Japanese Flip Flops 'Karakoro'

Wooden flip flops with a padded fabric thong, in seven strap colours and prints

Wood underfoot, cloth between the toes. These flip flops are a flat wooden sole with a gently hollowed footbed, a rounded toe and a low base, held on by a padded fabric thong that passes between the first two toes. The strap comes in seven versions: a navy wave print as in the first photograph, a plain black with a soft pile, a plain red, a black with a pale paisley, a navy with a gold-and-cream floral, a navy with a blue print, and one more in the same family.

They are the flat cousin of the geta in this collection, and the shape the modern flip flop was copied from.

The name, Karakoro, is the sound a wooden sandal makes on a street, the knock and the clack, and this flat pair makes a quieter version of it.

The sole is a solid piece of wood with a stained, lightly worn finish, hollowed a little where the foot sits so it does not slide, with a thin grip layer on the base. The strap is a fabric thong padded through its length and anchored at three points, at the toe and at either side of the heel, so it holds without pinching.

Wear them barefoot, as photographed, with a rolled trouser, a pair of shorts or a jinbei, and let the wood show; a tabi sock works too and is how they are worn in the cooler months.

The seven straps are on the same sole, so the choice is only the cloth: the plain black and red read as a sandal, the prints read as Japanese from across a street.

The footbed is flat and the base is low, so the walk is an ordinary one, with the knock of wood on pavement that gives the sandal its name. Indoors, on a wooden floor, take them off; on stone and tarmac they are at home.

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 wooden flip flops with a coloured strap. From close the wood shows its grain and its wear, the strap its padding and its print, and the footbed its hollow. They are the sandal for the person who wants the geta without the height.

Sizes run from EU 39 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.