In Douglas
Adams novel “The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy” the main character Arthur
Dent becomes aware of the towels importance and how it is considered to be “... the most massively
useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have” whilst travelling around the
universe( Adams:1979 & 2004, p 18).
In reality and in Japan a towel is simply a towel. However there is one other, from a western point of view, useful bathroom product that might
come in handy if you intend to stay or visit the land widely known for samurais, Manga, Anime, sumo wrestling and electronic industry.
If you already have visited Japan I suppose that you also figured out that:
- yes, I am talking about slippers.
If you already have visited Japan I suppose that you also figured out that:
- yes, I am talking about slippers.
Owning and
wearing slippers in Japan is crucial. According to the www.japan-guide.com it is neccessary if you want
to be seen as a person with good manners. As I
arrived and entered the Kansai Gaidai arranged Seminar House I was gently told
to take of my shoes by the doorway or genkan as they call it. By that time I realized three important things.
Firstly: That it is
custom to wear slippers inside the houses in Japan.
Secondly: That I hadn’t
brought any slippers with me.
And lastly: Socks smell after a while and wearing shoes doesn't really help in any other way then preserving the stench during the door-to-door 20 hour travel. Luckily the
RA’s at the Seminar House prepared a short tour for the newly arrivals and the
first stop along this tour was a place to buy the comfortable footwear we call slippers.
I was by japanese standards a brute.
I was by japanese standards a brute.
Luckily the
rules for the occassions to wear or not to wear slippers are quite easy. When
entering a house you replace your ordinary outdoor shoes with slippers. Wearing
your outdoor shoes inside someone’s home is a BIG no, no.
You don’t walk on tatami with slippers. Instead you should walk on the mat either bare foot or with socks on.
-
.And for your own good you better remember to remove and/or switch the
toilet slippers to your ordinarie ones before returning to the dinner table at a
restaurant.
.And for your own good you better remember to remove and/or switch the
toilet slippers to your ordinarie ones before returning to the dinner table at a
restaurant.
I enjoy your introduction (and I usually travel with a bath towel as well...). In Japan, rather than a large bath towel, a smaller towel or handkerchief is massively useful... But slippers are important, too, as you describe here (although you usually don't need to bring your own - they are more communal as opposed to a handkerchief). The smelly socks is a good bit to consider (often times smells are ignored in these kinds of texts in spite of being one of the first things we notice in new settings). In the future, more academic sources rather than tourist sites will make your text stronger.
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