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shoes, footwear
Kanji 1052

Thank you for visiting this Character Home Page. Below you'll find a synopsis of the essay. If you wish to read the full text, the PDF of the essay is available for purchase to the right.

Synopsis

How did Japan come to make shoes from straw and wood? Why is the "leather" radical all but useless in 靴? How can you say "break in shoes," "tie shoelaces," and "wear two hats (actually shoes!)" in Japanese? How can "red shoes" not be shoes, and who in Japan famously wore red shoes? How have Japanese shoes indicated status? Find out all of these answers and much more!

Revision history:

Jan. 28, 2022: I removed many broken links throughout the essay. Unfortunately, most went to sites supporting statements about history and culture, so those assertions may now seem less well founded, but they were indeed verified when I wrote the essay. I also made these changes:

  • p. 2, Etymology Box: Updated the Henshall etymology and the Sears link. 
  • p. 4: Rewrote part of the quiz answer to match the changed etymology on p. 2.
  • p. 16: Added a link to the Kanshudo games.

July 18, 2014: Changed a link and some surrounding text in the photo caption on p. 6.

June 6, 2014: Originally published.

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Kanji PDF
Mini Profile
JOYO ON-YOMI
JOYO KUN-YOMI
くつ
STROKES13
RADICAL革 (177: leather)
JLPTN1
HALPERN1165/1586
HENSHALL1052/1085
SPAHN3k10.34