DESIGN

Kokontozai: KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts — Nikko Geta

『カーサブルータス』2023年7月号より

July 6, 2023 | Design | KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts | photo_Keisuke Fukamizu hair & make-up_Masako Osuga editor_Masae Wako　translation_ Mika Yoshida & David G. Imber

Searching all of Japan for handcrafted items that express its heart and soul, our proprietor, KASHIYUKA, presents things that bring a bit of luxury to everyday life. For this trip she went to Tochigi prefecture to learn about Nikko geta, a variation of traditional Japanese wooden platform sandals, closer to the softer, woven zōri, which were devised specially for pilgrimages to Nikko’s Tōshōgū Shrine.

At the workshop of Mr. Masashi Yamamoto. He founded the shop about 35 years ago in response to the shortage of trained successors in crafting. Our shopkeeper KASHIYUKA is wearing Nikko geta with tabi-style (single-toed) socks constructed of cotton. “The parts in contact with the feet are soft and comfortable! And there’s also a feeling of stability.”

“Nikko geta are both a clog-like geta and a sandal-like zori. They were first made to be worn by those making a pilgrimage to the Tōshōgū Shrine in Nikko,” says Mr. Masashi Yamamoto, the only registered craftsman making this footwear for many years.

Purchase No. 62【Nikko Geta】Footwear both old and new, geta and zōri.

“During the Edo period a certain formality was called for when entering the sacred compound of a shrine. One couldn’t wear one’s everyday geta, but had to wear something special, and so zōri were made for such occasions. But Nikko has many sloping roads leading to temples, and in the winter, snow is a problem that makes zōri very hard to wear. For this reason a special type of geta, called gomen geta (pardon geta) were created, a zōri bed attached to a rootstock wooden base that made it possible to walk the slippery slopes. Entering the Meiji period the base of the footwear was improved, and the resulting Nikko geta became popular among ordinary wearers.”

The current base material is a hardwood known as kiri, the Japanese paulownia, a light yet sturdy wood. Even in today’s usage the material is easy to walk on, and durable.