Friday, February 25, 2011

8 Things Japan could Improve: No. 1. The Shoes

I can't claim to speak as an expert on Japan, but I thought that some might be interested in reading my thoughts on things Japan could improve. This is staggered with the publishing of my list of 8 unmistakable pleasures of Japan.

Okay, I'll admit this is more than a little bit of a pet peeve, but, Japan, what is up with your shoes? You are so often addicted to beauty, so regularly involved in craftsmanship, but in three months in Japan, I saw so many terrible shoes, and so few great dress shoes, I was truly bewildered. I saw, and counted, exactly four pairs of classic dress shoes in all my time in Japan, not counting the admittedly pleasant penny loafers which shod near every school girl, and some of the school boys.
I did, however, see more athletic shoes worn with suits than I had ever seen before in my life. Nor ever before have I seen so many bicycle-toed, glue-soled, scuffed, pleather examples of footwear. Truly, sad, and beneath them as a nation. An insult to human dignity.

2 comments:

  1. haha... weird.

    truly, by definition, an idiosyncratic nation. I would never have guessed this would be the case...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perhaps a problem, but I wouldn't ride to work in heels or walk a mile to school or work in heels, perhaps the men feel the same way about dress shoes, especially since many of them probably remove their shoes anyway once they arrive at their destination.

    ReplyDelete