Kutsukakushi (Japanese Shoe-Hiding Game)

Everyone removes one shoe and piles them together in the center.

One player is chosen to lead and stacks or lines up all the shoes while chanting a counting rhyme, tapping each shoe in turn.

Whichever shoe the rhyme lands on last belongs to the player who is temporarily out of that round.

Continue removing shoes from the pile with the rhyme until only one shoe remains.

The owner of the very last shoe left becomes the seeker or 'it' for the next game, such as hide-and-seek.

Return all the shoes and start again for a new round if playing multiple times.