Do you wear indoor shoes at home? Would you have indoor shoes for when you have a guest? Would you just wear socks, but the bathroom has slippers? I cannot sample many Japanese homes, so I may not know which things are common, as some variation certainly exists. Like, would you get slippers for a toilet room with only the toilet bowl, but no shower? You will not have any room to take steps. What do you think about variation within Japanese homes, if they have a different practise? I am trying to understand whether there is a mental/spiritual component to the shoes rather than a functional one. If it just does not feel right or dirty without indoor shoes.
In my home, guest or family follows the same rules; shoes are off inside the Genkan, you change into room slippers which you can use inside the house. For the veranda and toilet, there are separate slippers.
a) all family members each have their own individual indoor slippers (summer and winter variations)
b) any guests will have guest slippers waiting for them to slip into after they slip off their outdoor shoes at the genkan
c) toilet has separate slippers just inside that room
I think this is very typical of the many Japanese spaces/homes I have sampled and lived in over the years.
I know this is " ask a Japanese" i am not Japanese. I am Brazilian i wear "Hawaiianas" inside the house. Shoes when outside. I also washed my Hawaiianas on a regular basis. Living in America for years. Thank you for sharing
In my family, everyone has their own slippers. also keep separate slippers specifically for guests. For the toilet, we have shared toilet slippers. I think the reason we change into toilet slippers is simply because the toilet feels unhygienic. For other areas of the house, there are more practical reasons like, it’s safer when cooking, cold in winter, and in case of an earthquake you can escape quickly. (Walking around barefoot can be dangerous, so slippers help with that too.)
Yep, I wear slippers but only in winter season.
My wife and I always wear slippers because we don't clean the floor quite often. I personally want to replace the slippers with sandals.
Ye because it’s winter.
In my house, no shoes inside. We walk with socks or nothing on the feet. No indoor shoes. Nothing different for the toilet. For the veranda there are some old plastic sandals we use for that.
室内、ベランダ、トイレは別々のスリッパを使う。理由は室内を綺麗に保つ為。
Naturalized Japanese with Japanese spouse: we have cats with cat fur and sometimes unexpected cat vomit, so we always wear slippers indoors. We have a few pairs of slippers for guests, but when we have a party, we just clean the floors very well first so that guests don’t feel the need for slippers. But we don’t have toilet slippers.