Shoes On, Shoes Off, Shoes On...

As a girl with a certified shoe addiction, I was devastated to learn that in many places in Japan you cannot wear your 'outdoor shoes' indoors.  This unfortunately meant that the 30-odd pairs of high heels I crammed into my suitcase and brought over with me, are relegated to merely decorating my shoe closet most of the time.

This is my shoe shelf, just inside the front door of my apartment.

At school for example, teachers and students each have their own shoe lockers with a pair of "indoor shoes" snuggled inside.  When you arrive at school in the morning, you stand on a rubber mat near the aforementioned shoe lockers and remove your outdoor shoes.  You then step into your indoor shoes and place the originals into the locker for the day.  I assume this is in order to make cleaning the floors an easier task, though conceivably it could also be to prevent damage to the hardwood floors that feature heavily throughout the school, or to distinguish between students of different year levels (1st grade JHS students at my school wear white shoes with blue trim, 2nd grade students wear white shoes with yellow trim and 3rd grade students wear white shoes with green trim).

This is my shoe locker at school.

Depending on where you go that day, it's not uncommon for people to change shoes dozens of times from the moment you leave the house to the moment you return.  It is common practice to take your shoes off and stack them on a provided shelf at restaurants for example.  Also, in Japan people never wear shoes inside personal homes.  If you are visiting someone, you will be expected to take your shoes off just inside the front door (usually you are presented with house slippers to wear).  It is also common practice for women to wear stockings ALWAYS or these little footlet socks that come in a variety of colours/materials.


This is my shoe situation on any given day:

1.  Put on my "outdoor shoes" as I leave my house.

2.  Drive the 3 minutes it takes me to get to school, enter the foyer and change into my "indoor shoes".

3.  Wear indoor shoes all day at school, except when I have to use the bathroom - at which time I must take off my indoor shoes and step into "bathroom slippers".

4.  Change back into my "indoor shoes" at the conclusion of my bathroom visit and remain in these shoes UNLESS... I have to go to the gymnasium, in which case I must change into "gym slippers" for the duration of my stay in there.

5.  Exit the gym and change back into my "indoor shoes" to go back to the staff room.

6.  At home time I go back downstairs to the foyer, remove my indoor shoes and place them in my locker, step into my "outdoor shoes" again and drive the 3 minutes home.

7.  Arrive home, step inside and remove my "outdoor shoes" altogether.

This has become my daily shoe routine, save for travelling anywhere or visiting anyone etc, in which case the number of shoe changes increases again!  Crazy huh?

Here I am wearing my "indoor shoes".  As it is the end of the school day, I must change into my "outdoor shoes" to wear home.

Every school has a supply of "visitor slippers" for guests that come to the school.

This is the entryway to my apartment, where all my shoes get lined up after being taken off.