Onitsuka Tiger label for shoes and apparel was founded by Kihachiro Onitsuka, whose life as an entrepreneur was moulded by working with a company that bought and sold black market beer.

Early on Onitsuka thought sports could rebuild the self-esteem of Japanese youth. The head coach of Kobe High School basketball team urged him to start designing basketball shoes. That coach believed basketball would soon become a popular sport in Japan.  So Onitsuka founded Onitsuka Co. Ltd. and manufactured Onitsuka rubber shoes, now one of the five largest brands of sports shoes in the world.

Onitsuka first designed his basketball shoes by watching basketball team practice and observed the movements of their feet. He innovated the suction cups for the sole, had one of the players tried it, made some adjustment with the suction cups, and mass-produced it.

In 1953 he trained his eyes on running shoes. He invented the air-cooling system using a loosely woven cloth for the top of the shoes and made a number of holes on the front and on the sides. The result: feet were now able to “breathe.”   He designed a two-layered sole to soften the impact when running. Tooro Terasawa, Japanese champion runner, tried it, and ran 42 kilometres without blisters.

He also persuaded Abebe Bikila, legendary Ethiopian runner, to wear OnitsukaTiger shoes. He visited Abebe in his hotel, and asked why he didn’t wear shoes.  “Because I don’t have any,” was the Abebe’s answer. Onitsuka explained that Japanese roads are littered with glass and running bare-foot could be dangerous. So Abebe was willing to try Onitsuka Tiger shoes. Onitsuka ordered his technicians to manufacture the world’s lightest pair of shoes for Abebe Bikila, who won the marathon the next day, and wore shoes ever since.

A merger of Onitsuka with GTO, sportswear manufacturer, and Jelenk, knit wear manufacturer, promised stability and strength for the company, which came true in 1977. GTO, Jelenk and Onitsuka now wanted an appropriate name for their new company. They made use of an old Latin phrase: Anima Sana In Corpore Sano (a sound mind in a sound body): ASICS.

Visit this website: http://www.onitsukatiger.com.au/home/home.cfm