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Philosophy

Thinking about shoes

Finding your favorite shoes makes your day a happy one.

Have you already found your best shoes?

Many people consider various factors—design, how well they match outfits, comfort, ease of walking, fit, how they make their posture look, and whether they make them appear taller—before finally making a purchase. How many people, among all these factors, have already found their "best shoes" that score a perfect 100 in every category?

That might be very difficult. That's precisely why, when you do find a pair you truly love, it can significantly transform your daily life. Walking becomes more enjoyable, and going out becomes something to look forward to. Comfortable footwear will surely make your mood and actions throughout the day happier.

Finding shoes that fit you is more than just a purchase; it's an experience. This is because they support your daily movement, change how your body moves, and make your life a little richer.

We aim to create such a pair of shoes. Shoes that support people's every step, make daily movement more natural, and turn the act of walking itself into a pleasant experience. We want to develop shoes that enrich the time of your life.

Shoes make the way you walk.

Shoes are the only gear connecting your body to the ground. They significantly impact how you stand and walk. For example, while runners each have their own unique form, that form can change depending on the shoes they wear.

In today's world, where running shoes with various features like thin soles, thick soles, and carbon plates are appearing, it can be said that humans are changing their form to adapt to the shoes in order to maximize their performance.

For instance, wearing thick-soled running shoes can often lead to heel striking. However, try jogging a little in thin-soled barefoot shoes or flip-flops. You will likely find yourself landing closer to your toes naturally, rather than heel striking.

Shoes define your way of walking. Since they are so important, why not take a moment to pause and consider them?

Shoes change behavior.

Standing, walking. Shoes are always there to support us in these actions that we take for granted. In our daily lives, many people may not be particularly conscious of standing or walking, just as they are not conscious of breathing. However, the shoes on your feet have no small impact on your every step, as well as your posture and how you move.

How do you feel the ground? How do you support your body? What rhythm do you walk to? Shoes quietly shape the quality of our movement.

Good shoes are not just there to protect your feet. The moment you put them on, your body naturally starts to move, and walking itself becomes enjoyable. Before you know it, you might want to take a slightly longer route home, or walk a little further. Such small changes are created.

It becomes fun.
You want to move more.
You want to try going to unknown places.

We want to deliver shoes that create this feeling, where moving your body naturally transforms into a positive experience in your daily life.

The human power of walking

Do not let your toes go to sleep.

The human foot is an extremely elaborate structure, composed of 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These 26 bones account for approximately 25% of all the bones in the human body.

Leonardo da Vinci described the foot as "a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art." Such is the precision and rational design of the foot's structure.

The toes, in particular, are important. The toes are not merely "extremities of the body." They play a crucial role in supporting the body, maintaining balance, and generating the propulsive force for moving forward.
However, in modern life, the function of these toes is not fully utilized.

Narrow and restrictive toe boxes. Thick, heavily cushioned soles. Rocker structures and toe springs that easily propel the foot forward with just a shift in weight. In such shoes, the toes, which should naturally move, are not freely used, and their inherent functions may lie dormant.

How should the foot naturally be used? Do shoes aid that function?

Reawakening the innate functions of the human foot. That is our starting point when designing shoes.

Why do people want to walk barefoot on grass?

Why do people want to go barefoot when there's grass? And why do they instinctively start running?

It's a common sight. A park lawn, or the artificial turf area of a shopping mall. Even though there's no shoe rack, children naturally take off their shoes and start running. They run around on the grass, fall, and get back up. No one told them to do it, but their bodies just start moving.

There's the softness of the ground. And there's the feeling of toes moving freely. The soles of your feet feel the ground, and your body feels lighter. It's a slightly different experience from everyday life, protected by shoes—an experience where your body itself awakens.

Perhaps humans instinctively seek the feeling of touching the ground barefoot. Feeling the ground with the soles of your feet and moving your body using your toes. Perhaps this is the natural way we are meant to use our bodies.

We want to create shoes that embody this "softness of the ground" and "barefoot feeling." Even on the hard asphalt of the city, your feet will feel the ground, and your body will move naturally. We will deliver shoes that create such an experience from the ground up.

Walk fast using your toes. Then get healthy.

Walking speed is said to be one of the important indicators of health. Research shows that people who walk faster tend to be in better health and live longer (Dempsey et al., 2022). How we walk in our daily lives quietly reflects the state of our bodies.

And it is our toes that support this ability to walk. When we walk using our toes properly, we generate the power to push off the ground, naturally increasing our stride. As a result, we can walk more smoothly and faster. In other words, the starting point of healthy walking can be said to be in our toes.

Furthermore, the way our toes function changes significantly depending on how we walk each day. By simply being a little more mindful of how we walk, our toes can work more freely and powerfully.

Are you walking by properly using your toes?

References
・A Study on Fall Prevention Through Foot Grasping Power Training (Murata et al., 2004)
・A Study on Toe Grasping Power and Gait Function in Parkinson's Disease Patients (Soma et al., 2021)
・A Study on the Relationship Between Toe Grasping Power and Jumping Power (Ohe et al., 2013)
・Comparative Relevance of Physical Fitness and Adiposity on Life Expectancy (Zaccardi F, et al., 2019)

Toes support the body's balance.

The human body maintains balance on the limited contact surface of the soles of the feet. The toes play a particularly important role. Toes are not merely extremities; they have a crucial function in supporting body stability during actions like standing and walking.

Research has shown a strong correlation between toe strength and balance ability. Individuals with stronger toe flexor muscles exhibit greater postural stability, while those with weaker toe muscles tend to have reduced balance. Furthermore, studies indicate that decreased toe strength in older adults is associated with an increased risk of falls (Mickle et al. 2009).

Why are toes so important? It's because they play a role in making fine adjustments to the body's sway. When a person stands, the body isn't completely still; it constantly sways slightly to maintain balance. The toes and sole muscles perform these subtle adjustments.

Moreover, the soles of the feet contain many sensory receptors that detect changes in body posture and center of gravity. By allowing the toes to move freely and sense information from the ground, the brain can more accurately grasp the body's position and adjust posture.

In essence, toes are not just for pushing off the ground. They play a crucial role in supporting body stability, adjusting posture, and maintaining balance. Our ability to stand, walk, and move naturally is due to the function of these small toes.

Walking can also spark creativity.

There are studies that suggest that humans' "creative divergent thinking" abilities are enhanced when walking. One well-known test that measures divergent thinking is the Guilford test. The results of this test showed a clear difference between the group that took the test while walking and the group that did not (Oppezzo & Schwartz, 2014). As this indicates, creativity improves even by simply walking, but walking outdoors in nature further enhances originality. Furthermore, the positive effects of walking on the brain have been confirmed to persist even after the activity has ended.

In addition, light aerobic exercise like walking increases BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which enhances memory and cognitive function. There have also been findings that walking at a fast pace slows the progression of dementia (Erickson, K. I., et al., 2011).

In an era where generative AI is replacing the thought processes that humans have traditionally undertaken, doesn't the act of "walking" become all the more important for humans to generate new ideas from scratch and design new questions?

References
・The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking (Oppezzo M, et al., 2014)
・Effects of Exercise on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (Szuhany KL, et al., 2015)

Change your perspective, change your thinking.

Environmental visual stimuli boost creativity. According to Jae Hwa Lee et al., "visual stimulation" has been identified as a significant environmental factor influencing creativity. Specifically, environments with light, plants, and spatial diversity seem to have a greater positive impact on creative output. In other words, walking in nature provides an environment more conducive to creative output than an office.

However, many modern people probably tackle new ideas, inspirations, or outputs while sitting down or facing a computer. Meetings are completed online, and all tasks are completed using various computer applications.

While a computer may feel like another virtual world, the only visual input you receive is information on a mere several-inch screen.

To unleash your creativity, close your computer, stand up from your desk, and step outside.

Don't hesitate; why not change your perspective?

An idea that wouldn't come to you after an hour of thinking at your desk might suddenly blossom after just a short walk.

References
・Relationships between physical environments and creativity (Lee JH, et al., 2023)

Breaking free from smartphone addiction

Our modern lives have been profoundly transformed by smartphones and social media. While they've made things more convenient, our brains have unknowingly been "hacked" by mechanisms that steal our time.

Social media feeds are designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible. Endless scrolling and notifications stimulate the brain's reward system, leading us to think, "Just a little more." As a result, we unknowingly spend a lot of time staring at screens.

The issue isn't just time; it's also the "quality of our thoughts." Constantly looking at a smartphone keeps the brain in a passive state, with new information flowing in before thoughts can fully develop. Originally, human thought expands in "blank spaces" such as time spent idly contemplating or engaging in physical activity. However, social media fills up these blank spaces.

Furthermore, on social media, content that elicits strong emotions like anger or anxiety is more likely to spread, sometimes leading us into a loop of continuously consuming negative information.

Many people likely feel trapped in this state, wishing to break free yet finding themselves engrossed in their smartphones and social media. Is there an effective way to escape?

The simple method is "walking." When we walk, we step away from screens, our gaze turns outward, and our thoughts slowly begin to move in rhythm with our bodies. Thoughts expand, ideas connect, and unexpected solutions sometimes emerge.

If you feel your mind is stuck, try putting your smartphone in your pocket and walking for a bit. Walking is the simplest way to reclaim your thoughts.

Principles of Ideal Shoes

Through our dedicated research and development, we arrived at these principles for the ideal shoe:

歩行中のNEULOのシューズ

Keep the toe spring to a minimum.

Many modern shoes feature a "toe spring," where the forefoot of the sole is significantly curved upwards. This design assists walking by rolling the foot forward, aiming to reduce energy consumption and alleviate fatigue.

While this structure certainly has the advantage of allowing smooth forward movement without requiring much foot muscle strength, it also means that the shoe takes over some of the roles inherently performed by the foot.

Human gait is inherently a precisely coordinated movement: the sole of the foot senses the ground, the toes push off the ground at the end of the stride, and this force propels the body forward.

NEULO respects this natural walking mechanism. Therefore, we minimize the toe spring.

Instead of shoes substituting for walking, we believe they should bring out the foot's own capabilities. We think that rather than footwear taking away the fundamental human act of walking through its structure, shoes should be there to support it.

Minimize arch support as much as possible.

The arch of the foot is one of the most intricate structures in the human body. Bones, ligaments, and muscles work together to absorb impact from the ground, store energy, and convert it into propulsion for walking.

Many shoes incorporate an arch support structure to support this arch.
While this can sometimes reduce stress on the foot,

it can also lead to a weakening of the foot's function itself, as the muscles and ligaments in the foot may not perform their natural role due to excessive support from the sole. For example, Nicholas et al. (2018) showed that people who wore minimal shoes without arch support could develop stronger arch stiffness compared to those who wore conventional shoes with arch support.

NEULO believes that the arch of the foot is not a structure to be externally fixed, but rather a dynamic structure that functions with body movement, and we trust in the foot's natural structure.

Therefore, we do not provide excessive arch support. We believe that creating an environment where the body itself can express the foot's inherent flexibility, strength, and balance is the simplest way to regain natural walking.

References
・Foot Strength and Stiffness Related to Footwear Use (Holowka NB, et al., 2018)

Zero-drop construction

Many modern shoes are designed with the heel higher than the forefoot. This structure, called heel drop, is adopted in many running shoes and everyday footwear.

However, this structure subtly tilts the body's center of gravity forward. As a result, it can have a subtle effect on the position of the pelvis and spine, altering postural balance.

NEULO adopts a zero-drop structure where the heel and forefoot heights are the same. This structure allows the entire sole of the foot to make even contact with the ground, and the body's center of gravity returns to a more natural position.

Humans are inherently designed to walk barefoot. The zero-drop structure is an attempt to reproduce a posture close to this natural state even when wearing shoes.

Walking is not just a means of transportation. It is a full-body exercise that involves the body's overall posture, muscle coordination, and sense of balance.

Secure the heel and free the forefoot.

For your feet to function correctly inside your shoes, an appropriate fit structure is essential. However, "fit" isn't just about tightly securing your feet. We need to design varying degrees of freedom depending on the role of each part of the foot.

The heel is the first part of the foot to contact the ground during walking and is a crucial point for supporting the stability of the entire body. Therefore, the heel area needs to be firmly secured.

On the other hand, the forefoot, especially the toes, needs to be able to spread and move freely. This is because the toes play a vital role in pushing off the ground at the end of a stride, generating propulsion.

NEULO's design ensures a secure fit around the heel while providing ample space in the forefoot.

Stability and freedom. We believe that allowing these two seemingly contradictory elements to coexist in the right balance is fundamental to shoe design that supports natural walking.

Liberate your toes with a wide toe box, unleashing their natural movement.

Many shoes are designed to narrow towards the toe, either for aesthetic reasons or to conform to traditional design conventions. However, the human foot is not shaped this way. By nature, the toes spread out like a fan, and each toe is structured to move independently.

In shoes with narrow toe boxes, the toes are compressed, losing their natural spread. As a result, foot stability and the transmission of power during walking can be limited. There is also a risk of developing bunions.

NEULO adopts a wide toe structure that closely resembles the natural shape of the foot. By ensuring space for the toes to move freely, standing and walking using the toes become more natural.

Of course, we are not denying the wearing of pointed shoes, heels, or pumps. Each type of shoe has its place. However, why not try wearing wide-toe shoes for a few days a week to give your feet a rest? It's important to alternate your footwear.

Walking with your toes

In the final moments of a step, the toes are believed to be involved in pushing off the ground. This action is said to contribute to the propulsion that moves the body forward.

Conversely, in walking styles where the toes are not fully engaged, this propulsive force may not be effectively generated. It has been pointed out that this can affect stride length and walking efficiency.

NEULO is designed with a focus on facilitating natural toe engagement. The wide toe shape and sole design that suppresses excessive toe spring aim to create an environment where the toes can easily participate in walking.

We believe that when the toes are engaged, the foot can firmly grip the ground, and the body can move forward more stably – walking is not just simple locomotion, but a movement in which the entire body works in conjunction.

Engaging the calf muscles

In walking where the toes are active, the muscles from the soles of the feet to the calves are naturally engaged. The calf muscles, in particular, play a very important role in walking and maintaining posture.

When these muscles are active, ankle stability increases, and overall body movements become smoother. Additionally, when muscles are used appropriately, the feeling of fatigue after walking for long periods may also change.

Walking is the most fundamental exercise for humans. The natural engagement of body muscles during daily walking is important for maintaining health.

"Second heart"

The calves are sometimes referred to as the "second heart." When the calf muscles contract during walking, blood accumulated in the legs is pushed back to the heart.

This function is a vital pump that aids in the circulation of blood throughout the body. In lifestyles that involve prolonged sitting, opportunities for this pump function to work are reduced.

Walking is not just about moving the body forward; it is also an act that regulates internal circulation. And shoes are an important tool that supports this act of walking.

You'll notice the difference at the end of the day.

What would it feel like to spend a day wearing shoes like these, wiggling your toes, and feeling stimulation on the soles of your feet, then come home?

The moment you stand barefoot at home, you might notice that the sensations in your toes and soles are more sensitive than usual.

By wearing them every day, you'll gradually notice differences in the muscles around your feet. And when you wear other shoes with a drop, you might also notice a different sensation than before.

Shoes are not just tools. They are an everyday interface that changes how you use your body.

Optimal sole thickness and hardness for walking on asphalt.

Human feet are naturally designed to walk on soft, natural ground such as soil, grass, and sand.

The ground yields slightly, and the impact transmitted to the soles of the feet is naturally dispersed.

However, in modern urban environments, we spend much of our day walking on asphalt and concrete. These surfaces are extremely hard and have completely different characteristics from natural ground.

Therefore, shoes need a certain amount of cushioning to protect the feet.

If the sole is too thin, the sole of the foot receives excessive impact, which can lead to fatigue and discomfort during prolonged walking. It is also said that walking quickly leads to better health. NEULO believes that a certain amount of sole cushioning is necessary for walking at a fast pace.

On the other hand, if the sole is too thick or too soft, the sensation of the ground is largely lost. The sensation in the soles of the feet becomes dull, and the body can no longer accurately feel how it is making contact with the ground.

The soles of the feet contain many sensory receptors that adjust body posture and balance.

Information from the ground plays an important role in unconsciously adjusting the rhythm of walking and body movements.

An ideal sole has a balance that moderately absorbs impact from the ground while maintaining the sensation in the sole of the foot.

Not too thick, not too thin. Not too soft, not too hard. Protecting the foot while simultaneously allowing it to feel the ground. This delicate balance is important for maintaining the natural sensation and function of the foot, even on the hard surfaces of the city.

NEULO, with the urban paved ground environment in mind, pursues a moderately cushioned sole with an insole that does not impair the natural function of the foot.

We offer shoes that support daily life, allowing you to walk briskly on asphalt while using your toes.

Returning to walking

In an age where movement is optimized, thinking is outsourced, and the entire day is completed within a screen, we return to the most primitive and human act: walking. Gripping the ground with your toes, changing your perspective, and thinking for yourself. This isn't just for your health; it's a chance to reclaim yourself.

NEULO is a pair of shoes for this very purpose. For your feet to reawaken on the urban asphalt. For walking to become a little more enjoyable again. What we want to deliver isn't just shoes, but the very way of life that lies beyond them.

© 2026 NEULO.
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