Kihachiro Onitsuka/ ASICS.

One of the oldest sneaker companies in Japan, after it’s court battles and appearance in several cult classic movies, these sneakers have become a sought after piece of history, with interesting ties to the founders of Nike.

A thread...

Founded in 1949 by Kihachiro Onitsuka, after the war he wanted to empower and shift younger generations towards athletics. After a few failed attempts at basketball shoes, he found a design that stuck.

In 1953 we see the interpretation of an already popular Japanese style... The tabi!!
Called “The Marathon Tabi” this shoe took the lightweight feel of running barefoot and blended it with a traditional Japanese style. The shoe was agile, sleek and could go the distance.

And by 1955, he had 500 stores across Japan. In order to further grow his brand and improve designs, he worked along side long distance runners; Toru Terasawa (left) and Abebe Bikila (right)

Abebe had a unique style of running; he ran barefoot! But Kihachiro assured him his sneakers would be a better option.
Now his attention to athletes didn’t stop at the track! He wanted them to be wearing his sneakers all the way to the podium and to appropriate ceremonies!

Following footwear guidelines for athletes attending ceremonies; Kihachiro developed the “Made for Melbourne”. A sneaker that blended function and formality.

Let’s fast forward to an iconic year, 1966. The year the Mexico 66 sneaker was created but not debuted until the 1969 Mexico Olympics, it would go on to have a cult following. It was also the first time the stripes appeared on the side, hence why their now referred to as “tigers”

And now in 1968, the developmental stages of The Corsair were beginning; with the help of an american who flew to japan and began working with Kihachiro, this shoe bore a striking resemblance to a classic silhouette of another brand... but we’ll get to that soon.

Let me introduce Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman! Before they co-founded arguably the biggest sneaker company of all time *cough, Nike* Philip was a track runner and Bill was his coach and long time friend.

Bill was adamant on advancing sneaker technology, he wanted to develop an agile and shock absorbent sneaker! Bill founded Blue Ribbon Sports inc in 1964 &Philip was his right hand man at the company. At the time, it was a sneaker distribution company. But it did become Nike.

Now let’s get back to the Corsair! And the American that helped develop it? You guessed it, Mr. Bill Bowerman! After finishing school he flew to Japan& became a technical advisor for Kihachiro Onitsuka. He developed The Corsair, a beautifully cushioned and impact absorbent shoe.

Bill knew Onitsuka sneakers would be big in America! So he became the exclusive rights holder& distributer of Onitsuka shoes! He made a lot of money off distributing them... but that wasn’t enough. He began manufacturing his own version and by version I mean the same damn shoe.

Corsair, meet the Cortez!!
It’s the same shoe!! Down to the layered spongy sole and rounded toe box. Bill was so messy for this.

Originally bill wanted to call it the Aztec to pay homage to the Olympic host city in 1969, however conflict arose when ADIDAS (yes their in this mess too) released their Olympic sneaker the “Azteca Gold”. (no drip. 2/10)

Obviously adidas threatened to sue so Bill changed the name to Cortez because... Cortez was “the Spaniard who beat the shit out of the Aztecs!!” Nice Bill.

ANYWAYS. The partnership between Kihachiro Onitsuka&Bill Bowerman fizzled when a representative from Onitsuka went to Blue Ribbon Sports facility and found prototypes of The Cortez. They realized that while Bill was distributing Onitsuka shoes, he was starting his own brand, Nike

Blue Ribbon Sports officially became Nike in 1971 and the Cortez went on to be one of the best selling sneakers EVER. There was a court settlement between the look alike shoes, both Onitsuka and Nike could continue developing the Corsair and the Cortez.

BUT WAIT. This thread was about Kihachiro Onitsuka, his brands longevity and eventual ICONIC status that lamented them in cult sneaker culture.
In 1973, Bruce Lee wore a pair of bright yellow Mexico 66’s in the movie Game of Death.