The Genkon- Please Leave the World Outside

Every home in Japan has a genkon.  No, really, every home.  They vary in size and design, but they are an essential part of every home.  They are equivalent somewhat to our entry ways, but they serve a very important function.  Everyone who enters a home removes their shoes there.  Everyone.  Shoes are removed and often replaced by slippers there, and then you can enter the home.  Even when the delivery guys brought our new chairs, they removed their shoes as they stepped up into our apartment even though they were carrying a heavy chair. 

As I think about it, I find it to be a sweet custom.  The filth and dirt of the world are left outside and the sanctity of the home, preserved.  May we all be so wise!

Following are some pictures I've taken while out on my walks of genkons.  You'll see they vary in size and design, but not function:

This is ours to our apartment.  We sometimes pause to pray in our genkon before we go out into the world.  That's another way a genkon is a buffer between home and the real world.