…because it’s annoyingly hard to find 30cm shoes in Japan. The only brand I’ve seen that has them regularly stocked at common chain stores (such as ABC Mart) is Converse. While I appreciate them, and like the style, they’re not comfortable for the amount of walking I do and make my feet sore.  Nonetheless, I’ve been wearing a pair of them for 6 or 7 months because I couldn’t find a decent pair of Pumas or Nikes in my size. This was not for a lack of trying though… I went to shoe stores that I stumbled across and also Nike and Adidas outlet stores.

Big Size Shoes For MEN'S

Finally, after two months of having holes in the back of my deteriorating pair of Converse, I decided I had to find new shoes immediately. I looked online for a location I could buy 30cm shoes (which, in my opinion, are not freakishly large) and found several sites that suggested “Big-B Shoes”, so yesterday I decided to check them out. The Big-B that I went to was about a 5 minute walk from Gotanda Station on the Yamanote Line. Guess I should’ve checked it out earlier when I lived at the Ontakesan dorms… I used to use this station every day. Luckily, I still go from Shinjuku to Tamachi on the Yamanote line so my train pass covered Gotanda and I didn’t have to pay any extra transportation fees to get to the store (always a plus!).

Old vs New

Inside were a few Japanese men in the dress shoe section, but the store was largely quiet. I expected there to possibly be a few foreigners who were also looking for big shoes, but I was the only one.  The shelves were just stacked with big shoes.  They started out at 29cm and went up to super giant sizes. After deliberating for 15 minutes and trying to decide what to get, I finally went with a pair of Adidas that fit pretty well.

I’d definitely say this was a worthwhile purchase. No more cold air going through the hole in the back, no more soaked socks after stepping in a shallow puddle. No more looking like a Shinjuku vagrant.

Basically my adventure of the week.

– Paul