Gets Ninja footwear!

[Caustic Saint]

These have been around for a while, but I hadn't been able to find a pair until this past weekend.




They're insanely comfortable, and are almost like going barefoot. They also came with a pair of split-toe socks, but can be worn with regular ones if you push the fabric in to make a gap between the big and little toes. My students think they're quite freaky, and when I bend them (the shoes, not my students) to show how the toes flex separately I'm invariably rewarded with a unanimous, "Ooooooowhooooooah!"

I found them at the Nike store in Itaewon (Seoul's tourist shopping/drinking area) and they're well worth the 7,348 (approx) yen I spent. I highly recommend picking up a pair if you come across them. (The style name is "Air Rift.")

[Taro Toporific]

... My students think they're quite freaky...

Freaky? Nah, except the HEEL of the <ninjashoebottom.jpg> looks like a cloven hoof?! Aren't you taking Halloween a bit extreme this year?

[Big Booger]

Air Rift:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2864342846&category=15712

Nice shoes. Look easy to put on and take off. I might get a pair if I can find some locally... but size 31 is hard to find here in the boondocks LOL

[Caustic Saint]

Air Rift:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2864342846&category=15712

Nice shoes. Look easy to put on and take off. I might get a pair if I can find some locally... but size 31 is hard to find here in the boondocks LOL

If I was still in the States, I'd have gone the eBay route. I'm glad I had the chance to try them on before buying them, just to make sure. I wear a 29, so I can usually find stuff in my size here without too much trouble, thankfully.

[Caustic Saint]

I've got a question related to my recent footwear purchase.

Are split-toe socks readily available in Japan? They don't really exist on this side of the sea, but I've heard they're not too tough to find in Japan. Can anybody confirm/deny this?

Thanks.

[gomichild]

They are really easy to find.

[Caustic Saint]

They are really easy to find.

Sweet! What's the quality like? Are they thick like athletic socks or thin like dress socks? The pair that came with my shoes were very nice, DuPont CoolMax material. I don't expect to find exaclty the same thing, but thicker ones would be great.

[Taro Toporific]

They are really easy to find.

Regular sumo-size spilt-toe tabe socks are relatively easy to find. (Price: under 1,500yen). As socks, they would/should not go inside shoes. Tabe socks are rather thick like lined high-quality canvas gloves. You need to wear wooden geta, zori or something with the tabe socks.

Jika-tabe, the tough construction worker style of spilt-toe "foot gloves" with rubberized bottoms, will take some looking to find larger than size 26 cm (US size 8 ).
They're rather cheap, often under 1,500yen for black, industrial grade, flexible but Kevlar-lined nail puncture resistent. Jika-tabe is what your really want to wear outside. The nimpo-tabe are nice for climbing like a ninja and large sizes are available in Ochanomizu Tokyo, but frankly they won't protect you against broken glass, nails, etc. as well as Jika-tabe can for less cost.

[kurohinge1]

... Are split-toe socks readily available in Japan? ...

There's a lot of jikatabi around (above) so they must be selling the socks.

We actually went looking for some Jikatabi (above) around Nara about 2 years ago but didn't really know where to find them until we stumbled over them in a general store in the nearby mountains. They sold the socks too (Tabi), which are apparently popular with tinea sufferers (keeping the toes separate).

At the risk of sounding more like an otaku, I sometimes use the jikatabi indoor back in the home country as they're not as clumsy around cramped rooms as having a shoe on - a bit like a sock with a rubber sole! But I just use normal socks inside as the tabi are a hassle to put on.

Don't know if they're in Korea but you could check out the feet of the local farmers/carpenters to see if any of them wear jikatabi. If I remember, I'll ask some Korean friends whether they've ever seen them back home.

[kurohinge1]

From Taro's post , it sounds like I have the nimpo-tabe, as mine are only canvass. They are size 28 but that was the largest they had and I think I got the last pair.

Still a big fan of them, although I'm no Akakage!


PS: There's probably a few websites selling them - like this one.

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl]
AFP-Getty Images, 12 May 2006
Kobe, JAPAN: ....shoes featuring a two-toed shape made by Japanese sports shoes maker Asics at the company's head office in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, 12 May 2006. Asics is developing special light-weight sneakers for outer space, hoping to help astronauts keep their muscles from wearing down in the rigorous zero-gravity environment. The sample shoes are made with a soft heel and a flexible sole and weigh only 130 grams (4.6 ounces) each, offering minimum cushioning, and are curbed slightly upward on the toes.

These have been around for a while, but I hadn't been able to find a pair until this past weekend.


I found them at the Nike store in Itaewon (Seoul's tourist shopping/drinking area) and they're well worth the 7,348 (approx) yen I spent. I highly recommend picking up a pair if you come across them. (The style name is "Air Rift.")

[otakuden]

very cool. still, it's all about the flip-flop, imo

[soul stitch]

if youre going to space dont forget your asics!

i remember the nike's being everywhere a few years ago.

[Taro Toporific]

While not exactly "Ninja footwear', I have no idea how earlier this year I missed the introduction of these alien freakazoid feet-huggers, aka Furoshiki for your feet:

furoshiki-shoe.jpg

Via boredpanda.com/japanese-wrap-around-shoes-furoshiki-vibram/

Created by Japanese designer Masaya Hashimoto for Vibram, the company describes it as:
Latest and greatest innovation in alternative footwear…the Furoshiki! The concept for this type of footwear was derived from the Japanese custom of packaging items by wrapping them in cloth fabric. Furoshiki is the only sole on the market that wraps around the entire foot.--- vibram.com | Furoshiki

VIBRAM_Furoshiki_shoes.jpg