straw sandals
Traditional Japanese sandals woven from straw, historically worn by travelers and workers. Now mostly seen in historical contexts, festivals, or as a metaphor for a journey.
Travelers in the old days walked wearing straw sandals.
At the festival, they wear straw sandals and carry the portable shrine.
travel money; small farewell gift
Kanji form; the reading わらじ is a jukujikun (special kanji reading).
Kana form; usually written in kana.
Compound of 藁 (wara, 'straw') and 足 (ashi, 'foot'), with sound change. The kanji 草鞋 is a jukujikun reading, where the characters are assigned to the native Japanese word based on meaning rather than phonetic correspondence.