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 āslipperā in Japan. Most of the time, in Western countries, āslipperā means āa semi-closed type of shoe, consisting of a sole held to the wearerās foot by a strap running over (or between) the toes or instep (Reference: Wikipedia)ā. 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 āslipperā, 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.
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Our theme is āReturn of Japanese Slippersā
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 āReturn of Japanese Slippersā.
We believe slipper can be a bridge to the peace (= āHeiwaā)
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. āBenefits for all three sides, for the customer, society, and the vendorā is what we are aiming for.
We believe slipper can be a bridge to the peace (= āHeiwaā).
- Heiwa Slipper