Customs & Etiquette
Genkan and shoes
玄関げんかんgenkanOne step up: where the outside world ends
In Japan, outdoor shoes are removed at the genkan, the sunken entrance area of homes and many traditional buildings, before stepping up onto the raised interior floor. The custom keeps the dirt of the street out of living spaces where people sit and sleep at floor level.
Every Japanese home has a genkan: a small entrance area at ground level, typically tiled or stone, with the living space one step higher. That step is a clear boundary. Shoes belong to the outside and stay below it; inside, people walk in socks or slippers.
The practice has practical roots – traditional homes had floors of wood and tatami on which people sat, ate and slept – and a symbolic one: it separates the clean interior (uchi) from the outside world (soto). The same boundary appears in schools, temples, traditional inns and some restaurants and clinics.
Step by step
- 1Stop at the genkanPause at the lower entrance area and greet your host; do not step onto the raised floor in shoes.
- 2Step out and upRemove your shoes and step straight up onto the raised floor, keeping your feet off the genkan floor.
- 3Arrange the shoesTurn or kneel and place your shoes together with the toes pointing towards the door, or put them in the shoe cupboard if asked.
- 4Put on slippers if offeredWear the slippers on wooden floors, remove them before tatami, and switch to toilet slippers in the toilet.
Why shoes come off
Japanese domestic life has long taken place close to the floor. Tatami mats are woven from rush over a firm core, easily damaged by hard soles, and were the surface for sitting, dining and laying out futon at night. Bringing street dirt onto them would be both unhygienic and destructive.
Over time the practice also took on meaning. The genkan marks the transition between public and private, and removing shoes is part of greeting a household. Many Japanese people keep the custom even in fully Western-style flats without tatami.
Where to take them off
The rule is simple: if there is a raised floor or step at the entrance, a row of slippers or a shoe cupboard, shoes come off. Signs reading 土足禁止 (dosoku kinshi, "no outdoor shoes") make it explicit.
Private homes
Always. Hosts usually provide slippers for guests.
Ryokan and minshuku
At the entrance or at the door of the room; some inns keep guests' shoes at the front desk.
Temple halls and some shrine buildings
Shoes come off before entering halls with wooden or tatami floors; plastic bags or shelves are often provided.
Restaurants with zashiki seating
Rooms or areas with tatami floors and low tables; shoes are left at the step or in lockers.
Schools, some clinics and castles
Schools have shoe lockers and indoor shoes; many historic castle keeps ask visitors to remove shoes before climbing.
Fitting rooms
Shoes are removed before stepping onto the raised floor of a changing cubicle.
Slippers and tatami
Slippers (surippa) are worn on wooden or carpeted indoor floors but taken off before stepping onto tatami, where only socks or bare feet are appropriate. Toilets usually have their own dedicated slippers, kept just inside the door; changing into them and back again keeps the rest of the house clean. Walking out of the toilet in toilet slippers is one of the classic slips that amuse hosts.
In ryokan, guests often walk the corridors in slippers and leave them outside the tatami room.
Surippa
スリッパsurippaIndoor slippers for wooden floors and corridors.
Toire surippa
トイレスリッパtoire surippaSeparate slippers used only inside the toilet.
Getabako
下駄箱getabakoShoe cupboard in the genkan; the name recalls the wooden geta sandals once kept there.
Doing it gracefully
Step out of your shoes and directly up onto the raised floor without putting a socked foot down on the genkan floor, which counts as outside. Then kneel or turn slightly and set the shoes neatly side by side, toes pointing towards the door, so they are easy to put on when leaving. In a home, the host may do this for you.
Shoes that slip on and off easily save time on sightseeing days, and clean socks without holes are worth thinking about, since they will be seen.
Frequently asked questions
Why do Japanese people take off their shoes indoors?
To keep street dirt out of living spaces where people traditionally sat and slept on the floor, and to mark the boundary between outside and home.
Can I wear slippers on tatami?
No. Slippers are removed before stepping onto tatami, which is walked on in socks or bare feet.
Do I need to take off my shoes at temples?
Usually before entering halls with wooden or tatami floors, but not in the grounds. Look for a step, shoe shelves or a sign.
What are toilet slippers?
Separate slippers kept inside the toilet room. Change into them on entering and back into your indoor slippers on leaving.
Related
Sources
- 1.Japan National Tourism Organization – Official travel guide (opens in a new tab) — JNTO
- 2.Web Japan (opens in a new tab) — Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan