8 stores · curated ORBIS register
Kobe's Maruya Shoes sells and repairs shoes on Motomachi shopping street, continuing a business founded by Okitsugu Katayama in 1919. The shop has also collaborated on leather sneakers made from Hyogo cattle hide, alongside its fitting and repair work. Onitsuka Tiger was founded in Kobe in 1949, with the Mexico 66 among its named retro running-shoe designs. Flower Mountain combines Japanese trekking-boot influences with Italian manufacturing, following its 2015 founding by Keisuke Ota and Yang Chao.
Motomachi
Maruya Shoes has sold and repaired shoes from the same block of Kobe's Motomachi shopping street since founder Okitsugu Katayama opened it in September 1919. The shop has also collaborated on leather sneakers made from Hyogo cattle hide.
Best for Fitted shoes and repairs
Japan
Japanese sportswear brand founded 1949 in Kobe by Kihachiro Onitsuka; its Mexico 66 sneaker, worn by the Japanese Olympic team in 1968 and later by Bruce Lee, remains its signature design.
Best for Retro Running
Onitsuka Tiger was founded in 1949 by Kihachiro Onitsuka in postwar Japan, initially making basketball shoes -- the brand's early suction-cup outsole grip design was reportedly inspired by an octopus tentacle Onitsuka noticed stuck to a bowl. The company expanded into running footwear from 1953, working with Japanese marathoner Toru Terasawa, and gained international attention when Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila wore Onitsuka shoes to consecutive Olympic marathon gold medals in 1960 and 1964, having previously run barefoot. The Mexico 66 model, worn by the Japanese national team at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, became the brand's best-known design and later a pop-culture icon after Bruce Lee wore its yellow-and-black colourway in his films, including Game of Death. Onitsuka later merged with two other companies in 1977 to form ASICS, but the Onitsuka Tiger name was revived as a standalone lifestyle and fashion-sneaker line, continuing to produce the Mexico 66 and related retro models alongside contemporary designs, sold through its own stores and e-commerce internationally as well as in Japan.
Veneto–Tokyo / Online
Sneaker brand founded in 2015 by Tokyo-born Keisuke Ota and Beijing-born Yang Chao, who met at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival; blends Japanese trekking-boot design with manufacturing by Italian shoemaker Falc S.p.A.
Best for Hybrid trail sneakers
Flower Mountain was founded in 2015 by Keisuke Ota, born in Tokyo, and Yang Chao, born in Beijing, who met at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival. Working with Federica Wang, the pair developed a shoe concept fusing the rugged construction of trekking boots with traditional Japanese textile and design references. Flower Mountain partnered with Italian manufacturer Falc S.p.A. starting in 2016, giving the brand its Italian-made, Japanese-designed identity. The visual identity draws on the image of a dandelion field on Mount Fuji.
Tokyo
Ronnie Fieg’s premium streetwear boutique in Tokyo, bringing together sneakers, apparel, collaborations and Kith’s own collections in a highly designed multi-level retail setting.
Best for Ronnie Fieg's sneaker culture, apparel, and streetwear collaborations
Tokyo / Online
Sneaker architect turned fashion designer — deconstructed soles, patchwork uppers, and footwear that challenges every convention. Maison Mihara Yasuhiro is the future of Japanese sneakers.
Best for Deconstructed sole sneakers and patchwork footwear
Tokyo
Spain’s sneaker of the people since 1915 — Gregorio named them for his wife in a Rioja village; vulcanized canvas that shod every Spanish summer since the seventies.
Best for Canvas inglesitas & espadrille-soled sneakers
Shinkyōgoku alleys, Kyōto / Online
Kyōto pop-modern — split-toe tabi sneakers and textile prints that put festival colors on the street; a cluster of tiny shops down one alley.
Best for Tabi shoes, bold textiles
Japan / Germany
Yohji’s Adidas — the 2002 collaboration that invented luxury sportswear, still fashion’s sharpest three stripes.
Best for Technical sportswear, sneakers; Performance athletic
Curated ORBIS register · official links shown where recorded
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