Colorful shoes a hit with elderly people

TAKAMATSU —

More comfortable and colorful shoes for elderly people who have trouble walking are becoming popular in Japan, a product which many say gives them a lift when they go out.

A pioneer of the trend is Tokutake Industry Co based in Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture, which started to sell such shoes 14 years ago and sells some 500,000 pairs annually, including sales in South Korea and China.

Takao Sogo, the 61-year-old president of the former glove-making company, came up with the idea of making shoes after a nursing home owner told him that the reason some elderly people trip even when walking on flat ground may be because there is a problem with their footwear.

In the following two years, he studied the feet of more than 500 elderly people in care facilities, hospitals and other places and started to make pairs with different-size right and left shoes or different heights.

He also received requests mainly from women to make colorful shoes, as the shoes elderly people often used at care facilities for rehabilitation are in conservative colors such as black and brown.

The company sells shoes with red or blue polka-dots among its products.

Sogo said that he cannot forget what a woman in her 90s wearing a pair of Tokutake’s red shoes told him shortly after they went on sale: ‘‘I wanted to wear red shoes before I die. I feel happy wearing these.’’

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15 Comments

AlfGarnett at 08:07 AM JST - 13th February

I'm elderly, but you wouldn't see my wearing shoes like that.

I don't reckon this company will be going for long, especially in this depression, this idea is daft.
PuffinMuffin at 12:21 PM JST - 13th February

not just shoes but clothes designed for the 'elderly' are pretty depressing just to look at here. Not so much a question of color, but also design. They can do better than that.
Samuraiiki at 12:36 PM JST - 13th February

The whole Japan will become a rainbow at this pace.
ca1ic0cat at 02:18 AM JST - 14th February

If the shoes are balanced well they will probably be easier to throw at the bureaucrat who messed up your pension.
smithinjapan at 12:02 PM JST - 14th February

For a second I missed the 'a' in the headline and thought people were throwing shoes again.
blvtzpk at 01:08 PM JST - 14th February

I saw a woman with mismatched shoes the other day and pointed it out. She said she had another pair at home exactly the same.
presto345 at 07:22 PM JST - 14th February

The young have their sometimes outrageous fashion, why not the elderly?
bobbafett at 08:09 PM JST - 14th February

I saw on old bint with purple hair and purple shoes and a pink jacket with orange pants. She should have been committed a long time a go.
presto345 at 09:38 PM JST - 14th February

I saw on old bint with purple hair and purple shoes and a pink jacket with orange pants. She should have been committed a long time a go.

Come on, bob, aren't you a bit harsh? She probably never had the chance to be a little eccentric. This is not reserved only for the young. Cut her some slack.
Sarge at 11:12 PM JST - 14th February

"I wanted to wear red shoes before I die"

Heck, I want to visit all the U.S. states and all the countries I haven't visited before I die. Is this off topic? OK, let me comment on something smithinjapan posted at 12:02PM:

"For a second I thought I missed the "a" in the headline and thought people were throwing shoes again."

I'm not surprised.
ImperialJedi at 05:02 AM JST - 15th February

He also received requests mainly from women to make colorful shoes, as the shoes elderly people often used at care facilities for rehabilitation are in conservative colors such as black and brown.

Black and brown are alright, but when you're stuck in a drab care facility, some color could really improve your mood. I wish there was a picture with this article. I'd like to see some of those polka-dotted shoes!
blvtzpk at 11:01 AM JST - 15th February

I have worn red shoes before - Doc Martens usually
unscrejects at 01:01 PM JST - 17th February

This is the kind of company that prospers - it's serving a consumer need, it's in touch with the actual market and has the knack to adapt should need be. Anybody seeing a laugh in the story is not qualified to be in business.