Do you take off your shoes?

[Elgin]

Do you take off your shoes?

I 'm doing a project on Japan and most websites I go to always point out "don't forget to take off your shoes before you enter a house!" Isn't this common sense? Outside is very dirty and you might step in things that are disturbing, I won't go into details. I haven't been to a house where people don't take off their shoes once entering. But some people come to my house and step on my hard wood floor without taking there shoes off my dad almost gets a heart attack.

 

[kirei_na_me]

Even before I married a Japanese person, I always took my shoes off when in the house. I've gotten to where I can't stand the thought of walking on carpet with shoes on. Wood is easy to clean, linoleum is easy to clean, tile is easy to clean, but carpet... Oh, it's painful for me to even think about it... hehe

 

[Seppuku]

i only take my shoes off if there muddy, wet or if theres snow on the ground, so basically in the winter i take them off all the time in the summer i rarely do, but if i was in someone elses house and i knew they did then i would

 

[Uncle Frank]

THE TRUTH IS....

They used to wear things called getas that raised them up off the ground to avoid mud and poop. If you wore them into the house,(now keep in mind Japanese ceilings are real low, about 4FT6IN) you would bang your head on eveything. So now you go into the entryway of a Japanese home there are several hundred sandals, flip flops, and slippers which greatly lower your height. And always remember to search around to find matching pairs; very impolite to not match !!!!

Frank

just kidding 😊

 

[nata_no]

I always take off my shoes b4 entering the houses. Not sure about this, heard that some families in Hong Kong they wear shoes even at home, anyone knows?

 

[evasuka]

i never really where shoes in my house or anyones' house
im raised like that and shoes seem to stick to the flooring
so i dont like to wear shoes
actually i'd prefer to only wear them when i have too

 

[Chipi]

It’s natural for me too to take off my shoes.

But I’m not surprised to hear that in some countries they don’t take them off. For example I had some experiences with italians, at least there they usually don’t take their shoes off, I guess it’s because of the climate & cultural background..Here it gets wet, muddy, snowy, etc. on autumn, winter & spring, so if you’d wear shoes inside the house, every place would really look horrible..
In Italy then, where it’s quite dry, and the dust can come inside the house no matter how much you clean, it’s maybe even better to keep your shoes on so you don’t smudge your socks etc..(..Just guessing!)

 

[neptunemoon]

i take my shoes off when i enter my room i dont care for the rest of the house thats my mom's business to take care of lol

 

[Timsan]

it deppends on the season. i live in alaska and i ALWAYS take off my shoes though other members in my family wear shoes in the house sometimes to go on the porch and stuff but i have slippers so its good.

 

[Kiyotsuki]

I've developed a habbit to take of my shoes either before I enter the house or as soon as I step in. Living in california, it's not that great of a habbit XD. Sometimes I find my self walking into someone's hous shoeless....and paying for it. ie: no slippers, cold floors, messy house, and all the rest.

 

[Keiichi]

I sleep with my shoes on, shower with my shoes on, and cut my toenails with my shoes on. Just joking. Of course I take off my shoes before entering a home, or whereever it would be impolite to go with shoes.

 

[nata_no]

oh, talking bout shoes, I've seen foreigners (not sure which country they are from), they went shoeless while shopping!! guess they are from somewhere in Europe or US...

 

[catriona]

Well most people don't want to take dirt into their own houses but do you ask your guests to take their shoes off ? I want to but I'm too embarassed to ask because in the UK most people don't take them off. I feel OK asking friends but I never ask neighbours or tradesmen even tough I want to. Like the plumber who left dirty footprints on my cream carpet...
My gran has spare slippers for visitors and no-one enters her home with shoes on ! I wish I had the guts to do the same.

 

[Maciamo]

Taking off one's shoes is systematical in Japan (for me too), but not in Western countries. In some families, people always take off their shoes, but in most they don't, except when they are really dirty I guess.

Their is a good explanation to this. Japanese houses are traditionally made of wood, and most Japanese homes have wooden floors nowadays too, even in a concrete building.

In Western Europe, I've never seen a wooden house except for Scandinavia and Swiss chalets. Everything is in stone, brick or to some extend concrete in the newer parts of some cities (but still rare for residential building). The main difference is also that lots of houses have tiled floor (so, cold stone), rather than wood flooring, on the ground floor (and usually carpet or floor-covering upstairs). Stone is cold and hard, so shoes are more comfortable. It is anyway easier to clean than wood, as one can use water and soap, while wood requires wax and is immediately damaged by wet shoes.

 

[Hachiko]

Yes, most definitely. Who wouldn't?

 

[Uncle Frank]

TATAME MATS........

are easily damaged and soiled and getas would've torn them up. I would guess that might be the historic reason for shoe removal ??

Frank

🙂

 

[kirei_na_me]

That's what I was thinking, Frank. Tatami mats are hell to clean.

 

[Musoka]

I always take off my shoes, I am the one who cleans the house so I have to make sure that I have less work when the time comes to clean.

I go to cheap sandal stores and buy 20 pairs and leave them at the entrance, but people still walk past them...course, I have a bamboo stick that I beat their feet with until they put em on

 

[Uncle Frank]

WIDE FEET(& flat)

Never found a slipper that didn't leave my heels hanging off the back. Used to drag the slippers on the floor to force my toes in or they'd fall off !!

Frank

 

[Feral-Darkness]

"(now keep in mind Japanese ceilings are real low, about 4FT6IN)"

what? Are you kidding me? I never really went into a persons house while I was in japan but man.... Even 5 foot is LOW.

Will it be hard for someone like me who is 5ft 11in to find a house where I don't have to crawl around?

And here I thought this place was low with 6 foot =/ Most houses I have stayed in have 8 foot ceilings

 

[jeisan]

lol yeah franks joker, tis exaggerated a bit. but they are low compared to western houses.

 

[Feral-Darkness]

But is it low enof for me to kick myself in the head and have my head bash into the ceiling?!

 

[Uncle Frank]

I GUESS I NEED ONE OF THOSE.......

signiture things to go at the end of my posts that warns "DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING THIS GUY SAYS TOO SERIOUSLY!!". Like DEN4 says, I know nothing! And I do love to joke around !! Guns are the only thing I know anything about, and that's opinionated.

Frank

🙂

 

[Timsan]

Re: WIDE FEET(& flat)

Originally posted by Frank D. White
Never found a slipper that didn't leave my heels hanging off the back. Used to drag the slippers on the floor to force my toes in or they'd fall off !!

Frank

hahaha

 

[cori-chan]

In Hawaii, we always take off our shoes. I think it's because majority of the people who live here are Asians. Come to think of it, I think that the Pacific island culture is the same way..