The story
Origins and formation of ASICS
Kihachiro Onitsuka established Onitsuka Shokai in Kobe in 1949. In the same year, the business was reorganized as Onitsuka Co., Ltd., initially with two employees. The company's official founding date is September 1, 1949. Onitsuka began by developing basketball shoes, releasing its first model in 1950, and subsequently expanded into footwear for running, wrestling, volleyball and other sports.
In 1966, Onitsuka introduced the crossed-stripe design known as the Mexico Line, which later became a visual identifier of Onitsuka Tiger and Asics footwear. Onitsuka became particularly known for the Mexico 66 design, and martial artist Bruce Lee helped popularize the company's footwear internationally.
During the 1960s, Onitsuka developed a U.S. distribution relationship with Blue Ribbon Sports, the company founded by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman that later became Nike, Inc. In 1969, Onitsuka introduced the Cortez training shoe for the U.S. market; the related Onitsuka model was later marketed as the Tiger Corsair.
Onitsuka expanded its overseas operations during the 1970s. In 1975 it established Onitsuka Tiger GmbH in Düsseldorf, West Germany, as its European base. On July 21, 1977, Onitsuka Co., Ltd., fishing and sporting-goods company GTO Co., Ltd., and sportswear manufacturer Jelenk Co., Ltd. merged on an equal basis to form ASICS Corporation. Kihachiro Onitsuka became president of the new company. The ASICS and ASICS Tiger brands were introduced at the time of the merger, and the company broadened its position in the running market with models including the Montreal II and Enduro.
International expansion and diversification
Asics continued expanding its overseas operations and running-shoe business during the 1980s and 1990s. It established ASICS Tiger Oceania Pty. Ltd. in Sydney in 1986 and ASICS Europe B.V. in Amsterdam in 1994. During the same period, the company developed several long-running performance-footwear series, including the GEL-KAYANO and GT-2000 in 1993 and GEL-NIMBUS in 1999.
In 2002, Asics revived the Onitsuka Tiger brand, reissuing models such as the Mexico 66, Ultimate 81 and Nippon 60 as lifestyle products and expanding the brand internationally. The first directly managed Onitsuka Tiger store opened in Tokyo in 2003, followed by stores in European cities including Paris, London, Berlin and Amsterdam. In 2007, the first ASICS-branded specialty running store, ASICS Store Tokyo, opened, followed by stores in London and New York. In April 2008, Motoi Oyama became president and representative director of Asics.
Asics bought the Swedish outdoor brand Haglöfs for ¥11.4 billion ($128.7 million) on July 12, 2010. In 2015, Asics reissued the ASICSTIGER brand with a full product range aimed at the expanding sports-lifestyle market.
In January 2016, Windsor Financial Group LLC, which operated Asics retail stores in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid a legal dispute with Asics.
Read the full text
In February 2016, Asics acquired Fitness Keeper, Inc., operator of the fitness-tracking app Runkeeper, as a wholly owned subsidiary. In October 2019, Asics acquired Race Roster, a Canadian race-registration platform, which joined the portfolio of ASICS Digital.
In March 2021, Asics launched Unoha (ウノハ), a lifestyle brand oriented toward women and emphasizing environmentally conscious materials. The brand primarily sold online and through temporary pop-up stores. Asics discontinued Unoha in June 2024, about three years after its launch.
LionRock Capital Limited acquired a 100% interest in Haglöfs from Asics on December 18, 2023.
Restructuring and renewed growth
Asics lost ground in performance running and experienced declining sales during much of the late 2010s.
In March 2018, Yasuhito Hirota became president, COO and representative director, while Oyama continued as chairman, CEO and a representative director. During Hirota's presidency, Asics introduced a category-based business management structure and established the China Division and Onitsuka Tiger Company.
The company's three-year Medium Term Management Plan 2023, launched in 2021, placed greater emphasis on technical improvements to performance-running footwear and on creating a clearer range of shoes for different types of runners. In March 2022, Hirota additionally took on the role of CEO while continuing as president, COO and representative director, while Oyama became chairman and a director. By fiscal 2023, operating profit had reached ¥54.2 billion, compared with a ¥25 billion target originally set for the management-plan period.
On January 1, 2024, Mitsuyuki Tominaga became president and COO, while Hirota became chairman, CEO and representative director and Oyama became senior advisor and a director. Tominaga was elected a director and representative director on March 22, while Oyama retired as a director on the same date. Before becoming president, Tominaga had overseen the company's IT and digital divisions and served as its CDO and CIO.
The company's profitability benefited from changes in its sales mix. In 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Asics had shifted toward more premium-priced products, increased the proportion of sales made directly to consumers and expanded e-commerce, while its SportStyle business benefited from renewed fashion interest in older running-shoe designs such as the GEL-KAYANO 14.
Growth continued in fiscal 2025. Consolidated net sales increased 19.5% to ¥810.9 billion, operating profit rose 42.4% to ¥142.5 billion, and profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 54.7% to ¥98.7 billion. Performance Running remained the largest category, with sales of ¥363.5 billion, while SportStyle reached ¥141.3 billion and Onitsuka Tiger ¥136.5 billion. SportStyle and Onitsuka Tiger each exceeded ¥100 billion in annual sales for the first time. In Japan, sales to inbound tourists rose by about 84% to ¥47.4 billion; ¥41.5 billion of that total came from Onitsuka Tiger.
Onitsuka Tiger became an increasingly important growth business during the 2020s. Its popularity was aided by renewed demand for retro, low-profile sneakers and by spending from tourists visiting Japan; by 2026 the brand operated almost 200 stores worldwide and was pursuing a selective distribution strategy centered on directly operated flagship stores and selected retailers. The brand withdrew from the United States in 2023 amid differences over brand strategy between its management and Asics America, and subsequently announced plans to return with a Los Angeles flagship store in 2027.
In June 2026, Asics announced a planned reorganization of its Onitsuka Tiger business under the newly established, wholly owned OT GROUP Corporation. Under the plan, the Onitsuka Tiger business directly operated by ASICS Corporation is scheduled to be succeeded by OT GROUP through an absorption-type company split effective January 1, 2027; the company also adopted a policy to reorganize Onitsuka Tiger operations held by regional subsidiaries under OT GROUP. Reuters reported that the reorganization was intended to speed decision-making at a brand that had become a major profit driver for Asics; Onitsuka Tiger's sales had risen 43% in 2025 to ¥136.5 billion.
In August 2026, Asics decided to dissolve and liquidate its consolidated subsidiary ASICS Trading Co., Ltd. and to transfer its businesses and operations to ASICS Corporation or ASICS Japan as part of a reorganization of the group's walking-shoe business.
From Wikipedia’s article on Asics, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5