Here's a list of some of the most popular Japanese sneaker brands:

• ASICS is a well-known Japanese athletic equipment company that's especially famous for their running shoes, which are often hailed as the top-performing footwear in global rankings.
• HenderScheme uses untreated raw leather for their shoes, which allows each shoe to mold uniquely to the wearer's foot. Their name comes from their interesting concept of transcending all societal gender schemas and allowing wearers to express themselves in any way they wish.
• LOSERS has a unique design concept called *iki*, which refers to the sense of perseverance and beauty in Japanese culture. The brand name may rub some the wrong way, the company sees it as a marker of perseverance and faithfulness to tradition. In fact, the colors are based on the particular code of colors that commoners were allowed to wear during the Edo Period.
• Mizuno began in Osaka in 1906 as a store for sports equipment. They soon started producing made-to-order athletic gear such as baseballs and gloves and continued to grow to become of the world's top athletic goods stores.
• Onitsuka Tiger (the original ASICS brand) first began in Kobe in 1949 as a basketball shoe manufacturer. Although the company officially rebranded as ASICS in 1977, many of the popular vintage styles from the '60s, '70s, and '80s are still produced and sold today under the Onitsuka Tiger brand name.
• RFW, which stands for Rhythm Footwear, was created in 1998 by shoemaker Takashi Kanokogi. The shoes feature clean, minimalist aesthetics and are popular with both men and women.
• Shoes Like Pottery are famous for their special process (called "ka-ryu") during which each shoe is baked inside a kiln to vulcanize the rubber for the sole. In addition, expert craftsmen sew each shoe together by hand. This results in an extremely comfortable and flexible end-product, no two of which are identical.

Other shops that carry a wide variety of brands and styles like heels, sandals, sneakers, flats, loafers, and boots are:

• ABC Mart
• Achilles
• Diana Shoes
• Seven Twelve Thirty
• Shoes Concierge
• Shoes Street
• Visvim

You might also want to read: Japanese clothing sizes guide