Best Sandals for Japan Trips

The best sandals for a Japan trip are lightweight, slip-on-and-off easily, and have arch support for the sheer amount of walking you'll do. Between temple visits, train stations, and city blocks, most travelers rack up 15,000–25,000 steps a day in Japan — and you'll be taking your shoes off constantly at temples, traditional restaurants, and some Airbnbs.

Why Japan is a uniquely tough test for sandals

Japan isn't a beach destination, but it's still one of the toughest environments for footwear:

• Constant on/off: shrines, temples, ryokans, and some restaurants require you to remove shoes, often multiple times a day
• Long walking distances: train stations alone can involve 10+ minutes of walking between platforms
• Sudden rain: Japan's weather shifts fast, especially in summer and the rainy season (June)
• Mixed terrain: smooth train station floors, temple gravel, city sidewalks, and the occasional hill

A sandal that's slow to buckle or has zero grip becomes a genuine annoyance by day two of a trip like this.

What to look for specifically

1. Slip-on convenience. With how often shoes come off in Japan, sandals with simple straps (not complicated lace-up systems) save real time and hassle throughout the day.

2. Arch support for long walking days. Japan trips are step-heavy. A flat, unsupportive sandal will catch up with you by the afternoon.

3. Grippy, anti-slip soles. Between rain and polished temple floors, slip resistance matters more here than in most destinations.

4. Packable and lightweight. If you're doing a multi-city trip (Tokyo → Osaka → Kyoto, for example), every gram in your suitcase counts.

Our pick

Jaedals sandals are built for exactly this kind of trip, lightweight, water-friendly for sudden rain, with arch support and adjustable straps that make the constant slip-on-slip-off of a Japan itinerary painless instead of annoying.