Q. What are geta?
A. Geta are traditional footwear of Japan.
Q. Why are they made of wood?
A. Buddhism is one of Japan’s two major religions. Because Buddhists hold animals sacred and are vegetarians, they do not use leather. The other main religion is Shintoism.
Q. Why are they raised off the ground like that?
A. Raised geta keep the wearer’s feet and clothing up off the ground. In the time when geta were commonly worn, streets were unpaved so were dusty and muddy and people didn’t want to ruin their kimonos. Another advantage is because the ground contact area is very small, when walking through puddles, they don’t splash as much.
Q. How high are they?
A. The most common geta are about 5 centimeters high — that’s about 2 inches. Some geta are about twice that and sometimes higher — 8 - 12 inches!
Q. What is the Japanese word for geta?
A. Uh, geta. It is written with 2 characters: 下 which means below or under, and 駄 which means burdensome, pack horse, or to send by horse. I’ll leave it to the reader to dig a word origin out of that.
Q. Tell me more.
A. First of all, understand that Japanese generally does not have separate plural forms of words, so geta can mean a single one or an entire summer festival’s worth.
geta 下駄=the entire sandal
ha 歯=tooth or teeth, the supports that hold the sandal off the ground
dai 台=the base or sole of the sandal. It may mean the entire base including the teeth, or just the flat part.
hanao 鼻緒=the strap
mae ana 前穴=front hole
ushiro ana 後穴=rear hole or holes
Q. I wear size 10, what is my geta size?
A. At best, geta sizing is vague. Often you’ll see a particular style only offered in one size — sometimes labelled “free size”. When sizes are available they are given as the sole length in centimeters, though usually they’re just given as S, M, L.
Q. Ok, so my size 10 foot is 28 centimeters long — do you have that size?
A. Actually you should buy geta 1-2 cm shorter than your foot. See the size chart here.
There is no standard for this, but the consensus seem to be: S= 22.5 cm, M=24 cm, L=25.5 cm, LL=27 cm, LLL=28.5 cm, and so on.
Q. Are they comfortable?
A. Since you’re standing on a flat piece of wood, they’re as comfortable as you’d expect it to be when you stand on a piece of wood. Not soft and padded like running shoes, but not all cramped and pinchy like pointed toe high heels. Also, if you don’t like wearing sandals with a strap between your toes, then you won’t like geta.
Q. Are they hard to walk in?
A. I don’t have any problems. If you think Swedish style wooden clogs are easy to walk in, then you’ll probably think geta are fine, the feeling is similar.
Q. Are they dangerous?
A. Think of them as a pair of platform shoes. They’re fine for walking around the house, park, or mall, but are not an especially good choice for cobblestone streets, mountain climbing, running, driving (illegal in Japan), climbing ladders, exploring caves, coaching an ice hockey team, working in a steel mill, or sky diving.
Q. They look off balance!
A. Oh, you mean how the front tooth is way back? Though there is a tendency to tip forward, they’re really much easier to walk in this way.
Q. Are you sure?
A. A shoe follows your foot’s motion. As you step forward in a sneaker, it first bends then comes up off the ground with your foot. Since geta are rigid, they work differently. As you step off, the sandal tips forward on the front tooth, then follows your foot off the ground. If the tooth was at the front, you’d have to walk with a lifting motion to get the sandal moving and you’d look like you’re walking in mud or deep snow.
Q. Are they common? I’ve never seen anyone wearing them, even in Japanese movies.
A. No, I’m afraid nearly everybody in Japan wears western style shoes these days. But, if you go to one of Japan’s many festivals, you’re likely to see them. On the street, they’re sometimes worn with traditional clothing. Do see the movie “Teahouse of the August Moon,” you’ll see lots of geta wearing — funny thing, though, the geta are mostly worn by the Americans in the movie.
Q. Are geta expensive?
A. Basic plain wood geta can be bought for about $20 in Japan. Of course some geta are better made of better materials and sold in more expensive shops, so don’t be surprised to see plain looking geta priced over $100.
Q. What sort of clothing can I wear them with?
A. Skipping over the obvious (kimono, yukata, hakama, happi, etc.) they’re best worn with casual clothes like jeans or a long denim skirt.
Q. Isn’t the bare wood noisy walking?
A. Yes, on some hard surfaces, they make quite a racket! The sound is distinct as each step makes 3 sounds: the front tooth hitting the ground with a thunk, then the front tooth with a flap, and finally the toe striking the ground with a tick. The sounds blend with the sounds of the 3 sounds from each, overlapping and interleaving with the other. In Japanese the sound is onomatopoeically named karan-koron.
Q. I don’t want to attract that much attention, don’t they make quiet geta?
A. After a bit of wearing them on paved surfaces, the wood gets roughened up and a bit soft where it strikes the ground. This makes the geta quite a bit quieter. This process is speeded up by wearing them in the rain, which, of course, you’re supposed to do!
Some geta shops, Jojo’s Red Geta Strap Shop for example, will attach rubber to the teeth for a small charge. However, it is not at all difficult to do the job yourself. I took an old bicycle tire, cut pieces to size, and attached them to both teeth and right at the front where the toes strikes the ground. You can attach it with either contact cement or tacks.
Q. Where can I buy geta?
A. Except for a few shops in places like Little Tokyo in Los Angeles your choices are to buy them online, go to Japan, or make your own. Our own online shops, japanesegetashop.com and getabazaar.com, have a wide range of sizes and prices.
Q. Are they geisha shoes?
A. Some geisha wear geta, though they’re more commonly seen wearing formal zouri. The big tall wooden shoes you see are called “okobo” and are worn by maiko, who are geisha in training. See The Okobo Project for more information.
Q. I’m looking at the pictures and I can’t see any difference between the left and right.
A. Geta fit either foot.
Q. Ok, so I don’t wear a kimono and I don’t need to be taller, why else should I wear geta?
A. I think a quote from the “about us” page of the Megumi Matsuria geta shop says it best, “The geta is full of a sense of playfulness,” so Have fun!