Butterfly Geta Slippers 'Chocho'

Black wooden geta with a white strap printed in navy figures and flowers

Navy on white, drawn small. These geta are a solid base stained near black with two teeth underneath, and a padded strap in white cloth printed with a scatter of small navy motifs, wings, flowers and figures, passing between the toes. The strap is the bright thing on the shoe, and the black wood frames it.

They are the geta in the collection whose strap you look at twice, because the pattern is small enough to need a second look.

The name, Chocho, is the butterfly, the wings in the print, and the strap has a flight of them.

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 navy pattern on a white ground with several motifs repeating at a small scale, and the padding runs the full length of the thong. The black stain on the wood is even, with the grain just 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 white strap. From close the strap shows its wings and flowers, the wood its stain, and the teeth their cut. They are the geta for a dark yukata and a person who wants the strap to be the detail.

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.