Recently, my running shoes were broken...finally.
I bought them which were on sale in the U.S. By the way, I bought ASICS, Japanese shoes, in the U.S. It may sound a little strange?

Usually, I just try to find next running shoes at a sports shop. However, there was something I wanted to check since last year.

Sorry, this page is only in Japanese. This TV drama is about a manufacturer produces Japanese traditional socks. They are called “Tabi” in Japanese. Please refer to Wikipedia for more details. There are some pictures on this page.

Although they have a long history on their business, their products are too “traditional”. So, they have to develop something new to survive. Then a president of that company decides to develop running shoes. However, as you can imagine, it is not a easy task for a traditional company. There are many difficulties, finding materials, management, competition and so on. I remember I looked for watching this TV drama every week. It is written by Jun Ikeido. All his works are so thrilling. Stories are unpredictable and characters in his works have strong passions.

Let me talk about shoes now. In this drama, the president tried to develop running shoes by Tabi style. I googled them if it really exists. Then I found a company, Okamoto Seiko. They supported this drama for a part of design of Tabi running shoes.

I found other manufacturers, but Okamoto Seiko’s Tabi running shoes have enough cushion and it reduces burden on my knees. Also, I found a similar coloring which I saw in the TV drama. So, I decided to order them on their e-shop. They told me I should select 0.5 cm larger size than usual.

They sent shoes immediately and I picked up in my hands. — the most interesting thing is its shape. It is split for the big toe and the other toes. In addition, its weight is light. (By the way, they included an instruction for its fitting and exchange for a different size. They are very kind!)

Of course, I’ve already bought socks for this shoes. (Don’t tell me something about the logo!)

I work my foot into the shoe. “Oh? It might be a little small for me?” My toe touched something. In fact, I just touched the split part in the shoe. My big toe and the others are divided in the shoes. This feeling might be really fresh, if you haven’t tried this kind of shoes before. As they instructed, shoes are suitable for my feet. There is no wasted space and I felt shoes are a part of my feet.

Then I jogged some soon.
It wasn’t at a fast pace, I felt a strong grip from landing and kicking the ground. This feeling is very new to me. It might be a mid-foot landing. Okamoto Seiko shows data on YouTube and their website. Although I’m not a specialist, I felt a difference from conventional running shoes.

In addition, I walked for a while. Then I found a feeling of my soles is quite unique. I can kick out the ground by using all of my soles, from the heel to the toe. I thought their Tabi running shoes are good for walking, too.

On their website, they show some data and this Tabi style is promising for prevention of hallux valgus. * This doesn’t mean wearing shoes cure it immediately.

I think it will take a little time to fit them perfectly.
In addition, I often jog and walk around a town when I go abroad for business. So, I look forward to doing that with my Tabi running shoes next time!