The complete guide to Onitsuka Tiger

Long before the revolutionary sneaker tech from the likes of Nike and Adidas, there was a Japanese sportswear brand that endured the process of experimenting with various methods and materials to come up with something new.

First created to promote sports and a healthy lifestyle to the youth, Onitsuka Tiger grew to become one of Japan’s leading shoe brands that crafted top-notch footwear to equip the nation’s best athletes.

After an impressive run in the Olympics, Onitsuka Tiger has since then transitioned to the United States by the late 1960s thanks to some of the American distributors of Onitsuka - most notably Nike’s co-founder Phil Knight.

Now merged with other Japanese firms to form ASICS, Onitsuka Tiger remained to be a consistent lifestyle shoe brand that pioneered the sneaker tech before the arrival of modern technology. Take a look at the brand’s history and most popular models in this complete sneaker guide.

Origin Story

Mr. Kihachiro Onitsuka has just returned to Japan a few years after the Second World War, and various sports were starting to rise in popularity, most notably thanks to the formation of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Onitsuka then founded Onitsuka Co. Ltd in 1949 to actively promote sports to the youth of Japan by manufacturing shoes that were way ahead of their time.

The first athletic shoe the brand has produced was the Tiger basketball shoe, it was a national sensation in Japan just as the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star was in the United States.

From that point forward, Onitsuka and his limited employees continued to work hard day and night to equip the country’s top powerhouses with prototypes to further develop their basketball line. A year later, the suction cup basketball shoe was unveiled. It focused mostly on the traction that mimics octopus suction cups.

Onitsuka Marathon TABI

The ambitious designs and experimental features also made their way to various performance sports footwear models. 1953 saw the debut of the Marathon TABI that’s inspired by the country’s traditional footwear that sports a minimalist look. Since it was a marathon shoe and must be lightweight, the Marathon TABI is only made up of a rubber sole, and a thin canvas-like upper with hanging bands to provide durability and a secure fit.

Onitsuka Tiger Wrestling Shoe

The production for the TABI ceased after some unwanted incidents, but Onitsuka quickly regained control by introducing the MARUP, a marathon shoe that then went on to be another nationwide footwear sensation thanks to its heel sponge cushioning. It’s made with vinylon but adopted other fabrics to keep up with the competition, it almost reached a lifespan of three decades until a new running sneaker line was unveiled in the 80s.

In 1955, Onitsuka Tiger’s modern features were on full display. They released their first wrestling shoe which used a nylon upper and hidden metal eyelets to avoid accidents during match-ups. These features weren’t seen on lifestyle sneakers from other brands until after a few decades. The nylon build-up for a wrestling shoe proved to be effective as it provided comfort, support, and durability for intense activities. The rest of the 1960s was Onitsuka’s attempt to incorporate other sneaker technology such as the rubber sponge sole cushioning seen on latter MARUP shoes.

The 1960s is where Onitsuka Tiger started breaking through not only within the country but also catching the attention of international audiences.

Onitsuka Tiger has created various performance shoes for just about every sport they had in mind, but their running shoes are on a completely different tier as their sponsored athletes were podium finishers in International Marathons. Some of the notable marathon feats proudly featuring Onitsuka were during the 1964 International Marathon where the silver medalist Basil Heatley from the United Kingdom and Japan’s very own bronze finisher Kokichi Tsuburaya was seen wearing Onitsuka Runspark marathon shoes as they ran their way to victory. The brand has just recently entered the United States market thanks to some distributors.

The United States market and the Olympics

In Phil Knight’s memoir Shoe Dog, visiting Japan after his own country just fought against them during the Second World War felt surreal and had given him doubts about his decision. But he was there to make a business agreement, not to set another war. Take a look at this long history between the eventual Nike founder and Japanese powerhouse Onitsuka Tiger.

One American distributor, a recent business school graduate who was actually a former track runner for Oregon, was widely responsible for the popularity of two brands in the US. In 1962, Phil Knight visited Japan to ask for Onitsuka Tiger’s permission to give him a license to distribute Onitsuka running shoes in the US via his own retail store Blue Ribbon Sports when the long-awaited pairs were finally shipped in 1964. It seemed like a calling for Knight as his business class research paper titled “Can Japanese Sports Shoes Do to German Sports Shoes What Japanese Cameras Did to German Cameras?” gave him the motivation to seek the country’s art of producing low-cost yet premium quality running shoes.

Phil Knight was impressed with the craftsmanship and quality of the Japanese brand, he then teamed up with his former track coach legend Bill Bowerman to provide designs and share his ideas with Knight and Onitsuka.

Just in time for the 1966 Mexico Olympic Trials, Onitsuka Tiger presented their iconic stripes. It was first seen on the Limber Up Leather, which was one of the pioneers of the Mexico 66 line that the brand has now.

During the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Onitsuka Tiger was selected to be the main shoe provider for the Japanese athletes that represented their country. Japan ended up with an impressive run en route to 11 gold medals, 7 silver medals, and 7 bronze. Their United States market was growing even more as Phil Knight and competitor distributors race to earn exclusive distribution rights.

Two of the same kind

Eventually earning distribution rights to sell Onitsuka Tiger, Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman had a lot of ideas in store for Blue Ribbon Sports and running shoe designs. Those who may know Nike history may remember that track coaching legend Bill Bowerman was known for molding rubber soles in a waffle iron to form the waffle sole that increased the traction of his shoes. Before any of that, he was proposing design ideas with Phil Knight that are then suggested to Onitsuka. One sneaker design, proposed in 1969, ended up becoming the eye of running shoe controversy during its time.

Bowerman designed a low-top runner made with leather, and dual-density midsoles featuring the soft sponge foam. It sits atop an aggressive herringbone traction pattern that ensures grip on all surfaces. Onitsuka Tiger liked the idea and quickly ordered the model into production. Onitsuka Tiger called it the Tiger Cortez, inspired by a conquistador that conquered the Aztecs. It was an exclusive model to the United States as running was starting to rise in popularity by the 70s.

Since the two parties were on the opposite ends of the Earth, Phil Knight has been secretly producing the exact same model - except without the Onitsuka Stripes and replaced it with the legendary Swoosh design as he was in the process of transitioning Blue Ribbon Sports into Nike.inc and start creating their own sneakers.

Eventually, an Onitsuka Tiger representative found out about this clandestine endeavor as the brand sued Phil Knight. The rights to the shoe ended up in a stalemate as the court decided to allow both companies to sell the Cortez. Nike stuck with the original name, while Onitsuka Tiger changed theirs to Tiger Corsair. Both brands then went on to turn the model into one of the most successful sneakers because of its timeless style and lasting comfort.

Nike officially released the Nike Cortez in 1972 and kickstarted the brand’s career.

Transition to ASICS

1977 saw the merge of three companies including Onitsuka Co. Ltd and formed a mega sporting goods company called ASICS (Anima Sana In Corpore Sano) in hopes of further promoting competitive sports. It focused on creating new technology for both shoes and apparel to equip the top athletes not only of Japan, but international champions as well.

The Onitsuka California Modern Jogger was one of the last few models from Onitsuka Tiger and featured arch support and reflective heel patches for detection.

Onitsuka Tiger Reborn

As ASICS rose through the ranks as one of the reliable sporting brands in the market, the Onitsuka Tiger has been reborn in 2002 as ASICS decided to focus on performance sports - while Onitsuka Tiger is dedicated to sports style and lifestyle.

The revival saw the return of three iconic models, the Mexico 66, Ultimate 81, and the Nippon 60 - all of which were crafted with the same but upgraded materials thanks to modern technology.

The following year, ASICS opened Onitsuka Tiger’s flagship store in the capital Tokyo in Japan. The opening was only the first of many as the brand went global and opened more stores in Paris, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and more.

By 2008, Japan-made Onitsuka Tigers have released under the NIPPON-MADE series and featured the pinnacle of Japanese craftsmanship down to the last detail. The first two models to be bestowed with the premium treatment were the Keirin Nippon and Ultimate Trainer - old school trainers that have since then transitioned into lifestyle shoes.

Currently, three different models are available under the NIPPON-MADE Series namely: the Limber Up, MOAL 77, and TAI-CHI.

Some of the best models currently available in Onitsuka Tiger physical stores and online are the Mexico 66, Serrano, Ultimate 81, GSM, and the Mexico 66

Another sneaker line that focuses more on Japan-made modern and formal shoes is the ‘THE ONITSUKA’ collection and features premium craftsmanship with modern technology. The flagship store is located in New York City.

Some of the sneakers sold are the Onitsuka Derby, Onitsuka Brogue, Onitsuka Jumpa, and the women’s exclusive Lace-up Lo.

ASIC TIGER Gel-Lyte III

In 2015, ASICS and Onitsuka Tiger combined to create a new brand. The ASICS Tiger was a mix-up of ASICS’ sports dedication and Onitsuka’s vintage and old-school setting. It resulted in the use of premium leather fabrics on sports style shoes such as the Gel-Lyte III.

Conclusion

Onitsuka Tiger has come a long way and has cemented itself as one of the best sportswear brands worldwide. Starting from creating basketball shoes and marathon runners to equip the country’s top players to eventually building an entire culture that boasted the unrivaled quality of Japan’s artisanship.

It was also responsible for the birth of one of the most successful lifestyle shoes in history despite the controversies it had to face and the disadvantage the brand endured just to keep the rights for the shoe.

After disappearing for more than two decades with the transition to ASICS, Onitsuka Tiger became widely missed not only by Japan but by worldwide retailers as well. Little did they know that it has not completely disappeared, it was just in some sort of meditation to prepare for the advancement of technology - and boy did it deliver well.

Its return in 2002 marks Onitsuka Tiger’s quest to stay on the trend by bringing back the vintage models such as the Mexico 66 and Limber-Up, and it’s clearly evident that it was a success thanks to its unmatched craftsmanship.