ill fitting footwear

When I am out and about in Japan, I notice people whose shoes don’t fit properly. No matter how short the trip I always notice at least one or two. Some people are wearing slip on shoes with their heals or toes sticking off; others have the heal of the shoe bent forward because their foot is too long to fit inside. It always surprises me, as the Japanese are otherwise very careful dressers. Their shoes are not cheap shoes – they just don’t fit. Don’t they notice their heals are dragging through the mud or puddles? Often, too, their shoes are totally inappropriate for the activity – like riding bicycles or climbing Fuji. Perhaps I am extra sensitive to it because Americans are so shoe conscious, always having the perfectly fitted shoe for the sport or function (and huge closets).

So, I asked a friend of mine – if everyone is wearing shoes with their toes and heals getting all dirty, what do they do when they get somewhere where they have to take their shoes off? The whole point being not to track dirt in. She said that most people carry clean white socks with them to slip on when they go inside. (I did not mention my consternation at the thought of putting dirty feet into clean socks.)

Last night on my way to the train station I passed a group of people. The men were all wearing black suits and the women had on black dresses. I thought perhaps some office had a very strict dress code until I got closer. Each woman had a single strand of pearls. It was a funeral. Women should not wear any jewelry other than a single strand of pearls to a funeral. Many Japanese women don’t wear jewelry at all, so the single strand of pearls is actually more than they wear all week.

On my way to my house from the train station, I pass very close to people’s homes. The street is right under the windows, so I was mere feet away from people going about their business. I heard a baseball game coming from one window. At another house an entire family was sat down to dinner and conversation. I shouldn’t hear these things. But, I am not yet skilled enough at ignoring them. The entire society is dependent on people’s abilities to totally ignore one another. With so many folks packed into one place, it would be impossible to have any privacy (you‘d go insane), unless you are absolutely certain that no one is paying any attention to you and you are totally ignoring them. I am pretty good at the no eye contact thing now – something very difficult for a Mid-Westerner (where the inability to look people in the eye might indicate a sneakiness of some sort). I can even be jostled and pushed around and pretend not to notice – for a long time every outing was a constant steam of, “excuse me, excuse me, excuse me,” until I figured out that no one was saying excuse me – they were just ignoring one another. However, sometimes I can’t help but notice.

Hope you have a great day!!