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While Kihachiro Onitsuka was a salaried employee in a trading company after World War II, he decided to start his own company and began producing shoes for schools. In September 1949, he founded the Onitsuka Company with 4 employees in a city of 300,000 people. Juvenal`s quote "Anima sana in corpore sano", meaning "A sound mind in a healthy body", determined Onitsuka`s strategy and became a motivating force for him to create good sports shoes in order to raise healthy generations through sports.

The first sneaker was produced by Onitsuka as a basketball shoe. The stripes on the face of the tiger used as the emblem on the shoe later became the inspiration and basis for the formation of the ONITSUKA TIGER brand. These basketball shoes were released as a popular line of shoes with tiger stripes printed on them.

In 1952, TIGER shoes for volleyball and tennis were launched in Japan. Then, production continued with varieties such as running shoes, dancing shoes and ski shoes.

The Onitsuka Company became known as Tigers, and the Tiger name was used on all catalogs and boxes for the first ten years. In 1965, the Onitsuka and ONITSUKA TIGER brand logos were merged.

Onitsuka Tiger formed ASICS in July 1977, formalizing brand associations with GTO and Jelenk. “Anima sana in corpore sano”, on which Kihachiro Onitsuka laid the foundations of his company, has become the name of the brand today. ASICS, which is an abbreviation of this expression, is to create a healthy and happy lifestyle; It was founded on the belief of increasing fitness. True to the philosophy on which it was founded, every ASICS innovation is aimed at creating the best product.

Observation and analysis of physical movements form the basis of ASICS products. ASICS opened the Sports Science Research Institute in Kobe in May 1990. This field, where scientists, athletes and coaches work together, has created remarkable technological innovations in the field of sports shoes and apparel. Efforts continue to produce the best in Kobe with high-speed cameras, high-tech measurement equipment and advanced computer software.

ASICS` mission; To be the number one brand among those interested in sports. 
Achieving this pushes the limits of learning about the human body and its needs. 
ASICS promises harmony to body and soul.