Geta Skates Used by Kaneko Yukichi

2024/02/13

In Japan since the Meiji period, sports derived uniquely from Western origins, such as soft tennis, have often emerged. While the primary factor was economic, these developments can also be seen as an expression of people's high level of desire and curiosity for new sports. These geta skates are a perfect symbol of that phenomenon.

Skating in Japan began around the 1890s on natural rinks of frozen lakes in places like Sapporo, Sendai, and Suwa. Initially, it centered around foreign missionaries and those returning from study abroad, but it is said that Keio students who were enthusiasts also gathered at Lake Suwa to enjoy skating in the 1910s. However, leather skating boots were extremely expensive and not easily available to everyone. This led to the invention of geta skates—a substitute made by attaching blades to geta (wooden clogs). Mass-produced in Suwa from the late 1900s, they were improved year by year and evolved into specialized versions for speed and figure skating, eventually becoming fully established as a winter pastime for the general public.

These speed-type geta skates are believed to be from the Taisho period, when such evolution had taken place. The former owner was Kaneko Yukichi, an athlete during the early days of the Athletic Association Skating Team, who used them during his time at Suwa Middle School from the late Taisho to early Showa periods. After entering Keio University Senior High School, Kaneko showed versatile prowess as a Skating Team athlete, leading all three disciplines: he won three consecutive individual titles in figure skating at the All Japan Intercollegiate Ice Skating Championships from 1928 to 1930, two consecutive titles in hockey (CF) in 1929 and 1930, and placed third in the 10,000-meter speed skating event in 1928 and 1929. These geta skates were the starting point for this prominent figure, who served as an official for the Japan Skating Federation after graduation and supported the skating world even after the war.

Geta skates were used until after the war, but their role ended in the 1960s with the widespread adoption of skating boots. Nevertheless, last year, the "Suwa Geta Skate Collection" in Shimosuwa Town was designated as a National Registered Tangible Folk Cultural Property for its contribution to the spread of skating culture. These geta skates are not merely curious relics; they are valuable materials that evoke the popular sentiments of the time, such as the passion and ingenuity for new entertainment and grassroots enthusiasm for sports. To honor these origins, the Athletic Association Skating Team displayed them at its 100th anniversary ceremony last December, and they are currently on display in the permanent exhibition room of the Keio History Museum.

(Hiroshi Yokoyama, Specialist, Fukuzawa Yukichi Memorial Keio History Museum)