8 Japanese brands to know for the best shoes, sneakers and more

Look beyond Nike and Adidas and you’ll find that the world of footwear is ruled by Japanese shoes.

Whether applied to a pair of sneakers or ergonomic sandals, the “Made in Japan” stamp assures the conscientious shopper that they are paying for something of the finest quality. At least, that’s been the case for the cult brands that have emerged from the East Asian island, offering shoes that marry traditional craftsmanship and design innovation.

It’s no wonder that streetwear fans and collectors from all over the world often make pilgrimage to Japan, especially its fashion capital Tokyo, where sneaker culture is taken to another level. It’s that city where the frenzy for Western sportswear giants first took off, but Japan already had its own heritage of performance footwear dating back to the ’50s thanks to brands like Onitsuka Tiger and ASICS.

In the past decade, the appreciation of Japanese brands has only grown thanks to the streetwear boom. Today, cult labels like Suicoke and Hender Scheme have come out of obscurity thanks to collaborations with international luxury brands.

So if you’re looking to upgrade your footwear game with Japanese shoes, here are all the brands that should be on your radar.

Onitsuka Tiger

When Uma Thurman rocked a pair of Onitsuka Tiger shoes in the Quentin Tarantino flick Kill Bill, she cast a spotlight on one of the oldest shoe companies in Japan. The brand started off humbly enough in 1949 in Kobe, the hometown of founder Kihachiro Onitsuka, who wanted to create the ultimate shoe for athletes.

Onitsuka would find his answer in an octopus salad, which inspired the suction mechanism in his first basketball shoes. He would go on to create more shoes that took centre stage at the Olympics.

While his company rebranded as ASICS in 1977, the Onitsuka Tiger label remains, reviving its hit styles from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. But it’s the striped Mexico 66 shoes, famously worn by Bruce Lee on the silver screen, that is its most enduring design.

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Mizuno

Although Mizuno was established in 1906, the Osaka sportswear company only began making waves with its running shoes in the ’80s, which were sought after by American athletes. In 1997, it introduced the Wave Ride shoes, featuring the distinctive wave plate system that can now be found across many of its shoes.

In the 21st century, the brand has been propelled out of obscurity thanks to collaborations with global fashion brands like GCDS and Margaret Howell. This year, it has also tapped on Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama to take its shoes into the future.

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Losers

Founded in 1975, Tokyo-based streetwear label Losers is one of the coolest brands in Japan, priding itself in curating designs that are rooted in Japanese culture. The brand’s sneakers incorporate the Japanese concept of “iki”, an expression of simplicity, sophistication, and originality. Hence the Losers slogan, “Stick to your guns”.

And indeed Losers has, notably creating shoes using colours borrowed from the “48 browns and 100 grays” that common Japanese folk were allowed to wear in the Edo period. The brand has since made waves at fashion exhibitions with its clean and subdued footwear, marked by the trademark V-shaped design on the toe.

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Header photo credit: ASICS