ASICS was founded in 1949 in Kobe, Japan, by Kihachiro Onitsuka under the name "Onistuka Co" and now has branches all over the world. When he founded the company, the Japanese had the vision of producing sports shoes that would help sports enthusiasts all over the world to achieve their personal goals in a healthy way and to have fun exercising with the best equipment.
What was once a small shoe manufacturer has long since become a large global company that has lived and pursued this philosophy for over six decades. The current company name ASICS was created in 1977 following a merger with two other sports companies. The name was derived from the Latin saying "Anima Sana in Corpore Sano". This means "a healthy mind in a healthy body". The so-called tiger stripes and the ∂ in front of the ASICS lettering serve as the ASICS trademark.