Black Geta Sandals 'Benibana'

Black wooden geta with a white strap printed in red flowers and scrolls

Red on white, on black wood. These geta are a solid base stained near black with two teeth underneath, and a padded strap in white cloth printed with a red scroll of flowers and vines, passing between the toes and anchoring at the heel. The print is the loud part; the wood is the quiet part; the white tabi sock in the photograph is what joins them.

They are the geta in the collection with the most colour on the strap against the darkest wood, and the contrast is the point.

The name, Benibana, is the safflower, the red dye flower, and the red on the strap is its colour.

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 print is a scroll of stylised flowers in a single red on white, the pattern of a summer cloth, and the padding runs the full length of the thong. The black stain on the wood is even, with the grain just visible at the edge.

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 with a red strap. From close the strap shows its flowers and its vines, the wood its stain, and the teeth their square cut. They are the geta for a white yukata and a summer festival.

Sizes run from EU 38 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.