Whoever Said Japanese Students’ Indoor Shoes Had to Be Boring? · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Uwabaki indoor shoes. Photo courtesy Flickr user sanbu (CC BY-NC 2.0)
In Japan, the new school year starts in April. As the school year winds down in March, many families will be starting to think about uniforms and school supplies for the month ahead.
For many Japanese preschoolers uwabaki (indoor shoes) are an ubiquitous part of school life. Students, teachers, and visitors alike are all required to remove their street shoes before entering the school.
With their elastic straps, uwabaki are easy to put on for young children, and the rubberized toes provide traction on slippery surfaces in the school.
In recent years, attitudes in Japan towards school uniforms have softened. While uwabaki may be mandatory, in some parts of Japan it is now okay to deko (decorate) uwabaki.
Some parents decorate the uwabaki themselves for their kids, while stores now sell uwabaki that feature popular cartoon and manga characters.
かあさん夜なべして上履きデコった。おやすみなさい。 pic.twitter.com/PuUA1cIvns
— nao (@naomiama) January 25, 2015
Mom has stayed up late to decorate your uwabaki. Sweet dreams!
友人も新学期前には夜なべして上履きデコってたなぁ。何故、夜にやるのか？と聞いたら「朝起きて靴を見つけた子どもの驚く顔が楽しみなんだ」と言っていた。”@nekonoboris: 幼稚園の手描き上履きシリーズ第二弾 「ムーミン」 pic.twitter.com/aqADxmZhud“
— TOMOMI (@stargirltw) May 9, 2014
A friend of mine burned the midnight oil decorating her kid's uwabaki. When I asked her why she was staying up so late, she said, “I can't wait to see the look on my kid's face when he wakes up and sees his uwabaki.”
すごいな、今の小学生は上履きまでデコるのか。 pic.twitter.com/I6RuRG83fS
— あくた (@akt_tissue) December 18, 2014
Wow, it's amazing, they're even decorating uwabaki for elementary students now.
Yokai Watch, a pop culture phenomenon in Japan, is of course a frequent theme with uwabaki deko:
子供に頼まれて描いた上履き。 頼まれて無いのに描いたウィスパー。 pic.twitter.com/jxjBt9Gh70
— くぜ。 (@kuze_1221) February 17, 2015
My son asked me to decorate his uwabaki for school, so I thought I would draw Whisper.
姪っ子が幼稚園の上履きをデコってほしいとのことで描いてあげた乁( ˙ ω˙乁) pic.twitter.com/KaOr9vhF2d
— さちこ (@iwatobinosachi) November 9, 2014
My niece asked me to decorate her uwabaki for kindergarten. 乁( ˙ ω˙乁)
It's pretty obvious that there must be some uwabaki deko kits for sale:
姪のデコシューズ作った pic.twitter.com/Lej0wNv0CA
— 大和狸 (@yamatanu) January 1, 2015
I decorated my niece's uwabaki.
The parents get as much enjoyment out of uwabaki deko as the kids:
ってコトで娘の上靴 もう小学生だからシンプルめに… でも本当はもっとやりたいよー‼︎ pic.twitter.com/R3mwhUJGco
— あいあい (@aiai_janken) February 6, 2015
I decorated my daughter's indoor shoes for school. It's elementary school now so I had to keep it simple. But I wanted to do more!