about Rootage

The brand Rootage began in March 2008. Prior to Rootage, I was in charge of a footwear brand called “Fife”. I ran this brand with 3 colleagues from 2004, until we decided to call it a day in 2007. I started Rootage shortly afterwards with “Fife” designer Sakamoto.

The concept of Rootage is “onkochishin” – learning from the past in order to develop new skill and knowledge. This is the central thought that we have in mind when designing and constructing our shoes.The concept of Rootage’s “Latte” shoe was to create something that feels like a sneaker but is not a sneaker!

Finally, about our next year – our focus from now is the idea “This is NOT made in the USA”. Many Japanese people like wearing clothes that are made in the USA, when in reality, the quality of Japanese factories is really high!