Morris Yock trademarks the jandal

Inspired by footwear he had seen in Japan, Auckland businessman Morris Yock and his son Anthony began manufacturing this simple rubber footwear in their Onehunga garage in 1957. The name ‘jandal’ combined the words ‘Japanese’ and ‘sandal’.

There is some dispute about whether Yock actually invented the jandal. The family of a Taranaki man, the late John Cowie, claim that he began manufacturing a plastic version of the traditional woven-soled zōri (Japanese sandal) in Hong Kong in the late 1940s, and that it was he who coined the name ‘jandal’. According to them, Yock merely imported the jandals and applied for the trademark in 1957. (John Cowie moved to New Zealand about a year later.) But Maurice Yock’s son Philip says that Hong Kong manufacturers showed his father how to make them, and that because of New Zealand’s import licensing rules he had to make them here.

The jandals were initially manufactured by Jandals Ltd using rubber imported from Hong Kong; J. Yock & Co. arranged distribution. Skellerup took over the supply of raw materials and eventually bought the business in 1987. Skellerup subsidiary Viking Footwear took over the name in the 1990s, and today it is owned by Sandford Industries.

During the 1980s and ’90s the brand came under threat from cheap imported imitations. In response the owners threatened legal action to protect the ‘Jandal’ trademark: the original jandal has a specific rubber formula. These days even the genuine article is imported – since the late 1980s the jandal has been manufactured in Malaysia.

One interesting ‘fact’ about jandals is that more left-footed ones wash up on our beaches than right-footed ones – a 23-year study of Northland beaches found that 70% of washed-up jandals were left-footed. Why? One theory is that it results from the way New Zealand boaties (most of them right-footed) launch their boats, with their left foot trailing in the water while they push off with their right foot.

Their relatively low cost and suitability for the New Zealand summer lifestyle have ensured the continuing popularity of jandals, although they are not nearly as prevalent as in the early 1980s, when Kiwis bought more than one million pairs a year.

National Jandal Days to raise funds for Surf Life Saving New Zealand were held in early December from 2007 to 2012. 

Image: Beachcombing - Jandal (Melanie Lovell-Smith see full image on Te Ara)