To visit most of the ancient temples in Kyoto, Japan, the visitors are required to remove their shoes upon entering the inner sanctuaries. The one of the reasons for this requirement is due to protect the old floor and tatami mats from damage, but most of all, show respect and honor to God, the owner of the temple. Removing shoes before entering indoor is a traditional etiquette passing down for centuries in Japan, as well in Korea, which is located across an ocean from Japan. Basically, the etiquette is related to a boundary in interpersonal interaction. Stepping into someone’s house without removing shoes could be much the same as to trespass his or her property and it is generally considered offensive and disrespectful to owners. Moreover, to show toe fingers in public is also impolite for Japanese so that they might even wear socks inside sandals, which seem to be against the fashion rules in general. In this case, be sure to wear a pair of clean socks in good shape inner your shoes all the time and you won’t go bare foot once taking off shoes. Because of the features of traditional houses, Korean people conduct their daily activities such as sleep, gathering or eating on the floor just like Japanese. Even eating out in the restaurants there are still some occasions to take off shoes. In order to keep self-image and for the sake of courtesy, it has become a must-do to pick up socks with aesthetics in daily life. Due to the necessary of buying socks regularly, the socks in great variety of designs and patterns can be found everywhere from the corner store to street markets and even vending machine. While to appreciate the wonderful socks creation, the market opportunity made from the cultural habit not only benefited to the exquisites who place emphasis on socks, but the most to the socks manufacturers. There had been a harsh etiquette about socks in ancient China. People were required to take off not only shoes but also socks as entering the indoor when there were elders and important guests in the house. As harsh as it was people could even get a death penalty once violating the mention. In addition, the colors of socks were strict to some occasions, such as the governors had to wear red socks when attending in country sacrifices. In the Ming and Qing Dynasty, wearing red socks had become a privilege for emperors, while the civilians could only wear plain socks. Therefore, in addition to make sock with fine fabric, the wealthy and aristocracies would spend time on working some rich patterns such as flowers, plants or animals on their sock just similar to the costume socks nowadays in order to stand out from common people. Depending on the cultural customs, there is different sock etiquette in countries just as removing shoes and socks is privacy in United States. But no matter wherever you go, a pair of clean and fresh socks is always a must to show your manners.
