A tabi sock separates the big toe from the other four. The split is not decoration: it exists so the sock can be worn with a thonged sandal, where a strap passes between those same two toes. Japan has been making footwear this way for centuries, and the sock shape survived because nothing else lets you wear a sandal and a sock at once without one of them fighting the other.
The side effect is that your foot sits differently. With the big toe working on its own you get a little more grip through the ball of the foot, which is why the split toe turns up again in jikatabi, the split-soled boots Japanese builders and gardeners still wear.
The one here
The Split Toe Tabi Socks are knitted in a cotton rich yarn and finished with a reinforced seam across the toe, which is the place a split-toe sock wears through first. The cuff is ribbed to hold at mid calf without gripping. They come in grey, in one size.
Wearing them with sandals, and without
With a thonged sandal the split does its original job and the strap sits between the toes with the sock still on. Worn with anything closed they read as an ordinary mid-calf sock until you take your shoes off. Under a wide or cropped trouser the cuff is the part that shows, so the mid-calf length matters more than the toe does.
One size, and what that means
These are a single size rather than a size run. The knit and the ribbed cuff carry a normal range of adult men's feet, but there is no small or large to choose between, so if you are at either extreme of shoe size this is worth knowing before you order. The toe split is fixed in position, and on a very wide foot it will sit slightly across rather than between the toes.
Washing them
Machine wash warm with like colours, no bleach, tumble dry low. The toe seam is the stress point on any tabi sock, so turning them inside out before washing is worth the second it takes.
Elsewhere in the range
The rest of the small accessories range is in Accessories. For the clothes these were designed to sit under, see Japanese pants, and for the jackets that share the same tradition, Japanese jackets. What are tabi socks goes through the split, the sandal it was designed around and how they wear day to day.
Japanese socks with a split between the big toe and the rest, originally so they could be worn with a thonged sandal that passes a strap between those two toes.
Why do tabi socks have a split toe?
So a sandal strap can sit between the big toe and the second toe while the sock stays on. The same split also gives a little more grip through the ball of the foot.
What size are these tabi socks?
One size, knitted to mid calf. The ribbed cuff carries a normal range of adult men’s feet, but there is no small or large option to choose between.
What colour do they come in?
Grey only at the moment.
How do I wash tabi socks?
Machine wash warm with like colours, do not bleach, tumble dry low. Turning them inside out first protects the toe seam, which is where a split-toe sock wears first.
One size
