Kihachiro Onitsuka, founder of ASICS, was born on May 29, 1918, in Tottori Prefecture. He passed away on September 29, 2007.
In 1949, he founded the sports shoe manufacturer Onitsuka Shokai. Later, at the request of the Kobe High School basketball team, he developed shoes with suction cup-shaped indentations in the soles. These shoes were sold under the Onitsuka Tiger brand. While the company was unknown at the time, the Kobe High School basketball team's victory and other achievements gradually brought the brand to national recognition.
In 1956, Onitsuka's marathon shoes were officially adopted as the training shoes for Japanese athletes competing in the Melbourne Olympics. Featuring a design that allows air to circulate inside the shoe, these marathon shoes were extremely popular among athletes at the time, as they helped prevent blisters. They were also famously worn by marathon runner Abebe Bikila.
Since then, Onitsuka has grown to become one of the top sports shoe brands. After merging with sportswear manufacturers JITIO and Jelenk, the company changed its name to "ASICS" in 1977. Onizuka became president and expanded the business to become one of the world's leading manufacturers of comprehensive sporting goods. In 1995, the company fell into the red and he relinquished his representative rights. He served as chairman until his death. He died of heart failure in September 2007.