Unleashing Japanese Excellence to the World: The Magic of the ASICS Skateboarding Line

Skateboard shoes (hereafter, skate shoes) significantly influence skateboard performance. Japanese skaters, who typically have high and wide foot arches, have always had difficulty finding skate shoes that fit them.

Meanwhile, the skateboard line was launched by ASICS. In this article, Shin Okada of ASICS Skateboarding Pro Team, who serves as the producer, alongside Kaya Sakakibara, a rider for the ASICS Skateboarding Pro Team, discuss the high-end technology and future prospects of ASICS Skateboarding.

Exceptionally comfortable footwear is unique to a Japanese brand

Until the launch of the ASICS Skateboarding line in 2020, the skate shoe market was dominated by foreign brands. This is a situation that Okada objectively observed.
 
"It was simply taken for granted at the time. In the late 1990s, Yoshifumi Egawa, a legendary skater at the time, released a signature model in collaboration with Mizuno, which was the first instance of a Japanese manufacturer producing skate shoes.
 
"However, that was only distributed domestically. Now, the launch of the ASICS Skateboarding line, which is looking to the global market, is truly a new initiative," he said.