Kurosawa Kirizaiten

This is an Aizu kiri (paulownia wood) geta sandal shop that dates back to 1912. They make and sell geta sandal from finely grained and durable Aizu paulownia. In the Edo period, the Aizu domain encouraged the planting of paulownia, and now the trees in the Aizu region are the best in all of Japan. Typically, these sandals are made through a division of labor system, but this shop manages the entire process from felling the trees to hand-finishing each pair. Their work is popular for the way it brings new creativity to traditional Aizu paulownia geta sandal to create items suitable for modern life.