The Styles of Samurai Footwear and Their Practicality
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ย. 2022
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Samurai footwear has always been a fascination subject. In a country that is historically known to largely wear sandals, it raises an interesting question: what types of footwear did samurai wear and how practical were they?
This video is done in collaboration with "Samurai and Ninja History" and "Sengoku Studies戦国研究" Check out their samurai footwear videos!
Samurai and Ninja History: • What do Samurai wear o...
Sengoku Studies戦国研究: • What Did the Samurai W...
Also check out Shogo's video as well: • 3 Reasons WHY Samurai ...
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I can't imagine stepping around grounds covered with wayyy too many sharp objects while wearing straw sandals and cloth socks......but again I'm no Samurai
There is actualy music called Samurai Shoes by Samuel Blues haha. Full album
they would be a lot more comfortable then you think. I've never worn the Japanese Waraji before, but I'm able to make grass saddles of a similar design. the Japanese probably made theirs out of rye, rice or wheat stalks which would make them softer and flexible. where's mine are made from flexible vine, dried grass stalks and plant fiber cordage, but are still quite comfortable while walking around.
Sand and pebbles bite into the sandals, so the bottom gets to be surprisingly sturdy. It would be OK unless the ninjas sprinkle makibishi on the ground.
@@tykep1009 Literally just reading _makibishi_ gives me a stabbing pain in the foot lol.
They had different sandals of different materials for different type of terrains back then, they had leather sandals for the reasons you mentioned, they had sandals covered in animal skins for snowy places, they even had armored sandals to ride horses to combat.
I’ve had the honor of wearing samurai armor at some medieval/renaissance fairs with the 3 non armor footwear along with Tabi socks and I can confidentially rate all 3 in terms of what I would pick to wear. As I did walk around on dirt, gravel, basically random outside conditions you would expect for said faire. Including indoor conditions as well.
1. Waraji
Now this was the first footwear I wore with my armor, and it’s definitely very similar to flip flops although the spilt toe socks do add a additional layer of padding. They’re surprisingly resilient for being straw and in the optimal conditions because of how well secured they are to your foot, you can run and move very well in them. They do require more setup like a shoe so if you don’t know what you’re doing or break a piece of straw while you’re trying to put it on, it can be limiting in that aspect. Other problems include stones potentially getting trapped in the straw at the bottom which eventually could eat away at it and scratch your feet theoretically, and also you want to avoid water. It can handle wet surfaces alright enough but direct water contact is quite uncomfortable and clumsy. Also being straw, it will degrade after multiple uses and eventually, no amount of repairs will change the fact you will need new ones.
2. Geta
By far my least favorite, to the point I didn’t wear it the entire time I did use it at a faire. It does have the advantage of having those stilts keep you away from water or rough surfaces that could degrade the footwear, and it’s not that bad in a calm indoor setting. But outside? It takes getting used to. It’s almost like high heels in the way you have to rethink your steps and be careful about balance. And this makes running or agile movement quite difficult and at risk of falling over. If you get used to it and have shorter teeth Getas, it can work well but it’s just not for me.
3. Zori
This is probably my favorite. It combines aspects of both sandal types. It’s similar to the Geta in terms of general shape and how you can easily slip it on and off. But it’s neither wood, or has those stilts on it. This makes it very close to normal flip flops especially as it lacks securements like Waraji. Compared to Geta, they are definitely easy to move around in, quite comfortable, and decently versatile for indoor and outdoors. And since they are typically made of hardier materials even if it still uses some straw, it fairs better with durability and rough path ways. If I had to pick a footwear to walk the road between two cities in Feudal Japan, this is what I would pick. Which makes sense, it is the most modern design out of the two. Though it does suffer more in terms of more agile movement and it isn’t secured like the Waraji. Meaning it is not as ideal if you’re looking for combat footwear. So if you thrusted me into a feudal battlefield, I’d probably pick the Waraji. Hoping I’m able to put it on correctly of course.
That sums it up, I’m not a master by any means really, but I’ll try to answer anything I can if anyone has any curiosity.
Kegutsu is definitely my favorite! Because Sengoku Basara version of Tokugawa Ieyasu wear them wkwkwkwk
I was calling the Kegutsu with "Furry boots" before I searched what's the real name of these type of shoes😂
Jadi kepikir, Dulu nenek moyang perang pake sandal ato nyeker ya?
@@comradekenobi6908 pake kelom geulis//woy
Excellent video. Glad to have you jumping back in this month.
That’s awesome that you made this video with samurai and ninja history anddd Sengoku studies (both of which I am now subscribed to) I hope both channels get many more eyes on them now
Love the culture/lifestyle videos as well as the history videos. Keep it up my man.
Thank you so much for the amazing video!
Hey Shogunate! I have a request.
Could you please make a video of how an administration of a daimyo functioned? What kind of offices were there, etc?
I certainly will at some point as we move into the Edo period!
Your channel is very cool
Please keep trucking on!
Awesome video! i think Kogake are my favorite.
thanks for giving a shout out to Antony Cummins, love his stuff
I love the boot style
From the familial (Inaba) armor I've been able to find, seven of them, one that was of particularly excellent quality is pictured with kegutsu, the rest seem to not be included (could simply be lost to time) but the suneate that is included would lend towards tabi + waraji, and one example with this combination, specifically. These gosuku were all from the whole of the end of the Sengoku and into the entirety of the Edo periods, with the helmet bowls usually being of make from prior eras. Five of these armors do not have surviving footwear. All this being said, I can't help but feel that the ancestors who owned these armors would also have probably owned an assortment of footwear and would've adjusted based off of need/want, and also understanding that it is quite rare to find full accoutrements in relation to say the cabinet of daimyo, this is more likely the case. It can most likely be asserted that one would differentiate in this based on intention of being on foot or on horse, or if one were to expect direct combat. Anecdotes of battles tend to describe siding, reasonably, towards a more armored approach--likely dependent on one's own means to procure protection to begin with.
Suppose it's no real difference that in Europe of the rest of the world in that we would see mostly leather boots used ecumenically amongst all walks of life, those who had means and specialized in fighting probably realized early on, your feet are also important to protect, ergo metal has been used in so many ways, indeed.
Great video. I myself ordered some waraji, have been loving wearing them, with and without tabi..
I practice martial arts as well, and have often though about this very topic. What WOULD a Samurai wear to battle?
It seems waraji were the way to go for a bulk of Japan's warring history, but man, seems INSANE to wear STRAW SANDALS on a battlefield.
Waraji are easy to make, you could make yourself a pair using hemp rope or other materials for almost nothing. I'm pretty sure you can find crafting instructions on the web.
Waraji sounds and looks like a huarache. There are people who use huaraches with socks. Strange coincidence
Very good video again also, Can you do video about samurai training? Thanks.
Kegutsu the problem with straw sandals is you had to repair them all the time, you had to be a shoe maker as well as a soldier to stay alive. Imagine marching 20-30 km in straw shoes ... and if the weather was bad or they had to go on a rough terrain it would've been a nightmare ... they probably had several waraji with them.
You could just have an extra pair on you as they were easy to make. It's actually what common people did for long trips by foot. No kidding, even someone not so good with his two hands like me made a couple of waraji.
@@Hachizukatenzo I wonder how it would be to walk in them on a longer ruck, because they also had to carry heavy weight. During ww1 it was discovered that Serbian traditional shoes that Serbian army wore were superior to Austro-Hungarian/German boots because they were light and durable. Perhaps it was like something like that ...
Wooden Geta are shockingly comfortable and easy to walk in for being big wooden blocks.
I'm curious have you ever made/think of making a video about how currency work in the sengoku/edo period.
Looking forward to video about Japanese hats. Eboshi variants the most
I own several pairs of the Getas, Ukon style and they are fantastic shoes.
Seems like you could combine the Tabi and Waraji and have a decently sturdy set of footware for combat.
i bought a pair of waraji ,very cool.
I already do wear geta and definitely wouldn’t wear them into battle. I may be able to jog in them but I don’t think attempting footwork would be a good idea lol. I would probably choose tabi and waraji.
There is a record of a chancellor of China inventing a particular kind of what is called Geta around 400: these had adjustable heels so the wearer could stand on a flat surface whether going uphill or downhill. 😅
So if samurai are fighting an uphill battle, they could find this kind of footwear useful 😅
Would you mind covering Shimabara no Ran? Please
Thanks as usual. Kegutsu and Kougake are new knowledge to me, though I'm a Japanese.^^
Most of the warriors wore straw sandals and that must be why Ninja's Makibishi worked well when they attempted to run away from pursuers. In a humid country like Japan, protection against athlete's foot is quite important even nowadays. (^▽^)/ yay
Because of the sandals, I guess most of the warriors did not like to have battles in winter ... not sure if this hunch is correct. Probably OK. I can recall instantly only the Winter Battle of Osaka in 1614.
Kegutsu are my favorite samurai shoes
I like the Geta. Seems very practical, especially on long journeys.
it also looks just like modern flip flops
As someone who wore the Geta, it takes getting used to ESPECIALLY outside. Because the wooden stilts that hold it up make it almost feel like heels. You need to get used to balancing and walking on it.
For me it has to be the socks I mean they're so cool looking I always wanted a pair of Japanese socks ever since I was a kid especially after watching American Ninja I think that was the name of the movie, it came out in the mid to late '80s and early 90s but I've always believed that one of man's greatest inventions alongside the wheel and penicillin is boots, they are one of the greatest inventions ever made.
I bought 3 pairs off Amazon last year, I love em lolz
@@darthXreven what the name and how much do they cost ?
I mean the socks to me aren’t something you wear by themselves though.
@@kaijuslayer3334 You can wear them however you want. There's no rules to wearing socks.
@@RoyalJoshR The point of the tabi sock with the gap in between is so you can wear a sandal with it.
Hi I’d like to suggest that samurai wearing the 束帯 ensemble may also wear the boots that went with it the kanokutsu. 😅
Never seen those last two shoes before.
Where can I buy a pair of kegutsu??!
The Geta are my favourite. I can imagine some excentric badass ronin purposefully wearing them so as to constantly train his balance at all times, to the point where he would even fight duels while wearing them.
Whilst the Kogake may seem ideally protective for battle I can see them being rather heavy and overly clumsy for battlefield encounters.
You’d be surprised how light armor is. I could imagine the full chainmail version would be near unnoticeable. But sadly this is a piece of samurai armor that I haven’t worn so I couldn’t tell you for certain.
A good video thanks. Really anyone of them would have been fine besides the Geta. Personally I can't imagine wearing something that unstable.
I still have trouble figuring how anyone can walk on them at all with any comfort. Sure maybe the one with two "teeth" wide apart could be somewhat stable when standing still but those with "teeth" close together or, heaven forbid, only one tooth? Wouldn't those be like walking with peg legs? 😅
@@MaaZeus 🤣🤣🤣 true I can't see how they walk in them either the other footwears you could
Now I want to see a Japanse Sabaton cover band called Kogake.
Giant Evil Servant Boy Tawara Touta and Small Human Sergeant Cornelius Chesterfield from The Bluecoats aka Les Tuniques Bleues. Also note: Small Human Sergeant Cornelius Chesterfield from The Bluecoats aka Les Tuniques Bleues is stuck in Giant Evil Servant Boy Tawara Touta's waraji in 3:57
pardon?
What do you think about hadashi? Barefoot?
I wonder why Japanese footwear back then was so different to that in china and korea?
It’s more isolated position meant it could develop a little more independently. Japan had a knack for taking things they learned from those two and developing them into something new some time after.
MY BIGGEST QUESTION IS WHY JAPAN STOP USEING SAMURAI ?? AND SHOGUN
Meiji Restoration.
Waraji
𝓟Ř𝔬𝓂𝔬𝐒ϻ
In the modern age we invented the reverse high heels.
We have ZERO room to throw stones.
Google it and despair.
Even through Sakamoto ryoma was a samurai he had to wear boots because he was a goshi which was the lowest rank of samurai hierarchy.
If you think about it.....samurai jack is not at all a samurai. He serves no lord, carries only one sword, only spent the first few years of his life in Japan, all ALL his combat training comes from different parts of the world (occasionally different centuries too lol)
He is a samurai though. He comes from a family of samurai, serves his father’s will with visions of said father tormenting him as he gets older, and he still dresses and fights as such despite foreign influences. The moment he returns to the past, he just falls back as his father’s son who is undoubtedly a samurai. His father is his lord.
Bruh the thumbnail is sponsor
Wearing kimono decorated with company or franchise logos is more of a gimmick, especially when one performing rokyoku or enka about franchises millennials grew up with.
so they charged into angry mobs of peasants, wearing flip flops and socks... Not very practical, if you ask me.
Did samurai listen to carti?
great question
could the geta be used for horseriding?