It’s another hot one! Thermometers across Japan are reaching new heights as the country is hit by yet another scorching summer heat wave. But that isn’t stopping anyone from enjoying one of the annual highlights of just about any community in Japan, the matsuri. These street festivals are full of sound and frenzied activity, with the sounds of drums, whistles and flutes. Street vendors do a roaring trade in festival foods like okonomiyaki, yakisoba, taiyaki and kakigori. And most of the festival participants, the guys and gals who carry the o-mikoshi (floats), will be wearing traditional clothing. And in most cases that includes jikatabi.
The distinctive split-toe boots, in their many varieties, are our No.1 seller on this store. But with the rush of orders that always come in from matsuri organizers, our suppliers sometimes get overwhelmed and stocks run low. Right now that means we have difficulty getting many sizes of the cushioned matsuri tabi models (particularly the Double Cushion, Cushion III and Air Tabi Fit models from Rikio). Other safety and general work models are not affected by this seasonal situation.
So if you’re looking for a cushioned model from Rikio, you may have to bear with us until we get back to normal stock levels. The good news is that we’ll still be able to fulfill most orders over the next month, and that everything should be back to normal by mid-August.
If you have any questions about stock levels or what model of jikatabi to choose, please feel free to drop me a line.
Mark McBennett
Japan Zone