Traditional footwear familiar to all Japanese. Geta are worn mostly with traditional clothing, but around 1970, many young people chose to wear them with Western-style clothes like school uniforms and jeans. A song from that time entitled "He Came Clattering His Geta" became a bit hit.
There is an old folk custom of kicking one's geta into the air to "predict" the weather. If the geta lands upside down, this is supposed to mean that it will rain the following day; if it lands right side up, the weather will be fine. Of course, this custom has no scientific basis whatsoever.
In a somewhat more scholarly vein, geta are found in various rice-growing cultures including those of West Africa, India and Southeast Asia. The two raised "prongs" attached the bottom of each geta are believed to have originated to protect one's clothes from being soiled while working in the rice paddies.