The way of wearing traditional Japanese footwear

Japanese footwear 'Geta'

Japanese footwear 'Geta'


When wearing Kimono, one wears traditionalJapanese footwear such as Geta, Setta, Zori, etc.
In the same period that people stoppedwearing Kimono, most Japanese stopped wearing these footwear.

Including us Japanese, when people who wearnormal shoes try traditional Japanese footwear such as Geta or Setta, many saythat it hurt their feet or that it’s difficult to walk in.
There are two major reasons for this.

The size of the Hanao do notfit the feet


Recently, most of the Geta and Setta soldin Japan have thongs called Hanao already fixed on the base of the Geta or Setta.
Originally however, one would choose the baseof the footwear, and skilled craftsman would fix the Hanao tailored to thewearer’s feet. Geta and Setta with Hanao fixed from the beginning will not fityour foot, and your toes will graze against the Hanao and blister.
The Hanao must be fixed on the Getatailored to the wearer’s feet.

One does not walk in Geta thesame way one walk in shoes


First, remember the two following points onhow to wear Geta.

1) Different from shoes,traditional Japanese footwear such as Geta and Setta are worn with your heel stickingout about 2-3 centimeters (1-1.5 inches ) from the base. (To not entangle thehem of the Kimono.)　

2) The Hanao comes between yourbig toe and second toe. Leave a little space between the Hanao and the joiningof the toes. If you put the Hanao deep in between the toes, your toes willhurt.

The unique way to walk in Geta is, firstbend your knees a little and relax your legs.
To walk, do not kick the ground with the Geta,but tilt your “center of gravity” forward from an upright position, and placethe front teeth of the Geta on the ground.
At the same time, place the other leg (Geta)quietly parallel on the floor.
In other words, make your body as relaxedas possible, transfer your gravity center forward, and move forward using the tiltof the Geta.

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