22nd February 2025
Explanation of the study points
- To ‛take off’ shoes means the same as ‛to remove’ them.
- This posting is designed to introduce and repeat some phrasal verbs within the text.
- As usual we try to repeat key words and phrases naturally within the text.
- There are some pictures included to show how the phrasal verbs put on and take off are both used to describe the putting on and taking off of many different items of clothing and accessories.
- This is not the case in Japanese. In the Japanese language different words are used when talking about putting on and taking off different items of clothing and accessories depending on the item.
Places around the world where people take off their shoes
Something that is ingrained in1 many cultures around the world is the taking off of shoes when entering buildings. Sometimes this is for practical2 reasons, basically meaning the weather.
In Scandinavian countries or Canada for example, there is a lot of snow in winter and you don’t want to be walking around the house in wet boots unless you really want to annoy yourself or the people you live with…
Religious reasons also stop people from wearing shoes in mosques in Islamic countries as mosques are sacred3 places and shoes are thought to be dirty. In Buddhist countries such as Thailand, footwear4 is not allowed in temples as temples are also sacred places. For the same reasons that people don’t wear shoes in mosques or temples, people don’t wear their shoes in their homes in Islamic and Buddhist countries.
You could say as well that many Islamic countries and Buddhist countries are hot a lot of the year so there are practical reasons too. You don’t really want to wear shoes in your house in hot weather unless you really don’t like seeing your feet or you like smelly feet.
Taking off shoes in Japan
In Japan the reasons are more practical than religious. Cleanliness is very important and shoes bring dirt into the home. Most homes in Japan are not carpeted,5 so wearing slippers in winter is definitely a practical reason to help keep your feet warm. In summer most people are barefooted – again for practical reasons.
In Japan almost all homes have a 玄関 (genkan) which is a small area at the entrance to a house and it is at a lower level than the floor of the rest of the house. Outside shoes are not supposed to be worn on the raised6 floor.
There are shoe boxes at most of these genkan that you put your shoes away in.
You can leave your shoes lined up at the entrance if you want or put them away in the shoe boxes if you feel like it. These shoe boxes also have slippers in them ready for people to take out and put on before they step up on to the raised flooring.
When you’re inside the house on the raised flooring don’t think you can relax just yet. There are special toilet slippers, yes for when you’re in the toilet room and no slippers of any kind are supposed to be worn in tatami rooms.
Many people also have light outdoor footwear lined up on their balconies or verandas or at the entrances to their gardens.
It’s not only in homes that you should take off your outdoor shoes. Almost all schools require students to take off their outdoor shoes and put them into their shoe boxes at the entrance. The students then change into 上履き(uwabaki) at the entrance. Uwabaki are light shoes for indoor use.
Some restaurants, with or without tatami rooms, require you to take off your shoes at the entrance to the restaurant. In some restaurants with tatami rooms you have to take off your outdoor shoes at the entrance to the tatami rooms.
Other restaurants have slippers for you to wear in the restaurant in the non-tatami rooms but many don’t. You just walk around in your socks, although there are toilet slippers at the entrance to the toilets. In some other places, for example hospitals, you have to take off your shoes at the entrance to certain7 places in the building.
What about in your country?
What’s the situation in your country? It seems that in some countries such as France or New Zealand quite a lot of people take off their shoes but quite a lot don’t. They leave them on. In Latin countries such as Spain and Portugal and countries in South America most people wear shoes in their homes and this seems to be the case in the USA and the UK too.
It seems that in countries in Africa there are different ideas about taking off shoes depending on the country or the religion.
It does seem though that more and more people around the world are taking off their outdoor shoes when entering their homes.
As for Japan, it is said that there is actually a little increase in the number of people who leave their outdoor shoes on in their homes now and more schools these days don’t require you to take off your outdoor shoes when entering the school. What could be the reasons for this do you think?
I think that if our feet could talk to us they would tell us that they’d like us to take off our shoes and let our beautiful feet breathe. Well, what do you and your feet think about taking off shoes or leaving shoes on when entering homes and other buildings?
<Example sentences>
1.ingrained in ~ / ingrained into ~
■ Never taking a break during the day seems to be ingrained in that company’s culture.
■ Sitting down in a cafe and drinking coffee in the morning is ingrained in Italian people’s characters.
■ Do you think always wanting to make more money is ingrained in human beings nature?
■ She had it ingrained into her when she was a child to be very polite to older members of the family.
2. practical
■ He says he wants to live in the mountains but it’s not practical as he can’t drive.
■ Those shoes look nice but they’re not practical for hiking.
6. raised ~
■ Many houses in tropical countries are built raised above the ground to keep them dry and to stop animals and insects from getting in.
■ She grows her vegetables in raised vegetable beds.
7. certain ~
■ There are certain foods that she can’t eat because of her allergy. I’ll let her tell you about them.
■ Be careful when talking to him about certain things. There are certain things he does not like talking about.
■ I met a certain person yesterday. Do you know who it was?
■ Do you put away your shoes each time you get home?
■ What do you wear on your feet at home in the summer and in the winter?
■ I wore / didn’t wear shoes at home when I was younger. ~
■ What do / did you wear on your feet at school?
■ Do people wear shoes in their homes in your country?
■ As a child did you wear shoes at home?
■ I sometimes walk barefooted outside. ~
■ What do you think about people wearing shoes in their homes?
- ‛Ingrained in’ in this sentence means that something has existed for a very long time and it is difficult to change. ‛Ingrained in / into’ is often used to talk about customs, culture and character.
- ‛Practical’ in this sentence something that is connected to the real situation around it. It is not just connected to ideas or imagination.
- ‛Sacred’ means respected due to religious reasons.
- ‛Footwear’ means things that you wear on your feet, for example shoes and boots. Socks are not thought of as footwear.
- ‛Carpeted means having a carpet cover the whole floor of a room. It is different to having only a rug in a room.
- In this sentence ‛raised’ means that an area is higher than the area next to it or around it.
- In this sentence ‛certain’ is used to give some information about something but not information in detail.