Please remove your shoes.
The above picture shows the sweet Japanese custom of, “Please remove your shoes.”
In Japan, it is customary to remove shoes before entering homes at the the “genkan” entrance hall. Shoe removal also is common in Russia and northern Europe, but somehow hosts wise up enough not to ask a person on crutches to remove their shoes since that is akin to asking a ablebodied person to remove their legs. Needless to say, coping with a serverely broken leg like mine at the moment is a big problem in Japan.
“Welcome to our home. Please remove your shoes.”
Montpelier, Vermont—-It’s an increasingly common refrain in this age of white carpet and anti-bacterial everything, as more and more people are going shoeless at home and asking visitors to do the same.
…..To the uninitiated, the practice might seem excessively demanding or simply odd. But a vast swath of the Eastern Hemisphere is covered in societies where shoe removal is the rule.….more….
In reality this charming Japanese custom is a royal pain in the ass and uglier than hell as shown in the photos of the real Japan below.
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