Dec 15, 2018
The Curious Case of the Turning Shoes
Every morning, I drop my daughter off at her yochien, dutifully removing my shoes before escorting her to her classroom. I wouldn’t say I leave the shoes in a messy fashion going inside, but they aren’t set up neatly—efficiency over aesthetics when it comes to wrangling kids, right?
Still, when I come back, they often look like this:
Those green shoes turned toward the door and placed neatly together are mine. I’ll point out that mine are the only ones that are like that.
I still haven’t seen who is doing it, either. I suspect it’s one of the grandmothers who drops the kids off in the morning, since it seems like a very traditional thing to do to straighten up a person’s shoes.
Does this happen to anyone else? Should I take it as a sign to stop being the messy gaijin???
Hitting the books once again as a Ph.D. student in Niigata Prefecture. Although I've lived in Japan many years, life as a student in this country is a first.
Blessed Dad. Lucky Husband. Happy Gaijin (most of the time).
2 Comments
edthethe
on Dec 15
Oh I don't know! I make my son make his shoes neat every time and he happens to always straighten mine any time I go anywhere....
Jerry9230
on May 7
i am a japanese american and was taught to face the shoes out to make it easier to put on when leaving. Kind of like reversing into a parking stall. In hawaii, we all reverse into our parking stalls. when i moved to the mainland, i was one of the very few that did it.