This study aimed to clarify the effects of wearing Japanese-style sandals, which was conducted as a part of barefoot education on sole shape and position of the center of foot pressure （CFP） in preschool children. The subjects were 81 healthy children ages 4 to 5 （sandal group：28；control group：53) . Both groups were conducting indoor barefoot education. The sandal group wore sandals when commuting to school, going for a walk and playing outdoors for four months. The control group wore casual shoes in that time. The ground contact area of the soles and CFP were measured before and after four months （run-in period） in both groups. In the sandal group, the ground contact area of the foot became smaller with the formation of arch of foot. Specifically, a marked effect was found in the five-year-old children. As for CFP, there were significant changes in both groups. However, a change in the CFP towards the front of foot in the sandal group was large and the position of CFP varied from negative to positive along the Y-coordinate in the five-year-old children. From this, it is inferred that the effects of using Japanese-style sandals on changes in childrenʼs feet are large, even in preschools that use barefoot education.
