Click here to return to our campaign overview and make a donation!

Hello all! In our mission to spread love and appreciation of Yosakoi around the world, we’ve prepared introductions to a few of the key items and concepts.

If you’ve missed those in our Yosakoi 101 series, then you can catch up by following the links below, before we introduce the next essential ingredient - tabi footwear! We’ve got you covered from head to toe!

Here's where you can catch up:

- learn about yosakoi dancing accessories (umbrellas, lanterns, staffs and more!)
- check out some eye catching cloth in this post about flagbearers
- who doesn't enjoy a bit of recognition! Take a squiz at our post on festival medals
- give a listen to the song behind it all, the Yosakoi Naruko Odori
- ride a moving rock concert on the jikatasha music truck
- see the only farming device-turned-musical instrument we know of, the yosakoi naruko clappers

But for now, tabi!


(Image source: Lou Shoe - Tabi Japan early 20th century P87.80ab - URL)

Now, tabi (足袋, literally ‘foot bag’) are a type of traditional Japanese footwear that have been worn for centuries. They resemble a cloven sock with a special split by the big toe. You can see them in the image above. Fancy, hey? If you’ve ever donned a kimono, or done martial arts you may have seen (or even worn!) a pair yourself. Yosakoi uses a special kind of tabi with a thicker rubber sole, called jika-tabi (地下足袋). You can see a pair of these jika-tabi in the photo below!

(Image source: Wikimedia commons - URL)

Modern tabi designed for yosakoi are made of a light but strong, canvas fabric. The kind we wore in the Sakuramai Poland International team in 2018 had small hooks rather than laces, which took a bit of getting used to.

(Image source: Will (author))

They’re worn tightly around the foot and ankle. This allows dancers to keep a strong grip on wet or uneven ground, and helps prevent blisters. Wearing a good pair of tabi is like wearing a pair of firm, comfortable socks! But you better believe that with after days of dancing and dried sweat, they can end up smelling a lot worse. I probably should have washed mine…