Mizuno

Mizuno: From baseball sales to the Hall of Fame

With concentrated sports expertise, a belief in a sustainable future and constant further development of its technology, Mizuno managed to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sporting goods. At the core of its success is an unbridled passion for sports and the will to make a valuable contribution to society and contribute to a sustainable future.

If you’ve only known Mizuno as a sports brand, we’d like to show you that there’s so much more to the manufacturer than professional sports shoes. What the Hall of Fame has to do with it, we tell you in this article!

The story behind Mizuno

It all began in 1906 with the sale of baseballs: the Mizuno brothers founded a company in Osaka with the vision of spreading baseball as a sport in Japan. The typically American sport had already come to Japan 30 years earlier and was in the process of establishing itself professionally. And who would have thought it: in 1936, the first Japanese professional league was actually founded!

Thanks to many awards and a strong commitment to the sport, Mizuno was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in the early 1970s. This was later followed by the inclusion of their signature golf clubs in the American Golf Hall of Fame. By now, at the latest, it was clear that the motivation behind the company was its passion for sports and that it had always been about supporting athletes.

Just one year after its founding, Mizuno was already selling apparel for baseball and expanded the baseball assortment a few years later to include shoes and accessories. Over the years, more stores were opened and more items for various sports were added. Golf clubs, skis, Mizuno handball shoes and even gliders left the production line. Mizuno’s hobbyhorse, however, is still sporting goods for baseball and golf.

As the product range grew, it became increasingly important to be technologically up to date as well. Already at the end of the thirties, Mizuno established a scientific laboratory to further optimize their products. To this day, the professional research is a unique selling point of Mizuno.

Meanwhile, the sports brand has become one of the largest manufacturers of sportswear and sports accessories with Mizuno Corporation headquarters in Osaka and has locations worldwide. And although the company has been in business for over 100 years, they have managed to keep their finger on the pulse by constantly developing their products. Chapeau!

The Mizuno Wave Rider 

In addition to classic running shoes like the Mizuno Wave Rider 25 or the Mizuno Wave Rider 24, the Japanese company has also been producing lifestyle sneakers since 1997. The sports brand’s most popular sneaker is the Mizuno Wave Rider 10, which is unisex and bears the Runbird logo that has become so typical for the brand. It symbolizes the balancing act between Japanese culture and the pursuit of new perspectives and technologies. As a result, it clearly stands out visually from many other sneaker silhouettes. The new Wave Rider 10 models show the modern influences on the original model.

But not only visually you have a really special sneaker – also qualitatively the Mizuno Wave Rider has a lot to offer. The inner lining and the material of the midsoles provide cushioning and comfort while offering perfect support.

Besides the Rider line, there are many other silhouettes for different sports. For example, the Mizuno Wave Lightning Z6 is one of the most popular of the Mizuno volleyball shoes. Also, the Mizuno soccer shoes like the famous Morelia are specially designed for the specific sports requirements.

With passion and know-how to success

“We have a mission: If we want to leave a more sustainable world behind for future generations, while solving pressing social issues and ensuring our survival, we must work together. We must collaboratively make sustainable choices worldwide – and together, we can do it.” 

Akito Mizuno, President of Mizuno Corporation 

Mizuno is a special company, which was created by the passion for baseball. Of course, the shoes also stand out visually. Especially the logo with the Runbird, which has shaped the style of Mizuno, has become an absolute trademark. Nevertheless, Mizuno is mostly known for the love of sports and their continuous research, which helps them to support the performance of athletes in the best possible way.

Again and again, a department of experts from the Group develops new technologies and integrates them into the reissue of existing models. The popular Mizuno Wave, for example, is equipped with the innovative Wave technology, which ensures optimum stability and pleasant cushioning – probably the most important characteristics of a good sports shoe. To develop this technology, experts analyzed impact forces and launched the first shoe with a midsole at the end of the nineties – making them pioneers worldwide. The impact forces are distributed in such a way that the shoes function like a shock absorber and thus ideally prevent injuries. The materials of all shoes are always matched to each other and adapted to the different needs of the sports. This creates not only good cushioning but also stable support. The Wave technology is continuously developed further and there is a suitable variant for every type of runner.

The latest innovation 

The latest innovation from the Technology Development Department is the Mizuno Enerzy. This cushioning system promises a 15% higher energy return and better comfort than ever before. A special material of the midsole promises with the Enerzy Core technology even more than 50% higher energy return – a much more reactive and dynamic performance is the result.

In addition to innovative technologies, the company is also committed to sustainability. Mizuno’s vision is a sustainable future in a healthy world where everyone can and may play sports. Thus, they not only research technologies that enhance athletic performance, but also contribute to human health and the environment.

Behind the Mizuno sneaker is so much more than just a shoe

Mizuno is not only one of the leading sports brands in the world, but also has an incredibly inspiring history. The passion for sports is reflected in the quality of every single product and shows that even a corporation can have a lot of heart and soul. It’s not for nothing that Mizuno is still family-run today.

Despite a large product range, the company manages to stay true to their claims and values and offers not only professional athletes cool design paired with the latest technology – no less optical finesse and know-how is in their sneakers. And you can tell!

Never miss a Mizuno sneaker again!

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