Tokyo
Ameyoko is a market street beneath and around the railway tracks near Ueno, not a single shop. Its dense mix includes food stalls, cosmetics, shoes, clothing and discount traders.
Best for Tokyo bargain market
Craft guide
The Shoemakers & Bootmakers in Tokyo Issue
ORBISSHOEMAKERS & BOOTMAKERS IN TOKYO7 shops in the atlas.Illustration
Shoemakers & Bootmakers in Tokyo
7 stores · curated ORBIS register
Visit official site ↗Veneto–Tokyo / Online
Sneaker brand founded in 2015 by Tokyo-born Keisuke Ota and Beijing-born Yang Chao, who met at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival; blends Japanese trekking-boot design with manufacturing by Italian shoemaker Falc S.p.A.
Best for Hybrid trail sneakers
Flower Mountain was founded in 2015 by Keisuke Ota, born in Tokyo, and Yang Chao, born in Beijing, who met at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival. Working with Federica Wang, the pair developed a shoe concept fusing the rugged construction of trekking boots with traditional Japanese textile and design references. Flower Mountain partnered with Italian manufacturer Falc S.p.A. starting in 2016, giving the brand its Italian-made, Japanese-designed identity. The visual identity draws on the image of a dandelion field on Mount Fuji.
Visit official site ↗Japan
Naosuke Takei’s Japanese footwear label combines British-informed lasts, artisan shoemaking and Tokyo design, with specialist stockists including NUBIAN Tokyo.
Best for Artisan shoes, patina
Visit official site ↗Tokyo / Online
Sneaker architect turned fashion designer — deconstructed soles, patchwork uppers, and footwear that challenges every convention. Maison Mihara Yasuhiro is the future of Japanese sneakers.
Best for Deconstructed sole sneakers and patchwork footwear
Visit official site ↗Tokyo / Online
Japanese sandal specialists — Vibram-soled, nylon-strapped, and unexpectedly fashionable. The sandal that made socks-and-sandals acceptable.
Best for Vibram-soled Japanese sandals
Visit official site ↗Victoria
Heritage HouseTokyo
Spain’s sneaker of the people since 1915 — Gregorio named them for his wife in a Rioja village; vulcanized canvas that shod every Spanish summer since the seventies.
Best for Canvas inglesitas & espadrille-soled sneakers
Visit official site ↗Aoyama, Tokyo
A bespoke shoemaker making hand-welted shoes in a small Tokyo workshop. Appointment required.
Best for Hand-welted bespoke shoes by appointment in Tokyo
Visit official site ↗