KUMAMOTO—An increasing number of marathoners are pounding the pavement in sandals that are made in Taiwan.

At least about a dozen runners are likely to do so at the Kumamoto Castle Marathon to be held in the city of Kumamoto on Feb. 16.

According to enthusiasts, running in Taiwan-made sandals is comparable to running in marathon shoes.

On the morning of Feb. 1, 10 men and women gathered in the parking lot of Aqua Dome Kumamoto, located in Minami Ward of the city.

All were Taiwanese sandal fans and set off on a 20-kilometer test run, about half of the Kumamoto Castle Marathon course, sporting their kicks in the light rain.

Sae Horita, 44, who runs a renovation company in the city, enjoys triathlons.

She learned about these running sandals and purchased them about a year ago and says she wears them without socks in the summer.

Tamotsu Ushijima, 50, a company employee in Arao, Kumamoto Prefecture, has been using them for two years.

He said he wears running shoes and sandals at a 50-50 ratio.

“I think my times are faster in sandals,” he said.

Both purchased their sandals from Katsumi Sakata, 53, who lives in Ozu town in the prefecture.

Sakata is not a sandal salesperson, but works at a semiconductor-related company. However, he fell in love with them, wearing them in winter and running in them without socks.

He hosts a try-on and sale event once a month, hoping to grow the community of fellow sandal runners.

At the end of January, he held such event at a corner of an auto body shop that is run by a fellow runner in the prefecture's Mashiki town.

One previous event was held at an "izakaya" Japanese-style pub in neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture at the request of a fellow runner after Sakata participated in a marathon there.

In September 2024, he organized a race in Kumamoto, with “running in Taiwanese sandals” as a condition for participation.

About 70 people from all over the Kyushu region and as far away as Yokohama signed up. 

PROS AND CONS

So, what is so appealing about them?

A 61-year-old Asahi Shimbun reporter who enjoys jogging, bought a pair at a fitting event and tried them on.

The straps are flip-flop-style with a raised back piece designed to wrap around the heel and weigh about 100 grams, less than half the weight of running shoes.

Their cushioning, meanwhile, is better than that of shoes, with a soft impact when running. The sandals are made of EVA resin, which is also used as a cushioning material for bath mats and computer cases.

Even so, they are not perfect.

The pressure on my big and index toes from the strap was painful every time my foot came down on the ground.

I thought, “This is too hard even for 500 meters.”

However, it gradually stopped bothering me, and I was able to finish running my 10-km goal.

Trying on sandals before buying them is a must.

Sakata chose a size for me that was 2 centimeters smaller than the shoe size I would normally go with.

Had they been the same size as my shoes, the pair would have been too big, and I would not have been able to make it to the end of the run. 

DRAWN TO THE CUSHIONING

According to fans, one of the attractions of these sandals is that there is no risk of sore toes or blackened toenails.

Another is that they dry quickly in the rain.

One pair costs about 4,000 yen ($26), which is cheaper than running shoes, but they are no less durable. 

In terms of drawbacks, the sandals can still get cold in the winter even if the runner is wearing socks. The strap may also unexpectedly break when force is applied, such if a runner suddenly changes direction.

Taiwanese sandals were not originally developed for marathons, but runners began using them after noticing the support they provided.

Unlike Japan, more people in Taiwan still run in the versions that do not cover the heel and look like regular flip-flops.

Kobe Honpo, based in Kobe's Nishi Ward, is the company that imports and sells these sandals in Japan.

Its owner, Masaya Abe, 53, enjoys running marathons himself.

He learned about the sandals in 2017 when he was living in Taiwan on semiconductor-related business.

Abe became acquainted with the manufacturer’s president and signed a contract to become an authorized distributor.

After returning to Japan, he promoted the sandals on a website for marathon enthusiasts and began selling them in person in parks throughout the Kansai region on his days off.

Runners from around the country who saw Abe wearing the sandals on the website began holding try-on events in many places such as Nagoya, Kanazawa and Okayama.

The company receives more orders in the summer than in the winter, which is the traditional marathon season.

In a busy month, about 2,000 pairs are sold, including through mail order.

However, the company has only two brick-and-mortar shops, one in Kobe and the other in Osaka. A store in Shibuya Modi, a commercial mall in Tokyo's Shibuya district, is also expected to open for a limited time from Feb. 25 to March 3. 

Sakata and his own try-on sales events play an equivalent role.

Abe ran last year’s Beppu Oita Mainichi Marathon in 3 hours and 5 minutes and said that a “sub 3” (finishing a marathon in under three hours) is “achievable even with sandals.”