Bokko Shoes
The Work Shoes of Natural Rubber, Against Snow
When it is heavily snowy in Tokyo, it is customary that TV news programs show us office workers or students slip down because they are inexperienced in walking on the snowed roads. Actually, I was born in Osaka and then, have been about to tumble down for snow several times.
“It is so dangerous that you wear leather shoes although it is snowy” said people who were born in regions with heavy snowfalls like Tohoku and Hokkaido.
Different places have different customs, you know. Leather shoes are usual in Tokyo, but are unusual in snowy countries.
In Tsugaru District, Tohoku, they usually begin to trim when their sights get to be whitened by fallen snow. “Bokko Shoes” is a kind of work shoes, which has been useful for various works like pruning apples in Tohoku. Made of just natural rubber, the work shoes tightly guard your feet with toughness and heat no matter how much it snows.
Don’t misunderstand like “that’s only for farm people who trim apples.” Farmers, Matagis, and railway officers had loved since 1960s. It exactly shows Bokko Shoes are convenient on the snowy ground.
However, the shoes had not been produced since 1980s. Then, Mr. Kudo, a representative director of K Bokko Inc. established in Aomori, knocked on the closed door and restarted producing Bokko Shoes in 2005, for numberless demands. It is said it took over ten years preparing materials, reconstructing the paper patterns and the like.
Cut natural rubber, and heat it, then, formed are the shoes that have been handmade one by one for deep love from farmers and Matagis. As each size is handwritten on the shoe sole, it is full of handcrafted taste. Why not try for guarding your feet when you are meeting heavy snowfalls?
Reference
・Producer: K Bokko Inc.
・Address: 1-2 Yokomachi, Kuroishi-shi, Aomori 036-0368 JAPAN
・Telephone: +81-172-52-2181
・Fax: +81-172-52-7578
・Official Site: K Bokko (Japanese)
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