Uwabaki are a type of indoor shoe, in this case to be worn at school. This pair is for a young girl and is beige with a canvas top, rubber soles and an elastic strap. There are words written in hiragana (phonetic Japanese characters) at the top toe area of the shoes, which read "Donguri Eiko." This refers to the names of the owner and the classroom ("donguri" = acorn, as in the Acorn Class, and "Eiko" is a girl's name; kindergarten classrooms are typically identified by an object, such as a plant or animal).
In Japanese culture, people remove their shoes when entering homes and other buildings, especially where the floors may have rugs, polished wood floors, or tatami (grass mats). Uwabaki indoor shoes are light and flexible, and most important, easy to slip on and off. As they are not generally worn outside, the soles are kept clean, therefore the building's floors are kept clean as well.
