Making My Own Sacred Treasures!
Geta, Tenugui and Yukata for Gujo Odori Dance Festival!

Choosing Hanao (Clog thong) from 100 designs!
Making your own Geta for Gujo Odori!

One of the attractive points of Gujo Odori is “Geta for dancing”. Wearing a pair of Getas making the sounds of clip-clop, can heat up the festival! Your Getas need to be strong enough to endure a whole night dance. The sound of Getas here is different from other Getas. We are going to make our own Getas using Hinoki (Japanese white cedar) from mountains in Gujo at the Geta specialty store “Gujo Mokuri”.

Mr Yuto Morohashi, from Aichi-ken, joined Gujo Odori Dance Festival when he was still a student, he was fascinated by the dance and the energy around. He found out Getas were not made at Gujo and thought it was a waste that Gujo is surrounded by woods. He learnt how to make Getas in his own way and opened this shop in 2016. Using Hinoki from Gujo, the sound of the Getas and enduring a whole night dance are the three most important points of making Getas at Gujo Mokuri. After hearing the opinions from owners of footwear stores and Gujo Odori lovers, Mr Morohashi developed the method he uses to make Getas now.

One of the chrematistics of Getas at Gujo Mokuri is the higher heels. The teeth from wooden base of Geta is 5cm. They are strong enough for you to wear and endure for the whole nights after kicking and dancing with sound. They aim to make the teeth without any glues as they make it from carving and shaving a whole piece of wood, so the strength is good enough. Thus, these higher heels can make you look taller and more beautiful too!

There are sizes for children (3500JPY~) and sizes for adults (4500JPY~) and over 100 kinds of clog thongs to choose from. You can add patterns on the Getas by adding 800JPY (4 kinds of patterns to choose, Karakusa, Chidori, Asa, Nami). Let me try the samples first! They said the size should be a bit shorter than your heels, so I choose M size. I add 500JPY to carve my name. I can choose from Japanese characters or alphabets and can choose my font too. Some people buy children Getas for birthday present.

Hanao is using the traditional craft silk printing, so there are so many variations available. Many of them match modern fashion. I cannot decide! Take the samples on the walls and match with Getas I chose imaging the final product. “This Hanao matches with the pattern of the Getas.” But I still cannot get it settled. Some people use over an hour but still could not decide. Some even go out for a walk to clear their mind.

After choosing Hanao, Mr Morohashi inserts it into Getas. Every step is handmade, I cannot help seeing all the details. Before fixing Hanao onto the base, Mr Morohashi asks me to try walking around to see if it fits or not. Trying Getas and fixing them, my Getas are finished within 10 minutes! A pair of Getas fits my feet is done! As I am new to Gujo Odori, I cannot make beautiful sound, but it is comfortable to wear! You can come to get your Getas fixed or repaired at any time after buying.

During the Gujo Odori Dance Festival, there are 200 ~ 300 people come when it is peak hour. The shop opens until 5am during the overnight dace. Many come to buy a pair of new dancing Getas or come to get their Hanao repaired at 2am.
From shaving wood to fixing Hanao, all processes are carrying out at their own workshop. They use local crafting like silk screening and Gujo Indigo dye etc to express their love to Gujo. I am so looking forward wearing my own pair of Getas to the Gujo Odori Dance Festival!!