Owaraji (Giant Straw Sandals) – Tokyo, Japan atlasobscura.com

The sandals are a larger version of a type of sandal made from straw ropes.
Senso-ji Temple’s giant ōwaraji were woven in the traditional way, and made by the town council of Tate’oka-aramachi, Murayama in Yamagata Prefecture.
It is said that the sandals represent the powers of Niō, the Herculean guardians of Buddhist temples.
Their presence keeps demons at bay by making them believe that the temple is home to an invincible giant.
The sandals were first introduced to Sensō-ji in 1941, and since then have been replaced by a new pair almost every 10 years.