page_title: Jika-tabi
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Jika-tabi / History
caption_attribution_description: IMG_8336
context_page_description: Jika-tabi are a style of traditional Japanese footwear invented in the early 20th century. Similar to tabi socks in both appearance and construction, jika tabi have a divided toe; though they can be worn with traditional thonged footwear such as geta and zōri, jika tabi are mostly designed and made to be worn alone as outdoor footwear, resembling boots that reach roughly to the mid-calf. Jika tabi are also known as "tabi boots".
context_section_description: Tokujirō Ishibashi, brother of Shōjirō Ishibashi, founder of the major tyre company Bridgestone, is credited with the invention of jika-tabi in the early 20th century. 
  During the 1942 Battle of Milne Bay in Papua (now part of Papua New Guinea), the Allies of World War II faced the Japanese Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai (Special Naval Landing Forces), who wore jika-tabi as part of their uniform. The distinctive tread marks left by the boots allowed Allied troops (mostly Australian troops with some American units) to follow the tracks, and thus Japanese soldiers, through the muddy forests. Examples of the boots worn by Japanese soldiers are held by the Australian War Memorial.
caption: Jika-tabi allow this gardener to grip his ladder
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