If you see a Genkan, that's probably it

[Koohler]

I had no idea why everyone was looking at me when I walked inside a beautiful Japanese store to buy some stuffs. It was nice, almost everyone inside is wearing the traditional kimono. Then a staff approached me and said in English that I'm not allowed to walk inside the store wearing my shoes.

I've seen a lot of people ask when should we take our shoes off when entering an establishment, house etc. So here's some indications.

A Japanese friend of mine told me that there's this special place in Japan called Genkan. It's a small space at entrance of their homes or traditional stores where you are supposed to take your shoes off and just walk around with your socks or other house slippers. So that's the first sign that you should remove your shoes before entering.

You'll also notice that that entrance of their houses are above the ground so you can already tell to remove your shoes before entering.

If the house or establishment you are entering has a Tatami mat flooring, most probably the floor is already above ground and you don't have to find a Genkan to remind yourself to remove your shoes. This is also the type of traditional store that I've been to the first time that I went to Japan. The same goes with some of their traditional restaurants. I didn't know about tatami mats back then so I hope this helps and you don't make the same mistake that I did.

[Ishigochan]

Thanks for the tip, Koohler! I'll definitely note this down for my boss. He's the one I'm planning a trip for. But I'll take note of this, too in case I end up visiting the country. I think it's an Asian thing to take off shoes and footwear before entering a house or even a classroom. Well, yes maybe in stores, it's not so ordinary but it's for me quite a good practice. I've seen a Japanese movie in the past and I did notice the Genkan and that it's quite common. At least it won't be such a surprise anymore if I'm told to remove my shoes, thanks to your heads up.

[Naniii]

I had the same problem before in Japan when I first visited this country. I thought you have to remove your shoes or slippers at every establishment so the opposite kind of happened to me. I always removed my shoes even in stores where it's not really required. The Tatami mat floorings are always the easiest indication when you need to take your shoes off. It's at places where there are no Genkans visible that makes you forget to ask of your shoes should be removed or not. But if you're in cities, most of the time you don't really have to be bothered by this because there's only few stores that asks you to remove your shoes.