Why Japanese change their slippers so many times?

Why Japanese change their slippers so many times?

In Japan, indoor slippers are very popular, and even in the same house, people often change their slippers several times depending on where they are in the room.

For example, the first thing to do is to take off your outside shoes at the entrance and change into indoor slippers.

The second place to change your slippers is in the bathroom.
Many households have their own slippers for the bathroom for hygienic reasons. Having a pair of slippers for the toilet helps to keep the room hygienic in Japanese households where people often sit or relax directly on the floor.

The third slipper to change into is an outdoor slipper for use on the terrace, balcony, or a small garden. These slippers are for outside use, but they are designed to be easy to put on and take off. For example, they are used for hanging laundry on the terrace or doing a little work in the garden.


In countries other than Japan, it may be unusual to change your slippers many times like this. However, in Japan, where people are accustomed to sitting, lying, and relaxing directly on the floor, slippers are used to keep the floor of the room clean.

Another major reason is the cultural background of taking off one's shoes for spiritual and traditional reasons.

In Japan, there is a phrase, "stepping into the house with shoes on. In Japanese, there is a phrase "DOSOKU ćœŸè¶ł"

which directly translates to "to step into someone's territory with one's shoes," DOSOKU ćœŸè¶łâ€ has the meaning of "shoes worn outside," but it also has the spiritual meaning of "dirty, rude, lacking in etiquette and respect.

In other words, taking off the shoes you wear outside and changing into indoor slippers helps to maintain a calm and clean environment both mentally and physically.

Please feel the charm of Japanese style slippers.

Heiwa Slipper

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How did the slipper become so common in Japan? | What is Heiwa Slipper?

What is Heiwa Slipper?

In the beginning, Japanese slippers

Thank you for visiting our website. We are an online slipper store located in Japan and very excited to introduce you our various collections of the slippers.

But first, let me explain what we call “slipper” in Japan. Most of the time, in Western countries, “slipper” means “a semi-closed type of shoe, consisting of a sole held to the wearer’s foot by a strap running over (or between) the toes or instep (Reference: Wikipedia)”. They are wearable shoes for outside, most of the time, and sometimes inside as well for comfort. On the other hand, in Japan, when we say “slipper”, we think flat, in-house footwear item, and that is the kind we would like to spread to the world.

As you may know, it is our common practice to take our shoes off when we go in the house to keep the floor clean. Then why do we wear slippers in the house? How did the slipper become so common in Japan?

How did the slipper become so common in Japan?

It is said that the origin of slipper firstly appeared in Japan in the beginning of Meiji era (1968-1912), which was the time Japan was opening its country to the world and having more people visited from outside, especially from Western countries. However, those visitors of course walked straight into the houses or hotel rooms without taking their shoes off. Japanese people worried that the floor would eventually get dirty and the tatami would be damaged. Slipper was devised to deal with those problems and to welcome people who came from different cultural background.

 

Our theme is “Return of Japanese Slippers”

Ever since then, slipper has become common/daily use item all over Japan. However, unfortunately, we barely find slippers made in Japan these days. A lot of them are industrially mass-produced in other countries at lower wages, and sold at a cheap price here. Our theme is “Return of Japanese Slippers”.

We believe slipper can be a bridge to the peace (= “Heiwa”)

Here, we will introduce slippers made with the spirits of Japanese hospitality. We would like to also introduce some slippers made in other countries, in which we try our best to achieve the fair-trade upon importing them. “Benefits for all three sides, for the customer, society, and the vendor” is what we are aiming for.

We believe slipper can be a bridge to the peace (= “Heiwa”).

- Heiwa Slipper