Yesterday, I read this interesting short essay in the newspaper written by the writer Fujiwara Tomomi . It was the title of his article that caught my eyes. That said, “Only the Japanese who were wearing shoes.” You could imagine easily that the Japanese take off their shoes inside the house as it’s their custom. But how come, as he said, only the Japanese kept wearing their shoes at the party held by a French man living in Tokyo. I summarized his article below.
Before reading my summary, do you know what ‘Agari kamachi’ is? The Agari kamachi is a kind of step to enter the living space from an entrance in the Japanese houses. Commonly, you’re supposed to take off your shoes before you step on that Agari kamachi. It’s easier for you and me to show you some pictures of Agari kamachi to make it clear.
It happened at the party where I was invited by the French living in Tokyo. I found the several Japanese among of many foreigners there. The Amid of merry atmosphere, I was startled to know that every one except me was not wearing his/her shoes, while I was in my boots perfectly! However, taking a good look at them, I found that other Japanese were wearing their shoes either. I whispered behind my fan, “We are supposed to take off our shoes here..” to one Japanese beside of me, and rushed to the entrance hall. There I found a bunch of shoes were lined up insidiously. Why? We are so accustomed to taking off our shoes that we never make such a rudeness? The answer is clear. Because, there was no Agarikamachi in that house. The Japansese unconsciously make their decision whether to take off ther shoes or not depend on the existence or nonexistence of the Agarikamachi. We never wonder about it at a hotel room or an office room where the floor is extending flatly from the corridor. (It mean you can keep wearing your shoes.) Also, once we found the Agarikamachi , we will take off our shoes without any doubt.
That Agarikamachi has now been disappearing from modern Japanese houses. They call this movement as ‘ barrier-free/バリアフリー’. I wonder this movement would be accelerated more and more, and finally the Agarikamachi have gone away? Could you imagine the Japanese live in their houses wearing shoes in the future? I don’t think so. I believe the Japanese would never stop taking off their shoes in their private space. The Agarikamachi is not merely a step but it’s the border between outside and inside of the house, and they believe that border has some cultural meaning in their lives. If the Agarikamachi would have gone, we might lose that something in our mind either. I want to know what the something is.”
From the article by 藤原智美 in The Yomiuri newspaper of the 4th of Nov.
I do take off my shoes in my room, and anywhere if it’s possible. I guess he had that mistake because the Japanese people tend to think that the westerner don’t take off their shoes until they go to bed. (Is it true?) How about you? When and Where do you take off your shoes?
***heenai heenai *** 
We take off our shoes at my house ob the carpet, but it’s also not so strict. I’m not going to make anyone (guest, repairman, etc)remove their shoes if they don’t want!
I may run back inside to get something I forgot and not bother to remove them. Sometimes, I kick them off midway through the living room to greet Andrew or Anna Belle at the end of the day.
Andrew may walk around with his shoes on until he decides he’s relaxing, or not leaving the house again for that day. I feel that his way is really typical of Americans.
Hanh is Vietnamese, so she never wears shoes in the house. In fact, all of her shoes are lined up by the door!! Winter, summer, every single one!
Of course, at my house there’s no ‘agari kamachi’.
However, the outside door opens into the kitchen and the carpet doesn’t begin until beyond the kitchen area. Everyone takes their shoes off at that line and leaves them there!
You can see it here; http://tsukareru.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/100_8634.jpg
Anna Belle is good about obeying this rule and rarely goes into the kitchen.
When I have to go back and fetch something quickly to my house, I confess, I have gone inside with wearing my shoes..but always I feel a bit guilty to do that. I never do that in front of my kids! or I will crawl on my knees.( it must be much faster to take shoes off than to crawl!)
My kids are usually in bare foot unless it’s too cold.
Perhaps I should explain Kentuckians and our strange relationship with shoes.
It’s a long held sterotype that people in Kentucky, even in the curent day, don’t wear shoes most of the time.
Of course with all sterotypes, there is a grain of truth. Yes, of course we wear shoes, but for kids and in very rural areas, things can be alittle laxed.
Most shops and resturants in rural areas have signs on the door that say ‘No shoes, no shirt, no service’. They is a reason and a need for such signs.
Most child growing in the very rural areas go barefoot during the warmer parts of the year. Good shoes are expenisve and to a rural farming family the cost can be prohibtive. As was the norm when I was a child, the parents buy you one good pair of shoes for the school year. That’s it, you only wear them only to school to make last!
So, if you’ve worn out or outgrown your shoes from last year, you may just run around to play barefoot.
I have a feeling that most Kentuckian, like me, feel freer barefoot. It reminds us of childhood and running through the grass with that feeling between our toes.
Think about this also reminds me of something that happens when I was young, around 8 years old.
My dad had me and his wife’s youngest niece and we were going fishing at the lake. The niece and I are around the same age and we liked to play together. Anyways, we needed to buy some supplies and we were going via the car to the shop then the lake.
We were get out of the car to go inside the shop when suddenly, Nicole refused to go inside! I looked down and immedately understood why. She had no shoes. My dad didn’t notice this when he had collected us up from her family’s farm were we had been playing together. I had on only some cheap plastic sandals, but none the less shoes. She felt so ashamed of her bare feet and how tanned and calloued they were. I felt compeled to save her from shame and removed my own shoes! We walked into the shop, barefoot, hand in hand with my dad. Before the day was done, dad bought her some nice shoes.
Now, Nicole is a wife and mother. She’s a good mother to her little babies. I’m sure I don’t have to say that she would never let them go barefoot anywhere, and they always have good shoes to wear.
‘No shoes, no shirt, no service’ ! haha that made me laugh!
Really? So, is it as far for Kentuckians to live like someones like New Yorkers as the Japanese mentally? I sometimes find that in the movies, it looks they accentuate the difference between urban people and rural people. I’ve understood because it’s just a movie.
Yeah, we don’t have agari kamachi at our house in the US, nor when I lived in Ireland either. But my wife trained me to take off my shoes early in our relationship (we’ve been together for 11 years now).
But, in my family, we wore our shoes inside the house sometimes, unless they were muddy or especially dirty. I think most Americans are that way.
I know a friend who lived in Japan for 3 years (American like me), who said that once you learn Japanese hygiene habits like taking off shoes, or washing hands frequently, it’s hard to go back. I know what he means. When you get used to better hygeine, you don’t want to have dirty habits anymore, so sometimes American habits bother me. :-0
Now I train my family to take off their shoes at our house too. 😉
Do you know some Japanese take off their shoes not to soil the carpet inside of their CAR!! Moreover, they often force their family or friends to take off shoes either when they ride on these ‘土足厳禁’ car.
It’s SO hilarious when you find a pair of shoes left befind at the parking lot!! ( He/she forgot to take them inside and ran away.)
I have inside shoes and outside shoes, I keep two pairs of shoes by my front door (one pair of outside shoes and one pair of inside shoes), at my back door I keep a pair of garden shoes so I can kick off my inside shoes and put on my garden shoes to work in my garden. I don’t make my guests take off their shoes, but I mop the floor after they leave, so that my floors are clean again. I don’t do this because my mother was Japanese, I do it because I’m a neat freak. Do Japanese use the term “neat freak?” That just means I keep a very neat and clean house.
In school, students change their outside shoes to inseide ones. You have ‘the open school day’ sometimes, which means parents can go inside the school and attend the class to watch your kids studying, and on that day, I have to bring a pair of slippers with me. I think the floor of school is pretty clean.
Yes, there are “neat freak” in Japan, too!! They have a lot of kind of brushes matching to all kinds of faucets and various electric appliances and pollish them all day long.
I have once been amazed by husband when I clearned the floor of the TENT with a wet towel during camping. I never do that now, but at that time, my daughter had been still crawling, and it freaked me out!! haha I was a bid weird at that time.
Hi Naoko!
In Malaysia, the Malays, Chinese and Indians do practise the same thing…we take off our shoes before we enter the house.
I am not sure about the other races but I think they’ll do the same thing.
Nope, we don’t hv any agari kamachi..(or do we?)
Well, that depends on the house design.
The basic point is, it just becomes our custom to do so. Even in some carpeted shops or boutiques that I went to would politely asked the clients to take off their shoes!
Especially the muslims as they sometimes provided a small corner for the staffs or clients to perform prayers. They also take off their shoes when they enter the mosque.
The Indians also do the same when they enter the temple.
Yes, I was a ‘neat freak’ too. That was when my daughter was still a baby. But now, I think I m ‘cured’.
Shoes in the parking lot?..Hi,hi,hi….It happened to me once or twice..feeling sexxyy driving without them!
Oh, here in Malaysia, just watch out for Mr Policeman, you don’t want to get fine for that!
>Even in some carpeted shops or boutiques that I went to would politely asked the clients to take off their shoes!
Oh, they do? You don’t have any shop in Japan like that. They take off their shoes at a shop only when they try to wear clothes in the fitting room. or a shoes shop, of course!
You did left your shoes in the parking lot?? haha
Is it good to drive without shoes? I’ll try it once!
>Oh, here in Malaysia, just watch out for Mr Policeman, you don’t want to get fine for that!
You mean,,is it illegal??
BTW, thanks for comming and feel free to leave your comment!
確かに段差がないと、いくら靴を脱いでも、部屋の中が汚れる気がしてならないですよね。あれは何なんでしょうね、習慣ですかね。
改めてうちの玄関を見たら
マンションなので上がりかまちは、わずか５ミリほどですよ。
でも、無いのは気持ち悪いですね
In Canada most people take of their shoes when they go into peoples houses. We only leave them on if the person asks us to leave them on, which is pretty rare. It’s really disrespectful to wear shoes inside and dirty up someones floors and carpets. I think part of the reason might be our long winters, and lots of snow. It’s very messy.
へえ Canadian don’t wear shoes in the house.
So, do they have some particular space to take off their shoes like genkan in Japanese house? Is the floor flat?
It is flat, but you can easily tell the difference between the entrance and the rest of the house. We usually have a front entrance area that has tiles or vinyl flooring, a carpet mat, and a rubber mat for wet shoes.
Oh I see! Now I can imagine how there are!
konnichiwa!
i a lurker, always reading your posts but never commenting. I just wanted to let you know that in my country we take our shoes off too. I live in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (Middle East). As muslims, we have to ensure that the floor is always clean as we may need to pray there (we bow down so we touch the floor), also not just for praying but in general in order to be clean we always take our shoes off. It seems weird to walk with shoes on in the house as they surely get dirty (even if its just a little bit) from walking outside, so why would you walk with them on your clean floor?? Is that just an American thing? my mum is British and shes been raised just like me, she never wore her shoes in the house.
We don’t have a step like in japanese houses so usually people just take off their shoes next to the door, and guests never come in without taking their shoes off. You don’t even need to tell them, its just how it is over here. its interesting reading the comments about everyone’s experiences on the matter. thanks for the interesting post.
Just want to say i enjoy your blog a lot, i love japan and the japanese language thats why i subscribed.
I have many japanese friends but all of them have lived in the UAE or are living here now so i can’t really ask them this question as they cannot answer objectively, i wonder what japanese people think of Arab people? Can you give me your opinion please?
I’ve been to Japan twice, and will be going again this January and have really enjoyed my time, i wasn’t treated any differently or stared at.. but maybe thats coz im half british so i don’t look like an arab. I hope you can answer my question ^^
Hi,
Thank you for comming and I’m glad to hear you enjoy my blog. Feel free to leave your comment!
wow, you are in Dubai!! we call your country ドバイ, and honestly I didn’t know exactly where it’s. i’m not good at geography, sorry. I’ll check it on a world map!
So, now I found that in quite a few countries, they don’t wear shoes!! How about in China, Rossiya or African countries?
>i wonder what japanese people think of Arab people? Can you give me your opinion please?
Sure, and it’s just my opinion but, I think they don’t know much about your country and Middle east. They don’t know so much about your culture, your history, your religion and etc.
It’s very far both geographically and mentally.
A few things they can know about Middle east area are that we regularly get tons of oil from there and, sadly but honestly, the war. The history around there is so complicated and long to understand fully for the Japanese, as far as the religious war. My knowledge is too vague and ignorant to talk about it. So, most of the Japanese think there are not places for sightseeing. I know Dubai is NOT such a country! I don’t want to offend you. Rather, there are NOT so many spots where outsider should not go into. However, to Japan the news from your area don’t reach so much. So they can’t understand properly nor judge. I should say it is the image of the AREA, not people, not individuals. When you come over here and the Japanese may gaze at you, but it comes from just a curiosity. Some of them might have prejudice because of the lack of knowledge, but such kind of people have same attitude to every other culture they don’t know, I think.
Hi Naoko,
Ha,ha,ha…are u really going to try it? (driving without shoes!) Becareful my friend..
It is illegal. Luckily, I didn’t go far from my house ‘that’ day.
I hv been visiting your blog regularly. Please remember me..Nini. As I said before, I wish to hv an english blog just like yours and getting friends from all over the world while ;
1) Practising my english
2) Releasing my tensions!
And I would like to say ‘konnichiwa’ to the other bloggers too.
Fatima, I hope you don’t mind if I give my personal opinion on your question.
I think whether you r Arabs, Japanese or Americans (or Malaysian), we r just human being. I believe it is wrong to judge people without really knowing them.
In fact, I hv friends from other races and from different countries..and they r all friendly people with the same ambition..Lets Make This World A Better Place To Live.
I believe God creates all the differences with reasons.
Because of that, this world is an interesting planet to live.
And thats why the aliens keep on coming! Just kidding!
Naoko,
I am trying to get some help from my daughter to create my english blog. Her blog is much better than my Malay blog!
She writes about this Uchiha Clan from the Naruto anime and shes writing it in english.
I’ll try to remember where did I put her photo with the ‘headless’ boy and share it with you. (If we still hv it)
She loves unagi and keep on asking me to learn how to cook it.
Mind to share some recipes?
Till then, dewa mata..
Oh! I’m SO sorry! I remember you! Nini, Ok I’ve memorized your name. When you create your English blog, please attach your ‘avator’ on it, which is the small square of pictere attached on your comment.( In my case, the small picture of my daughter and myself.) That helps a lot to show who you are.
Do you use English daily? It looks you are good at English enough.
Thanks for the answers Naoko and nini!
Unfortunately the Arabs have such a bad reputation and everyone thinks we are terrorists because that is all they see on television but what they don’t know is that we hate those extreme jihadist people too and in no way agree with what they do.. Actually Naoko, speaking of my country specifically, we have millions of tourists visiting every year as dubai has been trying to get the word out and show people what life really is like here.. no we don’t live in tents and ride camels as some people think, i’ve actually never even seen a camel except at the zoo.. we are so much like any other nationality that its funny really.. I think if yo compare between me and any other japanese 23 year old girl, we’d probably be so much alike.. last january i was in tokyo with my friend from dubai (shes japanese) and i met her old school friends and got along so well with them, they were so amazed that i could speak japanese and had seen more dorama than they have and when i told them that we have A LOT of people from my country studying university in Japan or even in dubai but learning Japanese they were amazed. We all have a lot to learn about each other..
Anyways, thanks for answering, and maybe i’ll comment again sometime ^^
Oh, I don’t know why, but your commnet fall into the spam box! Sorry.
haha, I HAVE touched a camel at the zoo!!
The Japanese is also thought by foreigners that we are eating everything row. When I had been to some foreign country, I took the scuba diving tour there. Then during the tour boat were going to the diving spot, a little fish jumped into the boat. A westerner grabbed it, sticked it to my face and said “Here your meal is, eat it!” He might make fun of me, but I was a bit sad.
We will be come accross with such misunderstanding as long as we try to go out our own culture. It’s ok! I will learn English more and make some joke to him! ( or I’ll bring soy sause with me to everywhere!)
I do take take my shoes off when Im at home but inside I would just wear my indoor slippers as I am a bit of neat freak but not too overly neat as I used to be in the past. I just like to make sure my floor looks clean with no foot prints hehehe Even at my country we all take our shoes off when at home and we all walk bare feet indoors.
I just read your email 😦 Im so sad to know about what had happen and I didnt know about that either. Will reply to you soon.
I hope you’re enjoying your weekend so far!
❤
What kind of floor do you have? Made of wood, tiles, or carpeted? I have wooden floor with rug partly, no tatami. I thought I wouldn’t need tatami when I moved to this house as to keep tatatmi dry and clearn is bothersome, but now I regret it a bit…
Tatami is GOOD for relaxing! I prefer to sit on the floor to a sofa. I often lie on the rug on my stomach and read books. Tatami is much better for my style. When my kids left this home to live by themselves, and if we could afford, I must refurbish my house to perfectly Japanese style!!
Oh no! What sad thing happened?
Had you expected a tatami room? oh, sorry..I don’t have any tatami room!!
Tatami is good unless you are living in traditional Japanese building, I mean the house in Japanese traditional wooden style. The traditional houses can easily ventilate as they have wooden doors, shouji, fusuma, sand wall etc. With modern technique and the improved materials, we can live warmer in winter and cooler in summer, but it prevents tatami from ventilating. You know what I mean? The modern houses don’t let air out from room to outside. So, that is one of the causes of icreasing allergys, thay said.
Mine’s tiled and its sort of pearly white …it was like this when we moved in whereas my bedroom floor is laminated flooring which I prefer. Back during my childhood days our floors are all wood and we like to lie down on the woven mat my grandmother made or the bamboo mat tho uncomfy was sort of nice to the back after awhile and we would plop some humongous cushions on the mat and we’d prolly fall asleep after awhile and curl up like a contented python when we’re full from a meal and doze off ^_^ I would love to see you refurbish your house to Japanese style one day. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend.
❤
ナオコさん、
i always take off my shoes when entering someone’s house unless they tell me not to. as for my parent’s house or when i’m in my dorms in university, i take off my shoes when entering the house or my room because i’ve just been brought up to not bring dirt from outside into the house and also for the same reason that fatima spoke about: so that we can pray anywhere in the house (except the bathroom!).
here in england, we do not have agari kamachi but those of us that do take off shoes do it as soon as we enter through the front door.
(never thought i would be commenting on a post about removing shoes before entering a house!)
Oddly, I think many of Japanese people believe the westner don’t take off their shoes in the house. Have you visited at the Japanese home while you were here? Didn’t they gaze at you when you enter the house whether you take off your shoes? haha
i did visit a few japanese homes and yes i did take off my shoes because i knew it was the custom to do so. i’m not sure if they were checking to see if i would! 笑
Hi! I’ve been reading and enjoying you’re blog posts for a while, and for some reason I felt like commenting on this one.
I live in New York (on Long Island). In my own home, I usually take off my shoes so I can be more comfortable- though sometimes I just forget- but I have no place to put them really. So I just take them off wherever I am. Honestly, this is kind of a problem for me…sometimes I can’t find them in the morning. ^^
As for visiting friends…if they don’t take off their own shoes or ask me to, I would ask if I can leave my shoes there. Or I ask if they want me to.
Hope you’re having a nice day :]
You should get a shoes box!
Anyway, thank you for stopping by!
Have a nice day as well 🙂
Hi, I just found your blog and I really like it!
I am originally from Russia, so I am quite used to taking off my shoes in the house. We don’t have agari kamachi there, but there is usually some kind of entrance area where people take off their shoes and put on slippers (we even had ‘guest’ slippers in our house, used by visitors).
Then I moved to Canada; as far as I can tell, most people took their shoes off there too. 🙂 Now I live in New York. I think most people here take their shoes off as well (maybe because they see that I have a carpet in the living room).
I also lived in Japan for a year, and taking shoes off was pretty natural (although wearing slippers at school, where I worked, was a little bit odd — we don’t usually take off our shoes at work here!).
Hi Ellie,
Wow! you have lived many places!
I’m glad to get the evidence that the Russian doesn’t wear shoes in the house!! Thank you!
In Japan, there are old and small clinic where you have to take off your shoes at the entrance and put on slippers, which have been worn by patients! Yuck!, isn’t it?
I love taking off shoes, but I’m not very comfortable to put on the public slippers.
Thank you for stopping by, and come again!
I’m beginning to think that Americans are the only ones who wear shoes in the house!
hehe, me too.
I am not very strict about no shoes — if I forgot something at home and have to come back, I’ll just run in and get it, but I always take off shoes when I get home from work. It’s just more relaxing that way.
We don’t have bathroom slippers, though. 🙂 I remember a couple of times in Japan when I forgot to take them off when coming out of the bathroom (like in some restaurants). >.<
Hahahah! Me too! I’ve done that several times and it’s embarrassing!
Great discussion.
In England, a lot of people keep shoes on in homes, but I don’t allow shoes in my apartment.
I have an whole blog about removing shoes in homes: Shoes Off at the Door, Please You might like to take a look.
Hi Matthew,
I visited at your site and I knew that you have to set up a shoe-off policy in your area.
I imagine it costs a lot and tough work to keep their carpet or floor clearn if they soil it every day with their shoes.
Most people just let their carpets get dirty.
But I have never had anybody be offended at being asked to remove their shoes.
Hiya!. Thanks a bunch for the blog. I’ve been digging around for info, but there is so much out there. Google lead me here – good for you i suppose! Keep up the good work. I will be coming back in a few days to see if there is any more info.
I am a Canadian living in Japan, and I always take my shoes off at the door of anyone’s house. In Canada we don’t normally have a step up to the living part of the house, but the entranceway will often have a different kind of flooring from the rest of the house. There is usually a closet for putting your shoes in near the front (or back) door. You can hang your coat up there as well. With cold and snow 9 months of the year you don’t want to track that into the house on your shoes or coat! Canadian houses are also kept warm everywhere so keeping ones coat or shoes on can get uncomfortable.
We are in the middle of building a new house in southern Japan and we want it to be barrier free so that my mother-in-law can live with us eventually. We are looking for an alternative to agari komachi. If you have any suggeestions I would be happy to hear them!
We don’t wear shoes inside my house because we have white carpets (bad color choice for rugs) that would look very nasty if we did wear our shoes inside. In the USA most houses and apartments have foyers which are little tiled areas in in front of the doors so that the door can move freely without interference from the carpet. Most people take their shoes off at these foyers before stepping on the carpet if they don’t wear shoes inside. I don’t have a foyer but still people take there shoes off when they come over because of the shoe rack. Plus they see my white carpet and don’t want to stain it with yuck from outside.=]
I’m Asian, I take off my shoes before entering a house.