Japanese Geta 'Sazanami'

Brown wooden geta with a black strap printed in grey overlapping waves

The wave strap, on brown wood. These geta are a solid base in a warm brown stain with the grain showing, two teeth underneath, and a padded strap in black cloth printed with the overlapping-wave pattern in grey, passing between the toes. The brown gives the black strap an edge, so the waves read as a strap rather than a shadow.

They are the version of the wave geta for someone who wants the wood warm and the strap cool, and the last pair in the collection.

The name, Sazanami, is the ripple, the small wave, and the strap is covered in them.

The base is a solid block of wood in a warm brown stain that shows the grain, 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 the overlapping-wave pattern in a mid grey on black, three rows across the strap, and the padding runs the full length of the thong. The brown stain is darker at the edges and lighter across the footbed.

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 brown geta with a dark strap. From close the strap shows its waves, the wood its grain, and the footbed its lighter centre. They are the geta for an indigo yukata and a walk along a river.

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.