SHORTAGE OF SHOES

Grey River Argus, 1 August 1940, Page 4

SHORTAGE OF SHOES

JAPANESE SCHOOL PUPILS KOBE, June 271 In view of the shortage of shoes for .schoolchildren in Japan, the officials concerned are considering means of coping with the situation, but it is expected that bare feet will be encouraged during the summer. Recent investigations in an elementary school in Hayashida-ku showed that the shoes of nowadays last in some cases only one day, while about 20 per cent, last for only five days. About 70 per cent, of the children managed to wear them for 20 to 3G days, but very few, about 5 per cent., can make them last over , a month. The first supply of shoes allotted to the city was 32,000 pairs a month, or one pair to every four students, which means that a student must wear his or her shoes for four months before they are able to obtain another pair. In some prefectures the children are already running round in bare feet with no ill-effects, and it is expected that this policy will also be followed in Kobe in the near future.