Bill went out to lunch yesterday with a couple of Japanese men from his office, and after entering a restaurant and walking to the rear a staff person had some "words" with them. After these words, they all turned around and walked out. They explained to Bill that the staff were angry at them for not taking their shoes off at the door.
When we moved into our apartment, we were told very sternly that we were not to have shoes on in our apartment either. So, like good little soldiers, we're shoeless in our own apartment. The floors are heated so it's quite comfortable.
I do have a shoe problem upstairs at the spa, though. Having solved the sneaker issue in the gym, I still haven't figured out which colored pair of flipflops (three kinds, black, green and blue) to put on when going from the spa reception area, to the ladies locker room, to the hottub and then the sauna. A woman who spoke English tried to show me, but she was interrupted by the staff who then just motioned what to do - which I didn't understand. One of these days I'm going to get up the courage to take advantage of the sauna and hottub, but I'm sure not I'll succeed before making a mistake and getting chastised!
