Japanese take their shoes off when they enter a home..

Japanese take off their shoes as soon as they enter. Homes have a kind of entry hall called genkan which can be very large or quite small. They leave their shoes in the genkan. Then they step up from there into the home. Japanese do the same thing in some Japanese-style restaurants too.

There are usually slippers available, and they wear them in　the home. But they take off the slippers too before entering a tatami room, if there is one.

There are many reasons why they don't wear shoes in the home. One is that, if you remove your shoes before entering the home, the floor stays much cleaner. Most Japanese do a lot of living on the floor. They sit there and even sleep there. It's important that the floor be very clean.