mizutori creates modern Japanese wooden sandals (geta) designed for comfort and everyday wear.
What Is mizutori?
Episode 69
The Homework My Father Gave Me
“I want more people
around the world
to discover geta.”
My father,
who led the company before me,
used to say this
again and again
The more I heard
those words,
the stronger
the same feeling
grew in me.
From here in Shizuoka,
I wanted people
around the world
to discover geta too.
But when I began thinking
about reaching people overseas,
I realized
it wouldn’t be
quite so simple.
Even in Japan,
everyone’s feet
are different.
People have different ideas
of what feels comfortable,
and some have
no interest at all
in wooden footwear.
Once we look overseas,
we may need
larger sizes.
The roads are different.
The climate is different.
And we may need
to explain more clearly
how to care
for wooden footwear.
“Why not exhibit
at a trade show overseas?”
people sometimes ask me.
Of course,
I’m interested.
But we can’t move forward
thinking only about
helping more people
discover mizutori.
With mizutori geta,
receiving more orders
doesn’t mean
we can spend less time
on each pair.
Every pair
is still made
by human hands.
If more people overseas
become interested in mizutori,
and we begin
receiving orders,
how much can we
properly respond to
while continuing
to take good care
of what we make
for the customers
we already have?
We have to think
about what comes
after people
discover us too.
We need to think
about this.
We need to prepare
for that.
And while I was
thinking about
all those things,
years seemed
to pass
in no time.
Still,
we’ve begun
with the things
we can do,
little by little.
We started sharing
in English
on social media.
We began creating
English versions
of stories like this one.
And we made it possible
to send our products
directly overseas
from our own webshop.
It doesn’t matter
what first brings someone
to mizutori.
For now,
we’re simply trying
what we can,
taking one small step
at a time
so that more people
can discover us.
And then,
not long ago,
something happened
that made me
very happy.
A woman from Shizuoka
who had been studying
in Oxford
came to our shop
with an Italian friend.
As we talked,
I learned that
while she was studying abroad,
she regularly wore
her mizutori geta.
Her friend
had seen her wearing them
and had apparently
been thinking
for quite some time,
“Those geta are lovely.
I’d like a pair
of my own.”
Then,
when she had the chance
to travel to Japan,
she came
all the way
to mizutori.
She was due
to travel on
to another prefecture
that same evening,
so she had
only a limited amount
of time with us.
But she found
a pair
she really loved.
Over the years,
at events
around Japan,
we’ve also met
visitors from overseas
who were traveling
through the country.
Some of them
look at wooden footwear
and imagine,
“They must be hard.”
“They must be
difficult to walk in.”
But when they actually
try on mizutori geta,
they’re surprised.
“This feels
nothing like
I expected.”
Delighted by
how unexpectedly comfortable
they feel,
some choose
not just one pair,
but several
for themselves.
And sometimes,
they choose
additional pairs
as gifts
for family
and friends.
Whenever I see that,
I remember
my father’s words.
How can we help
people around the world
discover geta?
I still don’t have
a clear answer
to that question.
But this time,
one pair of mizutori
traveled from Shizuoka
to Oxford.
There,
it caught
someone’s eye.
And then
that person
came all the way
to mizutori in Japan
to see them
for herself.
She found
a pair she loved.
And now,
that pair
will cross the sea
once again.
Every pair
of mizutori geta
is made
one by one,
by human hands.
And that day,
I felt that
the warmth
held within them
really can pass
from one person
to another,
and from one country
to another.
It may still
take a long time
to complete
the homework
my father gave me.
But simply
thinking about it
will never carry
mizutori
out into the world.
It doesn’t have to be
a giant step.
We can begin
with what
we can do,
one thing
at a time.
So that another pair
of mizutori geta
may cross the sea.
