Most Japanese homes have entryway areas called genkan, where people remove shoes. The genkan is a step lower than the main floor of the house. The shoes also have to face the outside of the house that one resides in. The genkan has slippers for guests to put on while inside the house (Village Hiker, 2017). Guests have to wear the slippers until they leave the home.
Even if one enters a room that has tatami, which is a woven mat, they should remove the slippers too. On a tatami, one should either be barefoot or in socks. Temples, shrines, inns, resorts and some schools require their guests to remove their shoes.
Some restaurants even have a no-shoes policy where they may provide slippers and a locker for your shoes (KCP International, 2019)
