Shoe polishing is originally an occupation from Europe and the United States where leather shoes are worn, but with the Westernization which followed the Meiji Restoration, it developed as an occupation in Japan as well.
-靴磨きとは元々は欧米の革靴を履く習慣のある地域の職業であるが、明治維新の西欧化に伴い、日本でも職業として確立した。