Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
Geta are a pair of Japanese raised wooden clogs worn with traditional Japanese garments such as the kimono. A clog thong is attached to the base wooden board, the dai or stand, that the foot rests on, and it passes between the big toe and the next toe. Two supporting pieces of wood beneath the board, the ha or teeth, raise the foot off the ground. This page explains the geta's construction, its pairing with the informal yukata, its place in sumo dress, and the Japanese saying that you do not know until you have worn a geta.
Geta are most often seen these days on the feet of sumo wrestlers. One will most likely hear them before you see them as they make a distinctive clacking noise as the wearer walks. This is sometimes mentioned as one of the sounds that older Japanese miss most in modern life. (It can also be regarded as the sound that a sumo wrestler will miss least, as only those ranked in the lowest two divisions must wear them.)
In Japan, there is a saying, "You don't know until you have worn a geta." This means, you can't tell the results until the game is over.
Because wearing geta makes one look taller, the figurative meaning of wearing geta is to show something to have more amount than it actually has.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/geta_(footwear) ). 12/10/04 |
The raised construction is the whole point of the geta. Traditional Japanese garments are long: a kimono's hem reaches toward the ankles, and on wet, muddy or dusty ground an ordinary flat sandal would let the hem drag and soil. Two wooden teeth lift the foot, and with it the hem, clear of puddles and dirt, while the flat board gives a stable platform. The thong between the toes is the same fastening principle as the related Japanese footwear in this section: the zori, a flatter sandal, and the waraji, a straw sandal, both hold the foot by a toe post, and the divided-toe tabi sock is shaped to work with all of them.
The geta's sound is part of its identity. The wooden teeth strike the ground at each step with a distinctive clack, so a wearer is heard before being seen. That sound is sometimes mentioned as one of the sounds that older Japanese miss most in modern life, as paved streets and Western shoes have replaced geta in daily wear. In sumo the sound has the opposite association: only wrestlers in the lowest two divisions must wear geta, so the clacking is a reminder of low rank. The saying 'you don't know until you have worn a geta' uses the footwear figuratively: results cannot be told until the game is over, and because wearing geta makes a person look taller, wearing geta can also mean showing something to have more amount than it actually has.
Geta are a pair of Japanese raised wooden clogs worn with traditional Japanese garments, such as the kimono, with a thong that divides the toes between the big toe and the next largest toe.
The dai is the base wooden board, or stand, that the foot is set upon. The ha, meaning teeth, are the supporting pieces below the base board, also made of wood, and there are usually two of them per pair.
Geta are most often seen these days on the feet of sumo wrestlers, and only those ranked in the lowest two divisions must wear them. Geta are also often worn with the informal yukata.