In Japanese, sarashi さらし, meaning literally "bleached," typically refers to a piece of white cloth worn around the chest by women, and around the torso by men.
It's also spelled 晒.
Left: Kuurubiyuutei Gankyou 空琉美遊亭丸京
Center: Buratei Marii 蕪羅亭魔梨威
Right: Bouhatei Tetora 防波亭手寅
Rightmost: Haroukitei Kigurumi 波浪浮亭木胡桃
Anime: Joshiraku じょしらく (Episode 7)
Meaning
The word sarashi means literally "bleached." It's the noun form of the following verb:
- sarasu
晒す
To expose.
To bleach.
From this meaning, you can guess a sarashi was originally a bleached cloth.
The sarashi was worn around by men around the torso, and later by women around the chest. This has the side-effect of hiding the volume of one's breasts if they're bound tightly.
- sarashi wo maku
さらしを巻く
To wrap a sarashi around [one's chest].
To bind. (LGBT slang.)
Tropes
In anime, male characters that wear a sarashi tend to be samurai 侍, warriors, etc. Girls that wear a sarashi also tend to be masculine, like female delinquents (sukeban スケバン) that can beat guys in a fight.
- otoko-masari
男勝り
"Man-besting." A girl that wins against a guy in a fight.
Examples
For reference, some examples of characters that use a sarashi:
Female
Left: Tanimura Chiaki 谷村千秋
Right: Oomori Nene 大森寧々
Anime: Beelzebub, べるぜバブ (Episode 8, Stitch)
- Context: a gang of female delinquents.
Anime: Mayo Chiki! まよチキ！ (Episode 2)
- Context: Konoe Subaru, who is a girl pretending to be a boy, uses a sarashi to hide her breasts, binding her chest flat.
Male
Right: Sagara Sanosuke 相楽佐之助
Anime: Samurai X, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- (Episode 4, Stitch)
- Context: Sagara wears sarashi.
Second rightmost: Kamina カミナ
Anime: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, 天元突破グレンラガン (Episode 1)
- Context: Kamina and his fellow villagers wear sarashi. In particular, the background character at left wears it around his neck, apparently as an accessory like a scarf.
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