When you're invited to a Japanese home for the first time, one thing that might catch you off guard is the custom of removing your shoes. In Western countries, it's common to walk indoors with your shoes on, but in Japan, virtually every household requires you to take your shoes off before entering.
While this habit may seem simple at first glance, it actually has surprising depth — and depending on the location, there are detailed rules to follow. In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know before coming to Japan: the origins of the entryway, rules around slippers, and tatami etiquette.
👟 What Is a Genkan (玄関)?
The Step
When you enter a Japanese home, the first thing you'll encounter is a space called the genkan. The genkan is a special transitional area that connects the outside world with the interior of the home — and the floor level outside is slightly lower than inside.
This step is a practical design feature that prevents mud, dust, and dirt from the outside from making their way into the living space.
🧹 The Entryway Mat
Many households place an entryway mat on the upper (indoor) side of the step. The mat serves to prevent dirt, sand, and dust from being tracked in from outside, while also protecting the floor.
🗄️ The Shoe Cabinet (靴箱, Kutsubako)
Most Japanese homes have a shoe cabinet in the genkan where the family's footwear is neatly stored. In Japan's space-conscious homes, the shoe cabinet is an essential storage item. The top of the cabinet often holds small decorative items, flowers, and potted plants, making it part of the overall entryway décor.
Genkan Etiquette
How to Remove Your Shoes
You must remove your shoes before stepping up over the threshold, and it's proper etiquette to place them neatly. Leaving your shoes scattered or in a messy pile is considered rude. Arranging them with the toes pointing toward the exit is seen as an extra touch of consideration.
Handling Suitcases
In Japan, there is a strong awareness about not bringing outdoor dirt inside. Some people wipe down their suitcase wheels before entering — personally, I always wipe mine with disinfectant and wet wipes when I get home.
When moving through the home, suitcases are carried rather than rolled to avoid scratching the floor.
When visiting a friend's home, it's a good idea to ask where you should leave your suitcase. Since the wheels have been used outdoors and may be dirty, you may be directed to leave it in the entryway or on a mat.
🧦 Getting Around Indoors — Slippers or Bare Feet?
So what do you do after removing your shoes?
Generally, you switch into slippers. Slippers are kept near the entryway so you can put them on right away. When guests visit, having a clean pair of guest slippers ready is a basic element of Japanese hospitality.
Slippers come in all varieties. Fluffy materials are popular in winter, while open-toe types are cool and comfortable in summer.
Lately, indoor zori sandals have also become popular.
Zori are traditional Japanese sandals — flat footwear with a thong strap (hanao), historically worn with traditional Japanese clothing.
As for me, I personally go barefoot at home. Japanese floors — whether hardwood or tatami — are pleasant to walk on with bare feet, and there's an indescribable sense of freedom in taking everything off when you get home.
Japan's commitment to keeping floors clean has even made its way into the business world. One major moving company offers a complimentary service where staff change into fresh white socks at the entryway before entering a new home.
🚽 Changing Slippers by Location
In Japan, it's customary to change slippers depending on where you're going. This is a uniquely Japanese practice.
Toilet
The toilet has its own dedicated pair of slippers. Because the toilet floor may be unclean, these slippers exist to prevent that dirt from being tracked through the rest of the home.
Rather than entering the bathroom in your regular indoor slippers, you switch to toilet slippers at the door.
A common mistake is walking back into the room still wearing the toilet slippers. Many people have had a Japanese friend quietly point this out to them — and honestly, even Japanese people slip up sometimes. If you notice, just head back quickly and laugh it off 😄
Balcony
When stepping out onto a balcony or into the garden, you switch to outdoor sandals or dedicated balcony slippers. Since the balcony is treated as "outside," wearing your indoor slippers out there is a no-go.
🌿 Remove Slippers in Tatami Rooms
Traditional Japanese rooms are covered with tatami — natural mats made from igusa (rush grass), known for their gentle texture and distinctive scent.
Wearing slippers on tatami can damage the surface. The proper etiquette is to remove your slippers before entering a tatami room and walk in barefoot or in socks.
Don't Step on the Heri (Border)
Tatami mats have a strip of cloth sewn along their long edges called the heri (border). It plays an important role in protecting the corners from wear and filling the gaps between mats.
Stepping on the heri has long been considered disrespectful and bad luck in Japan. The reasons are layered with historical context:
In old Japan, the color and pattern of the heri indicated social status. Borders bearing family crests were symbols of authority, and stepping on them was seen as an act of disrespect toward the person of rank.
Traditional heri were dyed with plant-based dyes, which were prone to fading and fraying — making it necessary to avoid stepping on them.
Additionally, as tatami aged, the border would sometimes lift and create a raised edge, posing a tripping hazard.
While modern heri materials are far more durable and don't require the same level of care, the practice lives on as a piece of traditional Japanese etiquette.
On a related note, a similar custom exists around not stepping on the shikii — the wooden threshold at the entrance to a Japanese-style room.
The shikii is the horizontal wooden piece at the base of a sliding door frame, featuring grooved channels for the door to slide along.
🛋️ Sitting Directly on the Floor
Because shoes are removed and floors are kept clean, it's perfectly natural in Japan to sit directly on the floor. Floor-level living often means the whole family gathers around a low table for meals — and without the need for large furniture like chairs, even small rooms can make great use of the available space.
Keeping furniture low also brings the overall sightline of the room down, which creates a visual effect of making ceilings feel higher and the space feel larger.
And of course, being able to simply lie down on the floor whenever you like is one of the great pleasures of floor-level living. Stretching out on tatami in particular — with its just-right firmness and natural scent — is an experience unlike any other.
This is a photo from a ryokan I stayed at. With a meal-in-room plan, food is brought here, and afterward, staff bring out the futon from the closet and lay it out for you.
If you're staying in Japan, I highly recommend experiencing this at least once.
🏯 Places Outside the Home Where You Remove Your Shoes
The custom of removing shoes extends well beyond the home. In Japan, you'll also take off your shoes in the following places:
Ryokan (Traditional Japanese Inn)
You remove your shoes at the entryway and move through the inn in slippers. In tatami guest rooms, the slippers come off too.
A ryokan is a traditional-style Japanese lodging where you can enjoy Japanese-style rooms, hot spring baths, and Japanese cuisine.
Shrines and Temples
Shoes may need to be removed when entering the main hall or certain designated areas.
Japanese Restaurants (Zashiki Seating)
At restaurants with traditional Japanese-style seating, you remove your shoes at the entrance or just before your seat. One common mishap at large group dinners — like company parties — is accidentally putting on someone else's shoes. It even happened at my own company's year-end party. A little too much to drink, I suppose 😅
Schools
Both students and teachers change from outdoor shoes into uwabaki (indoor school shoes) when entering the building. Shoe cubbies are set up at the school entrance.
【Photo: Uwabaki】
Uwabaki are soft-soled shoes worn exclusively inside school buildings.
Have you ever seen a scene in a Japanese anime where a love letter is slipped into someone's shoe cubby? Before smartphones were everywhere, writing your feelings in a letter and tucking it into someone's shoe cubby was a common way for students to confess. On Valentine's Day, boys would nervously open their cubbies wondering what they might find 🤭💕
Some Clinics and Hospitals
At smaller clinics, you may be asked to switch into slippers before entering.
Hot Springs and Public Baths (Sentō)
You'll also change your footwear at hot spring facilities and public bathhouses.
A sentō is a public bathhouse where anyone can pay to bathe.
One thing my mother always told me when wearing shared slippers in public: wear socks. It's less about etiquette and more about preventing athlete's foot 😅
The dental clinic I go to has a machine that automatically sanitizes slippers, but I imagine facilities like that are still fairly rare. When visiting hot springs or public baths, don't forget to pack socks along with your change of underclothes 👍
👟 Wrapping Up
For Japanese people, removing shoes isn't just a habit — it's about keeping floors clean so the whole family can comfortably sit and lie down on them.
When you visit Japan, try experiencing this culture firsthand at a ryokan or in a Japanese home. It might feel a little unfamiliar at first, but once you get used to it, you may be surprised by just how comfortable it is.
Have a wonderful day 💕
