I like it because it does keep the floor cleaner.

Her reasoning was that it's a hassle to constantly put on and take off shoes, and the house gets dirty anyway, so why bother?

"Why bother"?! Gaaaaaahhh!!!!

In the winter and in wet weather, she'll take her shoes off, but in the dry weather, it does bother me a LOT (herein lies some of the cultural differences of an interracial relationship that no one talks about...)

But it seems more like the people I encounter had always worn shoes in the house until I came along :) Taking shoes off after wearing them all day just reinforces the fact that you're HOME.

Also, outdoor shoes in Japanese is "dosoku" which literally means "soil feet." We have a saying, "dosoku de fuminijiru (dishonorablly step on with outdoor footwear)" which means to dishonor horribly. To step on something with shoes where you're not supposed to has a nuance of putting mud on someone's face. I don't know the origin of this saying, although I naturally share the feeling.

All this will be excused if the place was meant to accept shoes in the first place (as in western style hotel rooms or places like Eiji's home). In places like that however, I would literally frown at people who eat food that was accidentally dropped on that floor. I'd say, "Yuk! That floor might have been stepped on by shoes that may have touched dog shit!" (which you have to admit is true).

Of course, when Rome I do as the Romans do. Whenever I travel to certain exotic places, I switch my mind and accept that everything is basically the same as the toilet floor, and if I should get sick, that's because I was too weak.

Btw, stepping on tatami with shoes is out of the question no matter what style of living you choose, because it would just be too difficult to clean the dirt or maintain the woven surface if you step on it with hard soles. Would you accept people who step on your pillow or a woven straw chair with shoes on? I think not.