Tabi socks - Jikatabi

The upper is made of navy blue cotton with blind stripes, and the sole is made of vulcanized rubber. They are also called straight tabi or bare tabi because they are worn directly on the ground. They are footwear for laborers in farming villages, mines, and construction. Sewn-on jika-tabi have the upper and sole sewn together. They come in 5, 7, 10, or 12 clasps, and can be used as gaiters to keep the ankle tight. The rubber sole is flexible for working at heights or on dangerous scaffolding, and is designed to improve the feel on the soles of the feet and prevent slipping. Stick-on jika-tabi have the sewn-on parts stuck on, and there are light jika-tabi with many clasps and regular jika-tabi with three clasps as standard. Since ancient times, people who worked outdoors wore only bare feet or straw sandals, which were unsanitary, dangerous, and uneconomical, as one pair of straw sandals was worn out each day. Around the Meiwa period (1764-1772), the embroidered tabi of Oshi (Gyoda City, Saitama Prefecture) became a famous product. These tabi soles were reinforced by embroidering thick thread, and were also called falconer tabi, and were used by torisashi (those who provided food for the Edo Shogunate's hawks) and as travel wear. From the beginning of the Meiji period, unsai soles (using unsai weave) and ishi soles (ishi sole weave) also came to be used, but most tabi soles were made of starched cotton cloth embroidered with thick thread. In the 1890s, prototypes of tabi socks with rubber soles were made, and in 1917 (Taisho 6), socks with the soles of tires sewn onto them were manufactured and sold. In 1923, Ishibashi Shojiro began selling jika-tabi socks with a new rubber sole, which became a huge hit. They were exported not only to Japan but also to mainland China and other parts of the world, and production reached its peak during World War II for use in agriculture and mining.

[Kazuko Okano]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

甲布は紺木綿、盲縞(めくらじま)で、底に加硫ゴムをつけた足袋。地面にじかに履くので直足袋(じかたび)、跣足袋(はだしたび)ともいう。農村、鉱山、土建など労働作業用の履き物である。縫い付け地下足袋は甲と底を縫い付けたもの。こはぜの枚数は5、7、10、12枚などがあり、脚絆(きゃはん)がわりにもなって、足首をよく締めることができる。底ゴムは、高所や危険な足場作業に向くように柔軟性をもたせ、足裏の感触をよくし、滑り止めを配慮してある。張り付け地下足袋は、縫い付け部分を張り付け式にしたもので、こはぜの多い軽装地下足袋と、三枚こはぜを標準とする普通地下足袋がある。古来から戸外で労働に従事するときは、はだしか草鞋(わらじ)履きであり、非衛生、危険であるうえに、1日に1足履きつぶす草鞋は不経済でもあった。明和(めいわ)（1764～72）ごろには、忍(おし)（埼玉県行田(ぎょうだ)市）の刺し足袋は名産とされた。これは足袋底を太糸で刺して補強したもので、鷹匠(たかしょう)足袋ともいわれ、鳥刺し（江戸幕府の鷹の餌(え)を納める者）、旅装用として用いられた。明治の初めごろから、雲斎(うんさい)底（雲斎織を使用）、石底（石底織）なども用いられるようになったが、多くは、綿布を糊(のり)張りして太糸で刺したものを足袋底にしていた。明治30年代にゴム底をつけた足袋が試作され、1917年（大正6）にはタイヤ裏を縫い付けたものが製造販売された。23年には新案のゴム底を張り付けた地下足袋が、石橋正二郎によって売り出され、爆発的人気をよんだ。国内ばかりでなく、中国など大陸方面にも輸出され、第二次世界大戦中は農業用、鉱山用として生産はピークに達した。

［岡野和子］

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