Geta (footwear)

The earliest known pair of geta was excavated in a neolithic archaeological site near Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, dated to the Liangzhu culture (3400–2250 BCE).

Geta-style shoes were worn in Southern China likely until sometime between the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing dynasties (1636/1644–1912), when they were replaced by other types of footwear.

Examples of Japanese geta dating back to the latter part of the Heian period (794–1185) were found in Aomori in 2004, during an excavation along the right bank of the Shinjo river.

[3] Oiran (花魁) – high-ranking courtesans of the feudal period in Japan – wore tall, lacquered koma-geta or mitsu-ashi (lit.

Whereas geisha and maiko wore tabi socks, oiran chose not to, even in winter, as the bare foot against a lacquered clog was considered to be erotic, leaving the toes poking out under their expensive and highly decorated padded kimono.

Geta are worn with the foot overhanging the back and a finger-width of space between the strap and the skin webbing between the toes.

[4] Sometimes geta are worn in rain to keep the feet dry, due to their extra height and impermeability compared to other footwear such as zori.

The original motivation for wearing the high platform shoes was not fashion, but practicality: to keep feet and kimono from coming in contact with things on the ground, such as dirt, filth, water, or snow.

Maiko (geisha in training) wear distinctive tall geta called okobo, which are similar to the chopines worn in Venice during the Renaissance.

Very young girls also wear okobo (also called pokkuri and koppori) that have a small bell inside a cavity in the thick sole.

These blocks may have a metal plate on the section that touches the ground in order to lengthen the life span of the geta.

Inside the hanao is a cord (synthetic in modern times, but traditionally hemp) that is knotted in a special way to the three holes of the dai.