Jika-tabi shoes in some industries, many workers prefer them for the softness of their soles. This gives wearers tactile contact with the ground, and the concomitant gripping ability lets them use their feet more agilely than rigid-soled shoes allow. This is useful for workers who traverse girders on construction sites and need to be sure what is under their feet. Carpenters and gardeners wearing these boots can, if they wish, use their feet as an extra pair of hands, for example to hold objects in place. There is also a line of knee-high all-rubber jika-tabi that is used by workers in
The Man Who Would Be King The Man Who Would Be King "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan. The story was first published in "The Phantom Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales" (1888). It also appeared in "Wee Willie Winkie and Other Child Stories" (1895), and numerous later editions of that collection. It has been adapted for other media a number of times. The narrator of the story is an Indian journalist in 19th century India—Kipling himself, in all but name. Whilst on