Hello from J-List! As we prepare for the upcoming Anime Expo, we’re starting preorders for our new J18 line of licensed doujinshi and art books, which will be available at the convention, or you can order them from our website starting today. Browse the new J18 English-translated books on the site here, or read our post about our booths at Anime Expo, so you can plan your visit to our 18+ and all-ages booths…and get something signed by JAV star Kaho Shibuya, who’s our guest at the show!
I remember my awareness of Japan, growing up at the age of four or five in the Washington D.C. area. I knew Japan made interesting cartoons, like my favorite at the time, Kimba the White Lion, though for the longest time I thought it must have come from Africa because Africa owned the copyright on lions. I knew that Japanese people’s mouths didn’t quite match their words when speaking English, because I’d watched Godzilla and Ultraman dubbed in English plenty of times. And for some reason, I had an idea that Japanese companies did things a little differently than American companies because Yamaha made pianos and electronic organs but also motorcycles and lawnmowers, which seemed odd to me even then. (Companies in Japan often sell a wide range of products under general brand names, for example, Sony has a popular line of make-up products and an automotive insurance business, and Panasonic builds houses under its PanaHome brand.)
And for some reason, I knew even at that young age that Japanese people always took their shoes off when entering a home. Which is true — whenever you enter a Japanese home, and many businesses (including J-List), you remove your shoes at a recessed foyer at the front door called the genkan, which keeps the dirt from the soto (outside) from messing up your clean, pristine uchi (inside). So I knew something about Japanese shoe culture even as a child.
Since anime often represents a snapshot of Japanese culture, we can often catch interesting glimpses of what life in Japan is like by watching. Here are some of the things we can learn from Japanese shoe culture as seen through anime…
- We can tell whether a person is a neat freak or a sloppy pig by how they leave their shoes in the genkan, the recessed shoe foyer. As was shown famously by Toradora…
- As in the Seitokai Yakuindomo movie, it’s possible to poke your head inside a front door and see who’s visiting before you even enter the house. It’s a common staple of Japanese dramas for a woman to stop by a man’s apartment but can see he’s got female company from the sexy shows in the foyer.
- Although it’s hard to see this just from anime, the genkan area isn’t actually considered part of the interior of the house, but officially part of the outside. As a result, it’s common for strangers to open the front door and step into this area as they announce themselves.
- The reason shoes are kept outside homes is that shoes and anything related to the feet are considered kitanai (dirty) by Japanese, to the point that if I were to wash my sneakers in my wife’s washing machine, I’d be buying her new one soon after.
- Toilet slippers are a thing. If you accidentally wear the toilet slippers outside of the toilet, you’ll be embarrassed about it for years.
- When working out at a Japanese gym, you bring a separate pair of “indoor only” shoes that are never worn out on the street. When I visit my local YMCA in San Diego and see people standing on yoga mats they’re about to lie down on with dirty outdoor shoes, which is a shock to me.
- Japanese know Westerners usually keep their shoes on inside the homes because they see this is in movies and on TV. What really freaks them out is seeing them lie on their beds wearing dirty shoes.
What interesting things have you noticed about Japanese shoe culture by watching anime? Tell us on Twitter!
We’re happy to announce our newest product line, called J18, a new company that will be involved with finding and publishing the best Japanese doujinshi, artbooks, and awesome related products. We’ve got a great lineup of new products we’re unveiling at Anime Expo, but if you’re not going to be at the show you can order them all online right here.
