At the bottom of my kimonobox I have many beautiful geta. They don’t get enough use these days, but in sorting through them I realised how inspirational the Japanese geta were for modern fashion in general.
These must be the ultimate platform shoes!
Brilliant Feet
Originally of course, the idea behind raised shoes for the Japanese feet was to prevent the kimono from getting mud on the hem. When you are wearing very expensive silk kimono that is one thing you must avoid at all costs.
A century ago these girls knew how to avoid mud on the kimono
Imagine how difficult it must have been for these girls to walk! And what amazing headgear the middle girl has in her hair. The weight of the costume must have been very tedious.
Typically, Geta are made from a piece of solid wood with two wooden blocks underneath. And they make a click clack sound, karankoron karankoron. It is a lovely onomatopoeic word written in katakana like this カランコロン.
So a century or more ago, before the noise of cars took over the Tokyo streets, the sounds of geta clacking away must have been quite a characteristic of Japanese life!
Geta
There is usually a metal plate on the section that touches the ground to help lengthen the life span of the Geta. The V-shaped thong of cloth forms the upper part of the footwear.
Lovely composition of photo
(Whilst my own geta in the kimonobox are lovely – I have chosen to use these brilliant images from flickr to highlight the importance of the geta in Japanese culture. Click through on the photos to see more wonderful images and work from their photographers.)
Single tooth geta is really difficult to walk with – look through this video – excellent work!
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I have lived and worked in Japan for the past twenty five years off and on. I have seen many changes and enjoyed the various paradoxes and anomalies of everyday Japanese living.
#JBlogs My Geta http://bit.ly/3xxTA9
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Japanese Geta post from @KimonoBox http://bit.ly/17ILV and Geta in-depth article scans from KIE Magazine http://bit.ly/6YyHS
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
RT @KimonoBox: My Geta | Japan http://bt.io/8sY
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
RT @KimonoBox: My Geta | Japan http://bt.io/8sY
Don’t those types hurt your feet after a while? To me they just look very uncomfortable, imo.
I used to find the geta such a thing of beauty until I wore one for the first time with my Yukata. It hurt like crazy! Once again, I have new respect for women, geta and high heeled shoes…things they have to go through for fashion (or in the geta’s case…cleanliness) Thanks for the article!
RT @KimonoBox: In the Kimonobox | Japan http://bt.io/CSQ
Now that is on cute cat ^_^. Cats like to tumble things around, then go about their business.
This comment was originally posted on kimonobox.com
The girl in the middle of the second picture is an oiran (highest rank of courtesan in Edo period). The geta she’s wearing is typical for her rank. There is a special way of walking in these things as you can see in the movie Sakuran with Anna Tsuchiya in the main role. Great movie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f03GnZGXRTk&feature=related
here you find another example. It’s an oiran Dochu. The parade of the oiran.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNncpdEFOB0
Yes I am sure they are not the comfy croc choice you would wear to the conbini but careful as you go they are chic!?
Good feedback – many thanks