There are sights and sounds that are sort of unique to every culture. One sound that's sort of unique to Japan is the clop of a type of footwear called geta. Their appearance is somewhat like our thongs, however, they're made of wood. Their origin goes back at least to the samurai era of the 1600s and their shape is unique. The sole is a flat wooden platform and has the split strap at the front like a thong. However, on the bottom of the wooden platform are two narrow blocks of wood anywhere from an inch to about 3 inches in height, and herein lies the uniqueness of the geta. It was designed to walk along muddy streets in ancient Japan. They kept one's feet relatively clean and dry and since the wooden platform was off the ground by the thickness of the supporting narrow wooden blocks, they picked up very little mud. Today they're not worn outside one's neighborhood very much, but their clop sound is often heard early in the morning or late in the evening when one puts on their geta to go for a newspaper or whatever. They're the footwear of choice in the onsen (hot springs) resorts when one walks from their hotel to the hot springs for a bath.

Published October 3, 1999.
Courtesy of The NewsPress, Stillwater, Oklahoma