The protocol for dressing rooms is shockingly different from the states... or at least the ones I am used to. To start with, I have never questioned the cleanliness of the fitting room floor.
When you approach the dressing room the floor is raised which, in Japan, means you have to take off your shoes. Even the most rudimentary changing room will have this feature. Even in a warehouse style used clothing store there was a 3x3 foot wooden board raising the room inches above the concrete floor. Of course, one of the reasons for this is the compulsive attention to shoes rand cleanliness which is apparent throughout Japanese culture. I have difficulty adapting to the complicated shuffle of shoe-slipper-sock and slippers. I can't argue with the results, though. Beyond cleanliness, I soon discovered another reason. The empty shoes outside the little cubicles is the best way to tell whether it is in use.
Without sounding ungreatful for the states, I just want to make a note about the incredible service industry here. Japanese stores know how to treat their customers well. This image shows a head cloth. If we have them in the states, I have never seen them. The are to cover ladies faces as they pull a shirt or dress over their head so that makeup does not smear on the clothing. (That is what the sign next to it says.) Where has this brilliance been my whole life?
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