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Onitsuka Tiger
Onitsuka Tiger is one of the oldest Japanese footwear companies, founded by Kihachiro Onitsuka, in 1949. He started the company in hope of raising postwar youth self-esteem through athletics. The trademark crossed stripe tiger marking is an iconic feature of the brand, as well as the Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 being defined as Olympic sporting success.
1977
GTO, Jelenk, and Onitsuka merge together to become ASICS
1972
GTO, Jelenk, and Onitsuka combine their financial and athletic positions to build a regional sales office near Hokkaido for the Sapporo Winter Olympics
The Japanese basketball team wears the Onitsuka Tiger FABRE at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where they finished 14th
1968
LIMBER UP (now called MEXICO 66) enters the American market
1966
The ASICS stripe is introduced
1964
Onitsuka lists the company on the Kobe Stock Exchange
1963
Philip Knight (later on founded Nike, Inc.) brings Onitsuka Tiger’s market to the US
1957
Legendary Ethiopian runner, Abebe Bikila starts wearing Onitsuka Tiger shoes; previously, Bikila would run barefoot
1953
Works with Marathon runner Toru Terasawa to develop a running shoe that would keep long distance runners from developing blisters
1949
Founded by Kihachiro Onitsuka with the hopes of raising postwar youth self-esteem through athletics
