NEULO arrives in Sapporo, a city that makes you want to walk
In September 2026, NEULO began advance sales of our first model, PathOne. Our first external event after the launch was NoMaps2026, held in Sapporo, Hokkaido.
Our visit to Sapporo gave us the chance to do more than introduce our shoes in person. We also spoke with people involved in shaping the city and explored the possibilities of talking while walking. Here, we look back on the people we met and what we learned.
01 | What is NoMaps? Five days of encounters across the city
NoMaps is a citywide festival in Sapporo and Hokkaido that brings together technology, entertainment, creativity and many other fields. In 2026, it took place from September 23 to 27 at multiple venues in central Sapporo.
Moving between venues creates opportunities to meet people and ideas you might not otherwise encounter. That approach felt like a natural connection for NEULO, as we believe that walking through a city has value in itself.
02 | Shoes that make you want to walk, in a city that invites you to
In March 2026, Sapporo adopted its Well-Moving City SAPPORO 2045 Vision. With the aim of creating a city where everyone can move comfortably, anytime and anywhere, and feel moved along the way, it is developing urban spaces that are pleasant to spend time in and invite people to walk.
“Arukasaru” is a local expression said to mean finding yourself wanting to walk. At NoMaps2026, the City of Sapporo, the NoMaps Executive Committee and Nikken Sekkei worked together on “Arukasaru Sapporo,” encouraging people to explore and spend time in the city. Their initiatives created reasons to gather in public spaces and discover different parts of the city. The photo on the right shows one of these initiatives, NoMaps Cube.
At NEULO, we make shoes to help everyday steps feel more comfortable. What new possibilities for a culture of walking might emerge when people who create walkable cities meet people who create shoes that make you want to walk? We headed to Sapporo with that question in mind.
03 | Thinking about Sapporo’s future through walking
On September 24, our founder, Funase, spoke at a talk session planned and hosted by Nikken Sekkei: “NoMaps Spilling Out into the City — Thinking about Sapporo’s Own Walkable City, Starting from Odori West.”
Together with people from different fields, including Burasatoru, who explores Sapporo’s history, the City of Sapporo, Nikken Sekkei and NTT DOCOMO, we considered walking from the perspectives of urban space, digital tools that encourage people to explore, bodily experience and creativity.
NEULO’s talk, “Walking in the Age of AI,” covered the value of walking in an AI-driven world — an idea behind the founding of NEULO — and how shoes can change the way we walk.
04 | How does conversation change when we walk?
Various studies suggest positive connections between walking, creativity and building relationships. Walking meetings are also becoming more common in business. Meta, for example, has a rooftop trail, and meetings that do not require documents, as well as interviews with job candidates, have been held while walking.
To explore whether walking meetings could have benefits in a business setting, we carried out a small experiment at NoMaps, where people from many backgrounds come together. With help from Umee Technologies, which develops advanced AI systems for conversation analysis, we explored how communication changed as participants walked through Sapporo.
Participants split into groups of around three or four. They first talked while seated for 10 minutes, then continued talking outdoors while walking for 30 minutes. Using Front Agent, the conversational insight AI developed by Umee Technologies, we compared the seated and walking conversations.
What the experiment suggested: walking can help positive relationships form
Umee Technologies reported that its analysis showed the amount of speech rising from 35% to 46%, with positive keywords increasing by a factor of 1.6. Possible explanations include a sense of ease from walking side by side in a shared rhythm and through a natural environment, as well as changes in speech and emotion as outdoor surroundings stimulate new thoughts.
Participants commented, “I’d like to walk and talk when we have meetings to brainstorm ideas,” and “It feels really good to be right here in the middle of Sapporo’s scenery.”
The walking meeting began with some nervousness, as people of different ages and backgrounds were meeting for the first time. After 30 minutes of walking, that tension had eased. Even when the session ended and participants were free to leave, their conversations kept going, and people were reluctant to part.
The scenery outdoors gave people something to talk about and helped ease the tension. The experience gave us a sense of what talking while walking could make possible.
05 | Bringing PathOne directly to people in Sapporo
During the festival, we also held a PathOne pop-up sales event in Sapporo. Holding the shoes, trying them on and walking in them is an experience that NEULO values.
Conversations with customers in Sapporo revealed not only their everyday concerns about shoes and their impressions of PathOne, but also challenges particular to the region, such as walking in snow. Hearing how a different place shapes people’s needs gave us ideas for future product development.
06 | Sharing a culture of walking, starting in Sapporo
Talking with people who think about the city, exploring the possibilities of walking and bringing shoes to individual customers: NoMaps gave NEULO an opportunity to consider a culture of walking from several different angles.
When cities that invite us to walk meet shoes that make us want to walk, everyday steps can begin to change. We hope to carry the connections and lessons from Sapporo into what comes next. Thank you to everyone who was part of the experience.
