Cultural views on the navel Early Japanese poems feature many references to the female navel. In some, the word "navel" actually refers to an indentation or hole instead of the belly button. The shape of the umbilicus of a newborn baby would be discussed at length. If a baby's navel points downward, the parents would brace themselves for a weakling child who will bring them woe. The thunder god Raijin, with his terrifying drums, great horns, and long tusks, was said to have an insatiable appetite for young navels, and mothers had to nag their youngsters constantly to keep themselves well covered up. Due to
Lint (material) abdominal hair often seems to grow in concentric circles around the navel; the scaly structure of the hair enhances the abrasion of minuscule fibres from the shirt and directs the lint towards the belly button. Steinhauser established that shaving one's belly will result in a fluff-free navel but only until the hairs grow back. His other suggestions include wearing old clothes, which tend to shed less lint than newer garments, which can lose up to one-thousandth of their weight to the belly button over the course of a year. A body piercing can also be used, with belly button rings