Bakezori

Overview

The bakezori is a tsukumogami — an animated object spirit — that inhabits an old, discarded zori, the traditional Japanese woven straw sandal. Once the sandal has been worn down through years of daily use and finally abandoned, it develops limbs and a face and begins to wander the house at night. According to some traditions, the bakezori calls out a counting chant as it moves, enumerating a sequence that corresponds to the holes in the sandal's thong. It is among the most endearing examples of the tsukumogami type.

Appearance

Bakezori are typically depicted as a straw sandal with eyes appearing in the woven body of the sole, arms formed from the thong straps, and stubby legs growing from the heel. The creature's round, woven face gives it a surprised, wide-eyed expression. Some illustrations show a pair of bakezori working together, as sandals naturally come in pairs — the spirit animating both simultaneously or the two operating as a team.

Footwear as Sacred Object

Footwear occupies a unique symbolic position across many cultures as the boundary object between the human body and the earth. In Japan, zori and geta (wooden clogs) were worn constantly and were among the most personal of everyday possessions. The sole of a sandal absorbs the wearer's weight, warmth, and movement over thousands of daily steps. That such an intimate, heavily used object would accumulate spiritual energy and eventually animate is a natural consequence of the tsukumogami belief system.

The Tsukumogami Emaki Legacy

The bakezori appears in the Tsukumogami Emaki, a picture scroll from the Muromachi period that is one of the foundational documents of the tsukumogami tradition. In the scroll's narrative, neglected household objects band together, transform into demons, and wreak havoc before ultimately being redeemed through Buddhist teachings. The scroll served both as moral instruction — care for your possessions — and as entertainment, with the comical parade of animated sandals, pots, and brushes providing plenty of visual delight.