GEta (bakiak jepang)

Geta are a style of traditional Japanese footwear. They have a flat wood sole, a "V" style toe thong, and are raised up on two wood strips. In Japanese the strips are called "Ha" which is the Japanese word for tooth or teeth.The soles are rectangular and the thong that goes between the toes is centered between the two sides of the sole so that the left and right geta are identical. The thong goes between the big toe and the next one so the foot is off-center.

In Japanese there are no plurals, so the term geta applies to one, a pair, or a whole teahouse full of them. It's pronounced GE-ta as in "get a job." The geta sandal was termed geta because of the "clack clack" sound they made when walking. Geta sandals are any sandal with a separate heel. The wooden geta sandal is the most well known by Americans for the beautiful pictures seen of geisha women. However, there are many other types of geta sandals including those made of vinyl.

There are several different styles of geta. The most familiar style in the West consists of an unfinished wooden board called a dai (台, stand) that the foot is set upon, with a cloth thong (鼻緒, hanao) that passes between the big toe and second toe. As geta are usually worn only with yukata or other informal Japanese clothes or Western clothes, there is no need to wear socks. Ordinary people wear at least slightly more formal zori when wearing special toe socks called tabi. Apprentice geisha, also called "maiko", wear their special geta with tabi to accommodate the hanao.

Perhaps the strangest of all are the "tengu" or ippon-ba (one tooth) geta. These are worn by the mythical "Tengu the long nosed goblin". Tengu are reputed to wear very tall geta, and are often pictured as wearing tall geta with only one ha. Although the tengu is mythical, the tengu geta are made and sold being described as for "mountain men and priests." I read a comment once that they're good for walking in swampy areas because the mud doesn't get stuck between the two ha like regular geta. Obviously they develop balance, too!