After WWII He Changed His Name and Sold Bootleg Beer. Then He Founded Asics

Kihachiro Onitsuka drew inspiration for his first shoes from a salad, slept on benches, and built the first running shoe empire. [ view in [browser](. add runnersworld@newsletter.runnersworld.com to your address book ] [RunnersWorld.com]( FOLLOW US [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [You Tube]( [The Original Sneakerhead]( "Every shoe in our collection, in a way great or small, reflects the spirit of Mr. Onitsuka," says Yoshimori Fukui, a curator of the shoe archives at Asics corporate headquarters in Kobe, Japan. He's referring to the late Kihachiro Onitsuka, the company founder and a father of the modern global running movement. "I feel honored by this job." A stocky, stolid, 30- plus-year-veteran of the company, Fukui, through a translator, listens carefully to my request. The archives are normally visited by tours of recently hired Asics employees or designers researching for a new shoe. This interest from any Western media—the world beyond Japan discovering Mr. Onitsuka's story—forms new territory. Giving a terse nod and slight bow, Fukui strides through the windowless basement chamber, passing a wall displaying editions of the GT, Kayano, and Gel-Lyte series, Asics' flagship best sellers, stretching from the 1980s to the present. Opposite the wall of newer models, Fukui turns to a vault containing the company's older shoes, ones with historical significance. He unlocks and wheels open a heavy air-trap door, the kind used in banks and museums. Stepping inside, now resembling a sommelier searching for a rare vintage, he scans the neatly arranged shelves of cardboard shoe boxes stacked floor to ceiling. He pulls down a box and, cradling it with both hands, delivers it to a display table in the front of the room. [Read On]( [RunnersWorld.com]( [Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema Crushed Her PR at New Zealand Ironman]( She used local half marathons to tune up for the race. [Read On]( [RunnersWorld.com]( [Dynamic Duo Wander Woman and Super Pup Become Superheroes on the Trail]( Alton Eckel and her Shiba Inu, Cole, have been bringing smiles to hikers, ultrarunners, and other outdoors enthusiasts for six years. [Read On]( [RunnersWorld.com]( [Wisconsin Becomes First Program Ever to Sweep 5K Finals at NCAA Indoor Championships]( Alicia Monson and Morgan McDonald both out-kicked their competition in thrilling finishes to help the Badgers make history. [Read On]( [RunnersWorld.com]( [Tested: Samsung’s New Galaxy Watch Active]( The brand’s latest wearable is lightweight and loaded with wellness-oriented features for $200. [Read On]( [RunnersWorld.com]( [Go Faster on the Trails With the Rabbit FKT Shorts]( These split-seam shorts are built for speed and storage for hours on the trail. [Read On]( [runnersworld.com]( ©2019 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019 [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Notice](