Geta (footwear)

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A pair of geta

Geta (下駄) are a form of Japanese footwear that resembles both clogs and flip-flops. They are a kind of sandal with an elevated wooden base held onto the foot with a fabric thong. They are worn with traditional Japanese clothing such as kimono or yukata, but (in Japan) also with Western clothing during the summer months. Sometimes geta are worn in rain or snow to keep the feet dry, due to their extra height and impermeability compared to other shoes such as zori.

There are several different styles of geta. The most familiar style in the West consists of an unfinished wooden board called a dai (台, stand) that the foot is set upon, with a cloth thong (鼻緒, hanao) that passes between the big toe and second toe. As geta are usually worn only with yukata or other informal Japanese clothes or Western clothes, there is no need to wear socks. Ordinary people wear at least slightly more formal zori when wearing special toe socks called tabi. Apprentice geisha, also called "maiko", wear their special geta (see below) with tabi to accommodate the hanao.

The two supporting pieces below the base board, called "teeth" (歯 ha), are also made of wood, usually very light-weight kiri (桐, paulownia) and make a distinctive "clacking" sound while walking: カランコロン or karankoron. This is sometimes mentioned as one of the sounds that older Japanese miss most in modern life.

The dai may vary in shape: oval ("more feminine") to rectangular ("more masculine") and color (natural, lacquered, or stained). The ha may also vary in style; for example, tengu-geta have only a single centered "tooth". There are also less common geta with three "teeth." Merchants use(d) very high geta (2 long "teeth") to keep the feet well above the seafood scraps on the floor. The "teeth" are usually not separate. Instead, the geta is carved from one block of wood. The tengu "tooth" is, however, strengthened by a special attachment. The "teeth" of any geta may have harder wood drilled into the bottom of the "teeth" to avoid splitting, and the soles of the "teeth" may have rubber soles glued onto them.

The hanao can be wide and padded, or narrow and hard, and it can be made with many sorts of fabric. Printed cotton with traditional Japanese motifs is popular, but there are also geta with vinyl and leather hanao. Inside the hanao is a cord (recently synthetic, but traditionally hemp) that is knotted in a special way to the three holes of the dai. In the wide hanao there is some padding, in addition. The hanao are replacable. The hanao sits between the two first toes because having the thong of rectangular geta anywhere but the middle would result in the inner back corners of the geta colliding when walking. Recently, as Western shoes have become more popular, more Western looking geta have been developed. They are more round in shape, may have an ergonomically shaped dai, a thick heel as in Western clogs, instead of separate "teeth", and the thong at the side as in filp-flops.

Maiko wear distinctive tall geta called okobo which are similar to the chopines worn in Venice during the Renaissance. Also very young girls wear "okobo", also called "pokkuri" and "koppori" that have a small bell inside a cavity in the thick "sole." These geta have no "teeth" but are formed of one piece of wood. The middle part is carved out from below and the front is sloped to accommodate for walking. Pokkuri are usually red in color and are not worn with yukata, but a very fancy kimono (E.g. at shichi-go-san festivals).

[edit] Trivia

A traditional saying in Japanese translates as "You don't know until you have worn geta." This means roughly, "you can't tell the results until the game is over."
According to Japanese superstition, breaking the thong on one's geta is considered very unlucky.
Japanese professional sumo wrestlers in the lowest two divisions of Jonokuchi and Jonidan must wear geta with their yukata at all times. The clacking sound that geta make when walking are consequently something aspiring sumo stars wish to leave behind as soon as possible.
Early editions of the Pocket Guide to China given to American troops stationed in China during WWII had a section on "how to spot a jap"; one way listed was to see if the 1st and 2nd toes were separated from wearing geta or zori (due to the thong).