Zori

Zori (/ˈzɔːri/), also rendered as zōri (Japanese: 草履（ぞうり）, Japanese pronunciation: [d͡zo̞ːɾʲi]), are thonged Japanese sandals made of rice straw, cloth, lacquered wood, leather, rubber, or—most commonly and informally—synthetic materials. They are a slip-on descendant of the tied-on waraji sandal.

Similar in form, modern flip-flops became popular in the United States, Australia and New Zealand when soldiers returning from World War II brought Japanese zori with them.^{[citation needed]}

Like many Japanese sandals, zori are easily slipped on and off, which is important in Japan, where shoes are removed and put back on when entering and leaving a house, and where tying shoelaces would be impractical when wearing traditional clothing.

The traditional forms of zori are seen when worn with other traditional clothing. Modern forms are fairly common, however, with casual Western wear, especially in summer. While geta are now mostly worn with the informal yukata, traditional zori are often worn with the more formal kimono.

In rain, zori may be worn with toe covers (shigure zori).

The zori originated as a slip-on form of the tie-on waraji. In the Edo period (1603-1867), the production of zori became professionalized, and a variety of fancy types of zori emerged, using fancier materials. While zori were still commonly woven of rice straw (wara-zōri 藁 草履（わら ぞうり）, literally "straw zori"), rushes of various kinds and bamboo sheath were also used. If they were made of something less cheap than rice straw, an extra outsole was often sewn on. This could be made of coiled hemp rope (asaura-zōri), wisteria stems, (fujiura-zōri), or wood in lateral strips (zōri-geta or itatsuke-zōri). Leather soles were used on setta. In modern times, polyurethane and cork are used as outsoles.

Zori also have a variety of upper surfaces. Zori with a woven wicker covering are referred to as tatami omote If it is woven of rice straw (as above), they are wara-zōri. If they are woven on the same four-warp pattern, but using a weft of bamboo sheath (peelings of bamboo culms), they are takegawa (たけがわ, 竹皮) zori, literally bamboo-skin zori. The topsole may also be woven of common rush (igusa). This is the material used for most tatami mats, and igusa-zōri are also woven on the same many-warp pattern as tatami.

Raffia, rattan, and paper strips (treated and twisted to resemble rush) are also used in topsoles. Some soles are skiamorphic moldings that look like woven topsoles. Topsoles might also be made of cloth, leather, vinyl cloth, or EVA foam. Soles made entirely of waterproof (usually synthetic) materials are called 雨底 (amezoko) zori, literally rain-soled zori.^{[better source needed]} Elastomer zori are called ゴム草履 (gomu-zōri).^{[better source needed]}