Okobo are high wooden clogs worn primarily by Maiko (apprentice Geisha).  The pretty miniatures recently entered in the collection as M5 were purchased on Ebay.  The seller purchased them from an estate sale in Hong Kong.  I saw Maiko dressed for entertaining wearing them in Kyoto.  Like the J8 getas in the collection, full sized Okobo may have a woven straw footpad and may be natural wood or covered with silk cloth.  They have a hollow cavity carved into the sole and it makes a pleasant sound when the Maiko walks in them . The sound certainly announces her approach.  I have read that Okobos are sometimes called Pokkuri or Koppori, the verbalizing of which has a similar sound to the one created by walking in them.  But Pokkuri and Koppori are more ornate and are worn by young girls on shichi-go-san (7-5-3), a celebration of these ages.  Okobo are usually natural wood.   The level of apprenticeship of the Maiko is indicated by the color of the straps on her Okobo. Beginners wear red straps and more  experienced Maikos wear pink straps. Geishas wear geta and zori. (click on the thumbs below to see full images)

Listen for the sound of the Okobo as the Miako walks in the cobblestone street at Gion Corner in Kyoto in the video clip at Menu item About -> Resources ->Videos.

Two recent acquisitions J9 and J10 came with an interesting story.  Based on information from the seller, Kathryn Adams, my research and examination of the sandals, here are my conclusions about the path of these sandals:

William Barre and his wife Cora Adams Barre probably obtained the sandals during a trip to Japan in the early 1900s.  They brought these Japanese sandals with them upon their return home to Manila, The Philippines. The sandals were passed to Cora’s younger sister Florence, known in the family as Floss.  Sometime after the family returned to Ohio in late 1907, the shoes passed from Florence to her brother J.Q. Adams.  His granddaughter Kathryn is the seller.  It is unusual for antique straw sandals to be traceable for over 100 years.

The sandals arrived with several interesting side stories.  William Barre was a young banker from Nebraska who became involved in the Spanish American War and ended up in Manila.  Because of his financial experience and contacts, he became Assistant Comptroller and then Comptroller of The Philippines.  Kathryn contributed an old photograph of Cora Adams Barre dressed in a Japanese kimono and performing a tea ceremony, evidence of a visit to Japan.  Kathryn told me a great story about Floss and a young U.S. Army Lieutenant named Douglas MacArthur.  The family summered in the town of Bagio in the mountains above Manila.  As the summer heat subsided, the sisters rode horses side saddle during their return home to Manila.  Floss met MacArthur at a dance at the Army-Navy Club.  Several days later, Lieutenant MacArthur arrived at their home at lunchtime on horseback in a driving tropical rain.  He presented his card to the house boys, Pedro and Amelio, but apparently they did not recognize him as a friend of the family, and he was not invited in.  However, Douglas and Floss eventually began dating.  In 1904, Lieutenant MacArthur was shipped back to the U.S.   During the Pacific transit, he wrote letters and a diary to Floss.  And yes, this is the same Douglas MacArthur who rose to the rank of General of the Army (U.S.) and who was awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign.  These materials are now housed in the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, as part of the Douglas MacArthur collection.  (Click on image to enlarge: Left, Cora Adams Barre; Middle, J9; Right, J10)

About ten years ago, Korean archaeologists exhumed the partially mummified remains of Eung-tae, a male member of an ancient clan.  The tomb was dated to the mid to late 1500s.  It contained articles of clothing and writings, including letters and poems. Hyung-eun Kim wrote a very interesting article about this family of mummies entitled “Korean Love Affair” for Archaeology magazine.  Of particular interest to the Straw Sandals Project was the discovery of a pair of sandals made of human hair in Eung-tae’s tomb.  They were wrapped in a paper package and placed by his head.  It is thought that his widow may have made them using her own hair.  Readers of the article will be rewarded with many details and images of this find.  It is stated in the article that Korean literature contains references to the practice of using human hair to craft shoes to symbolize love or hope for recovery from sickness.  These sandals, shown below on the left, are the first known examples.  The second image, shown below on the right, is from the Straw Sandals Collection.  I photographed item K1 from the same perspective as the image of the Korean hair sandals.  K1 are contemporary straw sandals that I purchased from a seller in South Korea.  They are the same style of sandal as the ancient hair sandals from Eung-tae’s tomb.  This then is an example of an old weaving design that has persisted into the present.  (Click on images to enlarge)

It is my pleasure to announce the First Prize Winner of the Seated Dancer Poetry Contest of 2011.  The winning Diamante Poem was submitted by Megan Moody, Enrico Fermi High School, Enfield, Connecticut.  The poem entitled “Two in One” is presented here in both Latin and English. For additional information see  “The late Antique Silver Dancer in Boston”, a paper by Marice Rose in the New England Classical Journal v. 37.3 (2010) pp. 177-191.  Also there is some interesting video on our Facebook page (About>Resources>Links)  about the close relationship between dancers and their shoes.

DUAE IN ŪNĀ

Ancilla

indocta  dūra

cōgor  labōrō  patior

Calceōs et crotala induō.

Tandem ea dēpōnō, dēfessa.

exspectant  haurior  laudant

fēminea  gracilis

Saltātrīx

TWO IN ONE

Slave-woman

illiterate  enduring

I’m  forced,  I work,  I suffer

I put on my slippers and castanets.

Finally I take them off, exhausted.

they anticipate, I’m swallowed up, they praise

feminine   delicate

Dancer

Image licensed from the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA.

I have had several inquires asking the question Why have you started adding miniature shoes to the collection?  I have found that they ‘inform” the straw shoes and sandals in several ways.  Miniature M3 is an example.  It has essentially the same design as straw shoe C15.  A tag on the bottom of each C15 shoe indicates each was made in China but it is not clear whether the design is contemporary or ancient. The same design of the antique miniature makes it likely that the design has been around in China for a long time.

Another reason is that the miniatures are beautifully crafted and often inscribed with images that enrich our appreciation for and understanding of the culture.  For example, see the description below of the fish net design on the top front of shoe M3.

See the gallery below for illustration:

[Show slideshow]

The SSP Facebook page (see also the Links page under About>Resources>Links) features several videos showing the special relationship between humans and footwear.  For example the effect of new red dancing shoes on the dancer in the YouTube video Tanzschule is shown beautifully.  We are left to imagine what the dancer is thinking and feeling.  The same may be said for the Seated Dancer in an old Roman statuette from the late third or early fourth century A.D.