Black Corded Traditional Geta 'Kuronawa'

Black wooden geta with a black corded strap, in twelve sizes from EU 35

All black, with a strap you can feel. These geta are a solid base stained near black with two teeth underneath, and a padded strap in black cloth with a corded, ridged surface, passing between the toes. There is no print, no second colour and nothing to read, and the only thing that separates the strap from the wood is its texture.

They are the plainest geta in the collection in black, and the one with the widest run of sizes, from a small foot to a large one.

The name, Kuronawa, is the black rope, the corded strap, and the shoe is named for its one texture.

The base is a solid block of wood stained near black, with a flat footbed, a rounded toe and two teeth underneath, the front one set forward of the ball of the foot. The strap is a padded fabric thong that passes between the first two toes and anchors at three points through the sole.

Wear them with a white tabi sock, the split-toe sock in the photograph, which is how a geta is worn in Japan: the sock takes the rub of the thong and the split gives the strap its place. Under a yukata, a jinbei, a wide trouser or a pair of shorts, the geta is the finish.

The strap is a black cloth with a raised cord running along it, padded through its length, so it reads as a rope from a distance and a cloth from close. The black stain on the wood is even and matte.

The footbed is flat and the two teeth are fixed, so the walk is the geta walk: a short step, the weight over the front tooth, and the knock of wood on pavement that gives the shoe its sound. Indoors, on a wooden floor, take them off.

Wipe the wood with a dry cloth and keep it out of standing water, which swells the grain; the strap can be sponged.

From across a street they are black geta. From close the strap shows its cords, the wood its stain, and the teeth their square cut. They are the geta for a black jinbei or a black yukata, and for a person who wants nothing on the shoe but the shoe.

Sizes run from EU 35 to 46, each listed with its US equivalent. They are cut to Asian sizing and run small, so take one size up from your usual. A geta is meant to end a little before the heel, and the size up keeps the toes off the front edge.