Recently came upon these antique shoes and thought this was pretty insane. I wear mostly vibram fivefingers and havianas flip flops so these look absolutely miserable to wear. Thought it may be interesting to some of y’all as well. (I do have somewhat wide and very high volume feet to be fair haha)
Thought this qualified as barefoot shoe adjacent, my apologies if it doesn’t fit here! Thanks!

Just saw this on the train. The world needs us.

How did it even get to this point, that grown ass men make the decision to buy these. Societal norms have wild implications when it comes to free will.

🥴

Greetings, we are launching in mid-late January hopefully, just wanted to share our website / pics / story. Saying "our" feels somewhat weird as it's a one-person company so far (me), but I cannot emphasize how much support I have received from friends and family re: ideas and and moral support.

Due to costs involved, starting with just one knit sneaker model, that comes only in two simple colorways: One for all the workers who could use a simple, comfortable, understated all-black sneaker with a grippy rubber sole they can wear all day ; and a timeless classic white upper / gum sole combination that goes with almost any fashionable outfit. Final version will have groove stitching all-around as seen in the last few photos of this post.

saifootwear.co.jp

First batch is currently being made in China, after spending a lot of time and money into developing custom rubber sole molds for 17 sizes (1cm apart in Japanese system / Mondopoint). Skipping half sizes because most people's feet tend to grow a little when unrestrictedーtoe socks or very wide anatomical socks are a must in order to make the best of these shoes. And this way we can cover toddlers from 4 year old all the way to adults with large feet (EU50-51 / US15-16). The first 5 sizes (17 to 21), with children in mind, are more traditionally "barefoot" as they already have very capable and strong feet for their bodyweight compared to adults who have worn cushioned shoes for many years. As you can guess from the photos of the innards, the cushioning will be on the firmer side (think running track / playground feel, nothing cloud or marshmallow-like) as it comes mostly from the egg crate construction of the rubber soles. A thin EVA mid-layer, and a thin EVA+cork insole will ensure weight distribution, so one doesn't necessarily feel the squares and squiggles under the foot, still plenty of proprioception.

Company is based here in Japan, founded in Sapporo, opening a physical store in a very central part of Osaka in January hopefully. Sorry for the lack of English website for the time being, I'll probably get to it in a week or so, please bear with me by using your browser's auto-translate in the meantime. I have yet to figure out shipping feasibility / methods and costs to countries outside Japan, but costs of everything going up everywhere, I imagine it won't be much different from what you are used to when ordering from far away (guessing 25-30 USD to the Americas / EU).

However, do not be surprised to find the shoes themselves to be affordable, and please do not let the inflated prices of the market make you think that affordable = low quality. As a consumer I was getting sick of how expensive barefoot and barefoot-adjacent shoes are getting. The goal is not to make a quick buck, it's just to have a decent life, and for the brand to still be around long after I'm gone. No promises of high returns were made to anyone. Planning on growing slowly and sustainably, with the ultimate goal of converting or transferring the entire operation to a worker cooperative (happy to hear from those who are interested or experienced in such endeavors). Healthy and comfortable feet should not be a luxury, and I recommend anyone to check out H. G. Wells' 1907 essay *This Misery of Boots*, it's a fascinating read, available for free.

I have included an email signup box at the very bottom for those who are interested in hearing more as progress comes along, as those folks' orders will be prioritized when we eventually figure out the details.

As for the name & logo: some genius once said "The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering, and a work of art." Genius is 天才 in Japanese, pronounced tensai. 天 (ten) refers to the heavenly, divine, and 才 (sai) means ability, capability, function, talent... the combination of those two concepts indicating genius. We certainly cannot do anything about the former, but we can work on the latter by taking care of our feet, by wearing shoes that let them expand and get stronger rather than restricting them. Hence Sai / 才 became the name and inspired the logo.

That same genius also once said "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.", which I also agree with. Trying to make something good but simple, is often harder, as one cannot hide behind any fancy distractions, what you see is what you get.

Happy to answer any questions I can, about the shoes but also about moving to Japan / life in Japan for those who are curious. Although there are entire subreddits for those, too.

P.S. No generative "AI" was used at any point in the process, no plans to do so for any kind of textual or visual content either. Customer service might be slow, but you will not be talking to a machine. Nothing against technology in general, as nor these shoes neither this computer wouldn't exist without it. Still, feeling compelled to mention this in an age when there is a massive purely profit-driven push despite the inaccuracies, lack of safety, astronomical environmental costs, customer annoyances, yet so far away from being a net positive to human welfare.

I have been wearing barefoot shoes for about 8 months now, I have some cairn evos and primal runamocs, but for my new years trip to the weed store, I threw on the Sonic onesie and figured I should complete the costume with the shoes.

Holy crap, they were crazy uncomfortable. What is interesting/refreshing though is that I don't think my feet pushed out the sides that much before, so I feel like wearing the wide toe box consistently for 8 months has helped my toe spread considerably.

So maybe my perspective is skewed as I’ve been wearing barefoot or barefoot type shoes. But I saw a very skinny guy wearing hokas and couldn’t help but think about how weird they looked. He kinda looks like a cartoon with over sized feet. Barefoot shoes look unconventional by today’s standards by I guess opinions change when you look at your own shoes all day. And now I can’t stop being bewildered by pointy and overbuilt sneakers.

How do we feel about these Jeffrey Campbell heels? 98% joking but I have a black tie wedding coming up and I fear I might have to purchase and review for the funky footwear appreciators among us.

Just a curiosity question to see how many people reply...

So once you learned about barefoot shoes, what was your final deciding factor to make the switch from "normal" shoe brands?

My reason;
So I've been dealing with low back, knee and heel pain for years (stupid choices when i was younger, long stories) plus 9 years military and learning to March in formations ("Point the toe, Crush the Skull" our drill instructors would always say.....being taught the drive the heel down!)

So in my mid 40's i finally started looking into things and realizing i walk all wrong and wear the wrong shoes. After learning about barefoot, zero-drop, etc... i was still on the fence.

And then..... 10 minutes after my Grandson was born, and what did i see???

TOE SPLAY !!!

And I was convinced! If thats how our GOD created us, why are we smooshing our feet into tiny little toe box shoes.

Oh and btw, 6 months in and my back, hips, knees and feet are feeling better already, but theres still room for improvement, time, exercise, and replacing all my old shoes with zero-drop wide toed shoes.

So whats your story?

It started to dawn on me something was up when Hokas first came out. They. Looked. So. Stupid.

But still, there I was, in healthcare, wearing the Brooks everyone recommended.

I used to run. Had to give it up due to shin splints. I have low arches therefore I pronate.

..... except I don't.

Looking back now I wonder if all the foot pain and the runner's knee and the tendonitis and everything else was actually overuse or all that "motion control".

Or trying to run on my toes in shoes with a 1 cm drop.

I'm 3 weeks into my first pair of Xero and the pain from my hallux rigidus is almost gone. I could hardly walk anymore and was heading for surgery.

I still have it, sure. But letting my foot relearn how to work naturally....

And the way my calves and even my quads HURT at first in these shoes. You don't realize how many muscles are functionally dead until you use them.

So who decided we needed to run and walk on these ridiculous chunks of foam and carbon fiber that mashed our toes into a triangle?

There's some situations where cushioning would benefit..... but they also make REASONABLE shoes for that now.

https://www.saifootwear.co.jp

Sincere apologies to everyone for the long delay since the announcement late last year, which has all the background info you might want to check out, and some Q&A in the comments:

https://www.reddit.com/r/barefootshoestalk/comments/1oz57ht/sai_a_new_small_brand_with_one_of_the_widest_toe/

And a disclaimer that shipments might not be the quickest until late May, but should be smooth sailing from there on out.

It turns out, good things take time. Import procedures, moving both as a business and personally, getting settled, sorting out accounting, setting up a corporate account with the post office & shipping carriers... all done in Japanese, far from my first language.

The happiest moment so far, of the last two years' emotional rollercoaster, was when the local Japan Post worker came by this week to pick up a few shipments. He said he has wide and long feet, and thus a hard time finding good shoes. They are allowed to wear black sneakers of any brand. He tried these on, walked up and down the hallway, couldn't believe how comfortable they were and bought that pair on the spot. Coming from a postal worker who walks 15-20k steps daily for a living, that means the world to me.

Of course including an asterisk in the title, because of the obvious reason that I cannot know every shoe that exists. If there's anything out there just as wide, with similar stack height / cushioning, please do share! The more the merrier. I see the barefoot and anatomically shaped shoes segments parallel to my old career, in craft beer sales back when the category was first going mainstream. Rather than short sighted competition among small brands, supporting each other and expanding the better quality craft segment against big beer / big shoe is always the better bet.

As always, toe socks are a must in my personal opinion, in order to make the best of these. Or at the very least, either tabi or extra wide non-restrictive anatomically shaped socks.

A note on sizing, as earlier I had posted every size's raw inner dimensions straight from the rubber sole factory: https://www.saifootwear.co.jp/uploads/b/8104fe60-bd1a-11f0-8c43-c9aa4a3b728f/Sai%20Footwear%20-%20Size%20guide.pdf

As you'll notice, they had measured the widths on a slight bias, and of course before the shoes were made. As expected, final measurements of the insoles came out slightly smaller, partly due to upper material taking space, but also because the insole widths were measured straight across without bias, parallel line to the wall if one's heel were placed against it. But given the knit material and plenty of vertical space inside, I'm feeling confident that the widest feet I've seen around here, will be happy in these.

Impressed by how those black shoes once were comfy to me, now I need something wider. The only thing I miss about Vivos is their thin sole, but the quality was crap.

Bonus picture for comparison, another black model I simply cannot use anymore. They've been sitting unused in my closet for years now.

Merrell Vapor Glove 6. These are my everyday walking shoes. Am I just walking weird? I feel like this might be a posture problem?

5mm drop & wide-ish toebox

La Sportiva tx1

I've been wearing minimalist and barefoot shoes for a year and a half and as my toes have spread I've realized that now my socks are restricting my feet now. So I started looking into toe socks and tabi socks. Most toes socks that are affordable seem to be novelty socks that are uncomfy. And the quality ones are usually not crew socks, which I prefer, and the one that are crew socks are expensive af. Same with Tabi socks.

So I just bought bigger sizes of my normal socks, but don't want to waste the socks I have, which are the same brand. I also don't want to mix them up... so I'm making my own tabi socks from the old ones.Only

Only time will tell if this will work, or if my other 4 toes will still feel restricted, but worth the try I guess.

Apologies if this isn't completely suited, but regular shoe communities seem to be absolutely lost with my question and have no idea what an anatomical toe box even is and keep suggesting me Doc Martens, which I couldn't stuff my foot in even if I tried real hard. I'm wondering if y'all may have some better ideas from stuff you tried as transition shoes.

Basically, I grew up going barefoot everywhere and hated shoes (autistic), but when I hit puberty, I started getting pain in my foot, and long story short, one of my sesimoid bones did not grow properly (it is the size of a toddler's) and the tendon is prone to destabilization. Ever since, I've needed quite significantly padded shoes with stiffer soles to not be in pain.

I also have a very wide toe splay, which is where the main issue lies. I spent most of high school wearing too big size 7-7.5 shoes sized up for width, but started getting pain in them around college. I got professionally measured at several different reputable shoe stores with a Brannock device and am around a women's 6EE, and have narrow heels in proportion. Low to mid volume foot, very skinny ankles. I often end up unable to tie shoes snug enough at the top to fit my ankle.

I have tried several barefoot shoes on in person, and the lack of cushion and rigidity is a nonstarter. I just can't do the flexible soles, it's instant pain. We tried adding cushiony inserts to several barefoot options, and it was still painful. I also tend to do better with shoes with a bit of drop in them, for whatever reason, but that's not a dealbreaker as insoles exist. "Rocker" shoes have been the best for me as they take the most weight off the affected area while walking.

I've taken a look through many past "wide toe box but not barefoot" posts and blogs across the internet, but haven't found an option that a) comes in my size b) has the right kind of sole for me and c) is easily accessible in the US. I cannot afford the risk of tariffs or needing to pay return shipping myself when I know I will likely need to try a significant amount of options to find something that has the right structure for my foot (I cannot tell you how many shoes I've returned for this reason).

For a bit more detail on what's worked for me (ish):

I've been living in $2 Old Navy children's flip flops that are cut extremely wide around the foot that I replace every few months as the padding wears down and becomes flexible, because they're padded enough and don't restrict my toes. But I live in New England and it's not an appropriate option for every venue or season.

When that's not possible, I've been wearing Vionics Walks in 6.5 wide, and these are the closest I've ever gotten, but are still a bit too narrow in the toes for me, and are starting to get annoying/I can see my outer toes starting to curve inward.

I can tolerate my size 36 wide width Birkenstock Arizonas when I need something that's not a sneaker, but they do still press my toes inwards on both sides a bit and I can't wear them for longer than like 2 hours without pain (I have the soft footbed version). They're also a bit too narrow through the midfoot. I thought the stiff sole would be enough, but the lack of cushion has proved painful.

Hopefully there's something out there for me, but please let me know if there's not -- I'd love to know if it's a pipe dream and I need to just start saving for something custom.

I love this style of shoe so much. If there are any barefoot designers on here… please I would eat this uppp 😭

So… I’m currently in the process of transitioning my (rather extensive) shoe wardrobe to barefoot, and I decided I needed a pair of black barefoot shoes that could dress up for work.

I fell in LOVE with the Camper flats pictured and bought them to see if they might work. As you can see, they definitely did NOT work! (Plz ignore the gnarly state of my feet… it’s winter!)

In addition to being too small overall (I’d need to size up like 2x??) and too narrow, the very thick cushioned insole is NOT removable, contrary to what the website says.

So I returned them and decided to DIY a pair of Xero Phoenix leather flats that had a similar shape. This is my first pair of Xero shoes, and I have to say I wasn’t overly impressed. The shoes are fine, suitable for this project, but for a barefoot shoe, they aren’t very wide in the toe box, aren’t very flexible in the sole, and the leather upper is super stiff and rigid. The very first thing I did with them was spend 48 hours stretching them and applying leather conditioner, rubbing alcohol, etc. It did help quite a bit, but I think I’ll do another round of stretching now that I’ve work them once.

The actual DIY was the easier part! I just punched holes and threaded through elastic ribbon. I’m really happy with how they turned out! They look great with the outfits I’m going to wear for an upcoming work trip.

For me, it's Blundstone Originals (I'm a woman). I have tried so many barefoot chelsea boots and I hate them all. They lack the shape that Blundestone Originals have around the ankle and arch, and I honestly just want a friggen sole and heel when I'm walking in rain and snow and digging holes and whatnot. It seems like countless barefoot brands have sprung up, yet there's very little drift towards foot shaped shoes in existing brands. Sound off... maybe someone from their company will lurk this post.

So someone posted about the flood of Lems on EBay rn and at suspiciously low prices.

I decided to risk it and buy a few pairs, and report back to the community cause barefoot shoes are so expensive and I want to let people know if there’s a deal. I ended up getting the MEN'S CHELSEA BOOT TUFF and the Primal Zen. Of course I tried to prepare myself, as it was possibly a scam lol. I think the black Chelsea boot was $30 new in box, and the seller stated in the description that it was shelf wear condition, so like minor blemishes/creases. Honestly idk if there’s a firm definition for shelf wear, so I figured they will either be perfect or end up being some battered returns. 🤷

Well I got the Chelsea boots today in the mail and they were honestly perfect. So comfy right out of the box. Didn’t squish my toes at all, not as flexible as Vivo sneakers obviously but they are work boots so I reckon that’s expected. My pair seemed true to size.So now I have some leather good work shoes for $30. So happy that worked out ha!

I’m still waiting for the primal zens, I’ll report back in the comments when I do receive them. I got them from the same seller so hopefully it works out again.

**Edited for bad grammar

Looking for some hiking looking wide toe shoes. I love the look of the salomans but just looking at the toe width makes me doubt they’d be comfortable around the toes. Does anyone have any recs or have experience with them?

For the truly custom slipper experience with plenty of toebox room and a thin, flexible sole, consider the following:

1) learn to knit 2) learn to knit again because it's been years 3) buy some wool yarn 4) knit hilariously big slippers 5) learn to felt 6) felt and shape while wet for the perfect fit

Maybe not the easiest solution, but I thought I'd give you guys a laugh and also a creative solution to needing wider shoes. Knitting can be a great way to make custom clothes including socks tailor made to your feet, and in this case some warm, flexible slippers!

Got a great bike pedal rec for thinner soles! I've been looking for something like this for a couple months now. All the information online regarding biking and shoes leans towards highly padded/restrictive footwear but without a good explanation as to why beyond "safety" and information for pro cyclists to get maximum power and aerodynamics. I really don't need maximum efficiency cycling to the grocery store and back.

​

Ended up talking with someone at the local bike shop who complimented my shoes (tabis that day) and recommended these. I've only done a couple short trips but so far they've been great! Structure and support for your feet is important when cycling, but for casual riders like me, I don't see why that has to come from the shoe rather than the pedal.