{
  "id": 607117,
  "title": "The Flip-Flop as Traditional Japanese Design: The Surprising Origins of a Beach Classic",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/11/the-flip-flop-as-traditional-japanese-design-the-surprising-origins",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-11T21:00:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Nippon.com",
    "slug": "nippon-com",
    "url": "https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g02626/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The humble flip-flop is a staple of summer, serving as easy, breezy footwear all around the world. Its genesis lies in a surprising collaboration between footwear creators from Japan and the United States, soon after the two countries ended their war against each other. A look at the history of this iconic sandal.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}