Running shoes leading to the fastest time "New Balance HANZO" vol.1 "Racing shoes for Japanese win"
New Balance Japan (New Balance Japan Co., Ltd.: President Tomio Tomita) produced a marathon shoes "HANZO (Hanzo)" series in which Japanese runners updated their records and deprived victories from other runners. Mr. Takeda, who is in charge of planning and development, New Balance Japan is proud of, talked about birth episode.
Hidemi Sakuma
|
2017/12/21
- First of all, could you tell us about the birth of "Hanzo"?
Takeda: New Balance One of the goals in the company is that it will be the best brand in running. When thinking about running, it is best that various runners like doing daily diet and health care from athletes participating in the Olympics purely say "I want to buy a pair of New Balance running shoes!" I think that it is the goal.
New Balance is the most focused on the running category, but in the runner pyramid of the full marathon it is in the strongest situation at the finish level and as a result of a bottom-up strategy such as finish, sub 5, sub 4, sub 3 We have made product composition.
When I started making running shoes, the overall market share was 6, 7%, which gradually grew to nearly 10%, but it stopped growing unnoticed from there. Therefore, looking at the opinion survey of the marathon runner and the actual utilization rate, it turned out that the share of Gakun and New Balance was dropped on the sub 4 boundary.
- And what have you done?
Takeda: In the end, the serious layer is watching the top elite runner and has chosen marathon shoes based on the trust that those people are wearing it. Therefore, there was a sense of crisis that if you do not raise the share at the top, you can not become the best running brand depicted as New Balance.
First, there is one place to make racing shoes for Japanese to win. And, the other is that the recent racing shoes category is a situation where new things have not appeared in the world, so we may want to activate it by suggesting new ones that will be a camphor agent for the market. You decided to develop it for these two reasons.
New Balance has a development design institution in Boston where there is a head office and design and development institution in Japan, so a unique environment where you can draw and create objects themselves in Japan by planning in Japan There is also a company.
- Will foot type shoes for Japanese people fit the legs of foreigners?
Takeda: In fact, a member of the Boston Research Institute "Sports Research Lab" came to Japan to measure the foot shape of a Japanese elite runner with a 3D scanner, to know the running form and where to touch the foot. I also saw It is often said that Japanese have wide legs,I could reconfirm that it is truly wide as I verified it properly.
Western runners have a rather long forefinger with a slightly pointed foot, but Japanese people tend to have a flat angle at the angle from the thumb to the little finger, and have a square-shaped foot. There are many people who tend to be wide. Regarding the heel, it is not much different from Western runners, and the heel is the same as before, according to the last (wood type) which is targeted for runners in Japan and Asia with wide front legs 1I made a generation.
Many runners are interested in the "Hanzo" series in the USA. Some people do not like it if there are people who fit their feet, but German players who won the 1500 m world champion player and triathlon, for example, are also wearing a hanzo.
- It is terribly cool.
Takeda:Thank you. The ninja logo is stuck in a foreigner runner.
Originally, New Balance also has a track spike, the theme is silent hunter, and while a person who trained every day silently hunts big things, finally winning, as one story, American The track spike was actually a design motif for Hayabusa.
Falcon flying well in the vicinity of the factory in the USA and the employees have familiar presence, the falcon is fairly fast in the birds and waiting until the moment of hunting the prey and hunting at the end is the track competition There was the case that the players became equal to the figure they were winning.
When thinking about a silent hunter for Japanese runners, I felt that "There is only a ninja!" Running fast and doing a big job last without having to make a noise.
- Could you tell me about the design?
Takeda: The mid sole is also composed of a design with an edge effect that feels like a shuriken and a sword's tip. I am also shuriken like an outsole. New Balance caught on concrete It is an outsole of a material called Dynaride of original unique.
"Hanzo" is a shoes to win, so you need repulsive force to get it running fast, the base crimps rubber of special material on plastic and steps one step If you bend it with a step force added, return it so that you get better returning shoes when kicking out by bringing that returning force to the kicking point of the forefoot.
- Could you tell us the characteristics of "HANZO S"?
Takeda: This will be the model for the 1st elite. Hakone Ekiden and the practitioners' players, covering the marathon 2 hour range to the podium. I am sticking to shrinking 1 second 1 minute.
The midsole with the dyna ride is combined with the material called Rebrite of the lightest in New Balance and the most rebound material among the New Balance called Rapid rebound in the forefoot, light weight and repulsion It combines sex and supports the following forward motion.
Actually, I made this kind of feeling, Japanese runners tend to grasp the stride and tend to get out of the middle quickly to the front so that the stride is small and the stride is small and the stride is small, Rapid rebound material is loaded from the middle to the front where you need rebound at the most trampling.
Although it is difficult in shoes making it is to be lightweight as a whole, it will be lighter if you cut it, but since you have to hold the top runner 's foot firmly, it is a full mesh for "Hanzo S" We use lightweight material called melt mesh.
vol.2.
『New BalanceHANZO』
http://www.newbalance.co.jp/running/nb_hanzo/
Cooperation in coverage / New Balance Japan Co., Ltd.
Photo offer / New Balance Japan Co., Ltd.
Interview photograph / Hidemi Sakuma
