Onitsuka Tiger Are Celebrating Their 60Th Anniversary With Limited Edition Trainers!

Onitsuka Tigers are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year, their theme for this years collection is the Zodiac year. Each sneaker in the line is in some way inspired by an animal out of the Zodiac calendar - special printing techniques, special finishes and interesting designs can be found on each shoe in the collection.

Why all the fuss? Well in Japan being 60 is not just another birthday; it's an event an event of major cultural significance that is laden with symbolism. People turning 60 are honoured, celebrating having lived a complete 60 year cycle of life. The Japanese Zodiac calendar is an ancient system originally devised as a method of measuring time, as well as defining a person's characteristics and its 60 year cycle continues today. The Legend of the zodiac lives on through Onitsuka Tiger's unique fusion of Japanese heritage and contemporary design, and plays a major role in 2009's complete collection of shoes, apparel and accessories. 

The first half of the collection (spring/summer) really brings the anniversary celebrations to life and features six animal designs; three created by Takeshi and three by Erik Kriek. The Onitsuka Tiger Spring/Summer 2009 Zodiac Collection will be rolled out step by step over the next couple of months. The Autumn/Winter collection continues the story of Zodiac with the remaining six Zodiac animals. Each trainer you buy comes in a special edition box and contains the limited trainer and a zodiac chart that tells you what sign you are in relation to the year you were born for example if you were born in 1977 you would be a snake.

The History of Onitsuka Tiger began with the initial establishment in early 1949 on the philosophy of bringing up youth through the medium of sport. Onitsuka has maintained a strong tradition of specialising in the manufacturing of sports shoes using completely original ideas and applying unique epoch techniques.

Onitsuka Tiger shoes have been the fashion in Japan for many years and have been growing strongly in the western world. In the late 1950s Onitsuka Tiger shoes became the sport shoes of Japan only in the mid 1960s that success branched out to the athletic across the globe giving us the Mexico 66 Trainer Mexico 66 trainer which was first used in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.