.
Compared to regular cotton or polyester underwear, the HOHTAI®︎ fabric releases heat and moisture to the outside through its unique mesh structure. During tense business negotiations or long hours of desk work, stuffiness in the lower body is the height of discomfort.
HOHTAI pants can physically eliminate this "discomfort due to stuffiness" and maintain a comfortable environment at all times.
To give you an idea of how breathable it is, it dries by the next morning even if you hand-wash it.
In other words, it is a powerful partner for minimizing luggage when traveling or on business trips.
At the same time, when it is cold, this special fabric structure can create a layer of warm air between the fabric and the skin to keep you warm.
2. Ultimate fit and maintenance of concentration
It flexibly follows the body's movements using a special knitting method that applies the elasticity of medical bandages.
The constriction of waistbands and pressure around the thighs hinder blood flow and cause fatigue accumulation, but SIDO achieves an exquisite tension that gently wraps around the body through the skilled craftsmanship that Japan is proud of.
The fact that the Etlis model—co-developed with athletes (such as former Hanshin Tigers player Takashi Toritani)—is gaining popularity proves that its high motion-tracking ability is achieved at a professional level.
This prevents useless movements and distraction of consciousness, such as adjusting underwear that has bunched up, allowing you to direct 100% of your concentration on the critical tasks at hand.
3. Minimization of frictional stress on the skin
Discomfort, such as the friction of cloth directly touching the skin, affects human autonomic nerves.
With reliable technology that can only be produced by Japanese craftsmen, the HOHTAI®︎ fabric has a special uneven structure that minimizes the contact area with the skin.
Because of this, there is no "stickiness" where the fabric adheres to the skin when you sweat; it eliminates frictional stress not through silk-like smoothness, but through a structural and architectural approach.
In the current underwear market, this is something that only the HOHTAI®︎ fabric made by Japanese craftsmen can achieve.
Customer feedback regarding SIDO HOHTAI pants
Let's look at real feedback from people who have been using SIDO HOHTAI pants for years.
(* A partial excerpt of feedback received from actual customers)
Business Owner / Influencer (40s, Tech CEO)
My mornings are early, starting with a personal training session, followed by work and meetings at the office until late at night every day. The reason I love SIDO HOHTAI pants is that they are "seamless in every way."
There's no stickiness even after intense exercise at the gym, and I don't feel any stuffiness at all during the long hours of desk work that follow. "The time I spend worrying about my underwear has disappeared from my life."
I replace them every year and have been using them for 5 years; I like them so much that I even give them as gifts, and they are always well-received.
Investor / Runner (Late 50s)
I often travel overseas and fly frequently, so the quality of my sleep on the plane significantly impacts my physical condition the next day, especially at my age.
Changes in air pressure, dryness, and sitting for long periods are quite tough, but the exquisite fit of SIDO HOHTAI pants reduces fatigue, allowing me to spend those long hours comfortably.
Running is a hobby of mine, and I participate in full marathons; they are extremely comfortable even when running. There is no other underwear that allows you to spend your time this comfortably while being active.
Real Estate Sales / Former Basketball Player (Late 30s)
I used to be a professional basketball player, but now I play basketball as a hobby while working in real estate sales.
I learned about HOHTAI pants through a trainer when I had just turned professional, and I've been using them ever since. Back then, I would sweat a massive amount from daily intense exercise, so I would get terrible heat rash, and no matter what, I couldn't stop scratching, which left my skin in a bad state.
That was when I was introduced to these HOHTAI pants.
Without exaggeration, I can only wear these now.
We receive various feedback from many other customers daily, and since many of them send us their impressions in handwritten notes, we have posted some of them on this online store.
Actual customer feedback ← You can view it here.
Summary of analysis and investigation of SIDO HOHTAI pants
One of the reasons SIDO HOHTAI pants have been supported for 20 long years is...
"Eliminating noise from invisible parts and pouring 100% of resources into essential values."
We have found that this is because you can obtain this ultimate rationality through your underwear.
The reason they continue to support SIDO HOHTAI pants is by no means "merely a luxury."
It can be said that it has become the most reliable and highest ROI (return on investment) "self-investment" for maximizing the use of one's own capital—the body.
As indicated by health market data and the trends of the rapidly growing luxury men's underwear market, this trend is expected to accelerate even further in the future.
If you feel that your daily performance has hit a limit...
Or if you want to aim for even greater heights...
"Perhaps it is time to update your invisible armor."
This overwhelming sense of liberation you feel the moment you put them on and they touch your skin.
I would love for you to experience this top-tier comfort that supports zero-second decision-making at least once.
Click here for SIDO's premium men's underwear where you can taste ultimate comfort
