Sekaicho Union's Masayuki Yahagi—He breathes new life into a pair of athletic shoes he found in the archives of his new workplace.

Two years ago, when Masayuki Yahagi moved from a men's shoe manufacturer in Asakusa to Sekaicho Union, his first task was to unearth buried archives. He spent his days unraveling the precious masterpieces unique to a long-established company that has handled the import and sale of numerous original brands and famous overseas brands. One day, Yahagi's hand stopped as he flipped through the documents. There it was, "Panther."

Yahagi: "The catalog photos from that time had a different vibe from overseas brands. I thought that Japanese-style sneakers would be cool, and that it would be interesting to revive them as retro jogs."


However, the original production factory no longer existed, but they were determined to manufacture domestically. Comparing athletic shoes found in the archives with the original records, they first began creating patterns at their own leather shoe factory to recreate the look and feel. After many twists and turns, they finally knocked on the door of a sneaker factory in Fukushima Prefecture.

Yahagi: "We commissioned a factory that also makes soccer cleats to manufacture them. It's not a factory with state-of-the-art equipment and the latest technology, but a factory that still uses the same manufacturing methods as in the Showa era, where craftsmen cut, sew, and glue each piece of material by hand. So, we started by making a sample."

Yahagi gambled on a glimmer of hope. Eventually, that hope would come to fruition.


The first sample of the completed reissue was well-received within the company, but Yahagi wanted to hear opinions from outsiders. He took it to Hideyuki Kunii of Mita Sneakers, one of Japan's leading sneaker shops. Kunii is one of Japan's top creative directors in the sneaker world, and also serves as an advisor for inline collections of overseas sports brands.

However, this is where Yahagi would be defeated.

NEXT≫A fusion of traditional "flavor" and modern "function" - Hideyuki Kunii, mita sneakers