Japanese traditional footwear

Japanese footwear manufacturers in the Misato-cho cluster in Nara Prefecture developed from the production of straw sandals as a side job for farmers during the Edo period, and began manufacturing thongs around 1870, producing 9 million pairs of thongs per year by 1920. Around 1955, there were 237 Japanese footwear manufacturers in the cluster, producing thongs, but by 1960 Japanese footwear manufacturing had become popular nationwide, and the cluster also began to manufacture rubber Japanese footwear products (hereafter referred to as Japanese footwear products).

However, by around 1970, sandal manufacturing had shifted from traditional Japanese footwear manufacturing nationwide. Amidst this changing times, the Misato-cho cluster in Nara Prefecture was the only cluster in the country that manufactured traditional Japanese footwear products, and it continues to manufacture traditional Japanese footwear to this day. According to the Nara Prefecture Small and Medium Enterprise General Guidance Center [1984], in 1975, the Misato-cho cluster in Nara Prefecture was home to 65 traditional Japanese footwear manufacturers and 14 traditional Japanese sandal manufacturers, and at its peak it held approximately 90% of the national share of traditional Japanese footwear products.

Nara:

An industry that developed from zori sandal manufacturing.Japanese footwear manufacturers clustered in Misato-cho, Nara Prefecture, developed from making straw zori sandals as a side job for farmers during the Edo period, and began making thongs around 1870, producing 9 million pairs of thongs per year by 1920.

Around 1955, the cluster was home to 237 traditional Japanese footwear manufacturers producing thongs, but by 1960 traditional Japanese footwear manufacturing had become popular nationwide, and the cluster also began to manufacture rubber traditional Japanese footwear products (hereafter referred to as traditional Japanese footwear products).

However, by around 1970, the production of Japanese footwear had been replaced by sandals nationwide. In this changing era, the Misato-cho cluster in Nara Prefecture was the only cluster in the country that manufactured Japanese footwear, and it continues to manufacture Japanese footwear to this day.

According to the Nara Prefectural Small and Medium Enterprise Guidance Center [1984], in 1975, there were 65 traditional Japanese footwear manufacturers and 14 traditional Japanese sandal manufacturers producing traditional Japanese footwear products in the Misato Town cluster in Nara Prefecture, and at their peak they accounted for approximately 90% of the national share of traditional Japanese footwear products.

source

• Nara Prefecture Economic Department, Commerce and Industry Division [1955] "Nara Prefecture Industrial Directory"

• Nara Prefecture Department of Commerce, Industry and Labor [1981] "Report on the Survey of Local Industries in Nara Prefecture"

• Nara Prefecture Department of Commerce, Industry and Labor [1982] "Nara Prefecture Rubber and Plastic Footwear Manufacturing Industry Promotion Guidelines"

• Nara Prefecture Small and Medium Enterprise General Guidance Center [1984] "Lightweight Footwear Manufacturing Industry Consultation Tour Report"