INDEX / DIRECTORY / ONITSUKA TIGER

Onitsuka Tiger

Sports RetailFashion & Apparel 72 CITED SOURCES UPDATED 2026-09-08 METHOD V6.5
BDS-1000 Score 307 /1000 D Tier D - Moderate
Military ↗ 0.00 Digital ↗ 0.00 Economic ↗ 3.50 Political ↗ 2.75
OWNERSHIP TREE 0 brands and group businesses View all

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Key Findings

  • Economic: The ASICS group has an official Israeli importer, Original’s, and an established national retail channel. This group-attributed trade relationship drives the economic score; it does not establish Onitsuka Tiger inventory at every branch.1, 2
  • Economic: Onitsuka Tiger’s international storefront identifies Israel-based Global-e as international purchase contracting party and payment handler; no target-specific transaction value, revenue contribution, or Israeli data hosting was identified.3, 4
  • Political: ASICS maintains an Israel FrontRunner athlete-community team. Its ordinary brand communications support the Business-as-Usual political assessment; the reviewed page establishes no state partnership, military endorsement or geopolitical advocacy.5
  • Not found: No public evidence identified of Israeli military or security contracts, tactical product supply, settlement retail operations, Israeli surveillance deployment, or inclusion in the OHCHR settlement-business database.6, 7

Target Profile

FieldDetail
Company NameOnitsuka Tiger
JurisdictionJapan; the Onitsuka Tiger business is scheduled to transfer on 1 January 2027 to OT GROUP Corporation, a wholly owned ASICS subsidiary.8
HeadquartersTokyo, Japan for planned OT GROUP global headquarters; parent ASICS Corporation is headquartered in Kobe, Japan.8, 9
SectorFootwear, apparel, and consumer retail.
OwnershipA business of Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed ASICS Corporation (TSE: 7936); OT GROUP is to remain 100% owned by ASICS, with no IPO or independent public listing planned.8, 9
Key Executives / GovernanceYasuhito Hirota (ASICS Chairman & CEO); Mitsuyuki Tominaga (ASICS President & COO); Ryoji Shoda (Onitsuka Tiger head and incoming OT GROUP President & CEO).10, 8
Israeli-Nexus SummaryDocumented nexus consists of Israeli consumer-market channels, Global-e ecommerce services, and ASICS Ventures’ historical 2020 Seevix materials-science investment; no military, security, or settlement operation was identified.11, 3, 6

Key Facts:

Executive Summary

Onitsuka Tiger is a Japanese footwear and apparel brand within ASICS Corporation. Its documented Israel nexus is commercial and investment-related, not military. A separate capital relationship is ASICS Ventures’ May 2020 announced minority investment in Seevix Material Sciences Ltd., a Jerusalem-based synthetic-spider-silk developer, alongside joint-development work with the ASICS Institute of Sport Science on sporting-goods materials. Public materials do not disclose the investment amount, equity percentage, follow-on funding, or present stake; a later portfolio review did not resolve whether the investment continues or was divested.11, 12

The company also reaches Israeli consumers through independent market channels. Original’s (A.I. IL Ltd.) identifies itself as an official ASICS Israel importer. This parent-group channel is attributable to Onitsuka Tiger under the assessment’s integrated-group rule; the importer page does not prove Onitsuka Tiger stock at every branch. Onitsuka Tiger’s international storefront identifies Global-e as its international purchase contracting party and payment handler. Global-e identifies an Israel location, establishing a documented commercial supplier relationship. The available materials do not establish transaction volumes, fees, Israel-derived revenue, target-owned retail premises, or that customer data is hosted in Israel.1, 3, 4

Settlement-linked evidence is limited and unresolved. Foot Locker carries Onitsuka Tiger globally, while Foot Locker’s Israel franchisee is linked to a retail group documented by Who Profits as operating stores in settlements. However, no public evidence identified confirms that the named Ma’ale Adumim Foot Locker branch stocks Onitsuka Tiger products. The relationship therefore supports neither a finding of direct Onitsuka Tiger settlement retail nor an attribution of the franchisee’s wider operations to the brand.13, 14

No public evidence identified of contracts, tenders, partnerships, product supply, or services involving Onitsuka Tiger/ASICS and the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF, Israel Prison Service, Border Police, intelligence bodies, or Israeli defence primes. No public evidence identified of tactical or defence-grade products, Israeli surveillance or biometric technologies, Project Nimbus participation, Israeli R&D facilities operated by the target, or target-owned settlement stores. ASICS and Onitsuka Tiger do not appear in the OHCHR settlement-business database or the cited Special Rapporteur report.6, 7, 15

Under the fixed, human-vetted V6.5 assessment supplied for this dossier, the resulting BRS is 307, placing Onitsuka Tiger in Tier D (Moderate Complicity). The economic driver is the established ASICS-group distribution channel, while the political driver is continuing ASICS Israel FrontRunner communications. The historical investment and Global-e relationship are separately retained, with their evidence limits, rather than combined into one magnitude claim.1, 2, 5, 11, 3

Timeline of Relevant Events

DateEvent
3 September 1949Kihachiro Onitsuka founded Onitsuka Co., Ltd. in Kobe, Japan; the brand’s documented founding narrative is civilian and sport-focused.16
Early 1980sASICS reportedly licensed training-shoe manufacturing to producers in Israel as part of a broader overseas licensing strategy; current Israeli manufacturing was not established.17
14 May 2020ASICS Ventures announced an investment in Seevix Material Sciences Ltd. and joint development of synthetic spider-silk materials with the ASICS Institute of Sport Science.11
2023ASICS presented its Israel FrontRunner programme as an athlete-community and brand-ambassador initiative.18
January 2026ASICS opened the Onitsuka Innovative Factory in Tottori, Japan; this production facility has no Israel connection.19
10 June 2026ASICS announced the transfer of the Onitsuka Tiger business to wholly owned OT GROUP Corporation, effective 1 January 2027.8

Corporate Overview

Onitsuka Tiger operates as an ASICS business. ASICS is a Japanese listed company, and the announced 2027 restructuring is an internal transfer to OT GROUP Corporation rather than an independent listing: OT GROUP will remain wholly owned by ASICS. Ryoji Shoda is designated to lead the new entity, which is to serve as the global headquarters for the brand.8, 10

The brand’s production footprint identified in the audits is centred in Japan and contracted or operated facilities in Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, and China. No Israel-based or West Bank-based manufacturing facility was identified. The 2026 dedicated Onitsuka factory is in Tottori, Japan.19, 20

The documented Israeli consumer-market presence is principally third-party. Original’s identifies itself as an official importer of parent-group ASICS products. Other independent retailers provide a separate, non-exclusive brand-availability channel.1, 21 Separately, Global-e is identified by Onitsuka Tiger as the contracting and payment-handling ecommerce provider for international purchases. These facts establish distribution and supplier relationships, not a target-owned Israeli subsidiary, office, warehouse, or retail estate.1, 3

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

No public evidence identified of a contract, tender, memorandum of understanding, framework agreement, supply relationship, or other arrangement between Onitsuka Tiger/ASICS and the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF, Israel Prison Service, Border Police, intelligence bodies, or Israeli defence primes. No public evidence identified of weapons, munitions, components, military logistics, base services, export licences, defence-exhibition participation, or tactical/mil-spec footwear and apparel supplied by the target.6, 22, 23

The military audit did not identify target-specific physical supply to military or settlement-security operations. The separate Foot Locker settlement-store question remains unverified at brand-stock level, as discussed in the economic section.13, 14

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The strongest defence is the company’s civilian character. Onitsuka Tiger and ASICS are footwear, apparel, and consumer-retail businesses, and the sole substantive civil-society allegation identified was the 2020 Seevix investment, publicly described as civilian materials-science R&D rather than defence activity.11, 24

That investment should not be converted into a military nexus merely because Seevix’s leadership includes a former Rafael executive. That is a governance-level tie of the investee, not a direct role, contract, product, or end-user relationship of ASICS or Onitsuka Tiger. No specific IDF or Ministry of Defense contract for Seevix was identified.25

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

Onitsuka Tiger’s official international storefront identifies Global-e as ecommerce vendor, international-purchase contracting party, and payment handler. Global-e identifies an Israel location. This is a documented commercial technology relationship.3, 4

No public evidence identified that Onitsuka Tiger customer records are hosted in Israel, transferred to Israeli state, military, or intelligence bodies, or used for surveillance, security, or defence purposes. Global-e’s published consumer policy instead describes service-data storage in Ireland for Global-e services and the United States for Borderfree services, while allowing intra-group transfers; it does not prove target-specific Israeli data residency.26

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Israeli supplier identity does not itself establish Israeli data residency, state access, surveillance deployment, or military end use. The available evidence establishes ecommerce contracting and payment handling only. The digital audit searched those channels without identifying a qualifying Israeli state/security or occupation result. The existence of routine retail analytics is distinct: the documented Aura Vision case study concerns commercial store footfall and engagement.27

Other documented technology suppliers are non-Israeli: ASICS’ ecommerce stack includes Salesforce Commerce Cloud and MuleSoft; the cited Onitsuka Tiger Hong Kong storefront uses Shopify; and ASICS Digital has a partnership with Amsterdam-headquartered Levi9. These relationships do not substantiate an Israeli-origin surveillance or cybersecurity nexus.28, 29, 30

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

The principal documented capital nexus is ASICS Ventures’ announced 2020 minority investment in Seevix, an Israeli company headquartered in Jerusalem, combined with joint development of synthetic spider-silk sporting-goods materials. The investment amount, percentage interest, current stake, and continuation of the relationship are unresolved in the reviewed public record.11, 12

The company also has documented Israeli market and service relationships: independent importer/distributor Original’s, independent resellers, and Global-e’s international ecommerce services. The reviewed materials establish third-party commercial channels, without establishing a target-owned Israeli office, warehouse, retail estate or target-specific Israeli revenue.1, 3, 2

A potential settlement-adjacent channel is indirect only. Foot Locker carries Onitsuka Tiger globally, and its Israeli franchisee is associated with a group that Who Profits documents as operating a store in Ma’ale Adumim. No public evidence identified confirming Onitsuka Tiger stock at that specific branch. The evidence therefore does not establish a direct settlement retail operation by the target.13, 14

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The Seevix transaction was framed by both parties as sporting-materials R&D, not as an investment in Israeli defence, state infrastructure, or settlement activity. Its current status cannot be inferred from the survival of the 2020 announcement or its omission from a displayed portfolio list; both continuing ownership and divestment remain unverified.11, 12

Likewise, ordinary sales via an independent importer, resellers, and ecommerce provider do not establish a target-owned Israeli operation. The economic audit also searched sovereign-bond, investment-fund, manufacturing and settlement-origin-goods channels without identifying another substantiated relationship.

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

No public evidence identified of an official ASICS or Onitsuka Tiger statement addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict, the 7 October 2023 attacks, or the Gaza war. ASICS has maintained an Israel FrontRunner page and associated athlete-community marketing, but the reviewed materials present it as an ordinary international brand programme rather than Israeli state partnership, military endorsement, or geopolitical advocacy.18, 5

ASICS’ Global Code of Conduct includes generic obligations to comply with export controls, sanctions, and anti-boycott laws. The audit treats that as a multinational trade-compliance clause, not an Israel-specific political position or evidence of support for Israeli government policy.31

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The principal limit is the absence of documented advocacy, lobbying, military-welfare, settlement or state-partnership conduct. Ordinary continuing brand communications are nevertheless assessed under the rubric’s Business-as-Usual political category. No public evidence identified of lobbying registrations, PAC or FEC activity related to Israel/Palestine, donations to FIDF, JNF/KKL, settlement organisations, reservist funds, or anti-BDS bodies; nor was evidence identified of executive personal donations, advocacy roles, or public Israel/Palestine statements.32

A documented difference in public corporate posture exists: ASICS exited Russia after the 2022 invasion, while no equivalent Israel/Palestine-specific exit or statement was identified. This establishes a differential operational response, but does not by itself establish endorsement of either side or a direct contribution to military or settlement activity.33

Named Entities and Evidence Map

BDS-1000 Score

Method: V6.5.

DomainIMPV-Domain Score
Military0.000.000.000.00
Digital0.000.000.000.00
Economic3.507.008.003.50
Political3.505.507.502.75

Economic is governed by the ASICS group’s official Israeli distribution channel: I=3.5 for sustained trade, M=7.0 for the established national channel, and P=8.0 for the direct official relationship. The roughly 20-store importer network includes dedicated ASICS branches; it is not a count of Onitsuka Tiger-only stores or a measured Israeli market share.1, 2

Global-e was assessed separately at I/M/P=3.5/5.5/8.0 (V=2.75). The documented one-off Seevix investment, with no verified ongoing stake or investment scale, does not displace the governing current trade scenario. No settlement escalator was applied because brand inventory at the named settlement branch remains unverified.11, 3, 12, 13, 14

Political reflects ASICS’s continuing Israel FrontRunner communications: I=3.5 for Business-as-Usual, M=5.5 for a sustained runner-community programme, and P=7.5 for the active integrated parent. It is not scored as a national state institution, military endorsement or political donation.5 Military and Digital remain zero because the searched evidence does not establish a qualifying physical or digital state/security/occupation result; the civilian Global-e relationship remains disclosed.3, 26

The 307/D total matches the previous published V5.1 integer, but Economic changes from V=2.71 to 3.50 and Political from V=3.50 to 2.75. Military and Digital remain zero. Against the separately archived V4 201/D baseline, the total rises by 106 points. These are reassessment changes, not evidence of newly discovered divestment.

Methodology Note

Footnotes

  1. https://originals.co.il/pages/asics-landing-page ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. https://originals.co.il/pages/הסניפים-שלנו ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. https://www.onitsukatiger.com/jp/en-gl/about-global-e ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  4. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1835963/000117891325001781/exhibit_99-1.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. https://www.asics.com/ae/en-ae/frontrunner/team/israel ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. https://www.ohchr.org/en/business/bhr-database ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  7. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5923-economy-occupation-economy-genocide-report-special-rapporteur ↩ ↩2

  8. https://corp.asics.com/en/press/article/2026-06-10_company-split ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  9. https://asia.nikkei.com/business/consumer/japan-s-asics-to-spin-off-onitsuka-tiger-high-end-sneaker-business ↩ ↩2

  10. https://corp.asics.com/en/press/article/2023-09-15 ↩ ↩2

  11. https://news-emea.asics.com/latest-news/asics-ventures-invests-in-israeli-synthetic-spidersilk-startup - seevix-material-sciences/s/74112195-a357-4cad-a09c-c3c26b0ebc92 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  12. https://corp.asics.com/en/ventures ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  13. https://www.footlocker.com/category/brands/onitsuka-tiger.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  14. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7377?fox-wizel-ltd-fox-group-= ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  15. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/un-human-rights-office-updates-database-businesses-involved-israeli ↩ ↩2

  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onitsuka_Tiger ↩

  17. https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/21/ASICS-Corporation.html ↩

  18. https://www.asics.com/il/he-il/frontrunner/news/asics-israel-frontrunner-2023-team ↩ ↩2

  19. https://corp.asics.com/en/press/article/2026-01-15_onitsuka-innovative-factory ↩ ↩2

  20. https://corp.asics.com/en/press/article/2025-07-07_onitsuka-tiger-innovative-factory ↩

  21. https://www.shopenauer.com/en/brand/onitsuka-tiger/tel-aviv ↩

  22. https://paxforpeace.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/The-Companies-Arming-Israel-and-Their-Financiers-June-2024.pdf ↩ ↩2

  23. https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-DBIO-V-report.pdf ↩ ↩2

  24. https://masjidalaqsa.com/boycott/asics-israel-bds ↩ ↩2

  25. https://www.seevix.com/about-us/ ↩

  26. https://www.global-e.com/consumer-privacy-policy ↩ ↩2

  27. https://auravision.ai/case-studies/onitsuka-tiger-case-study/ ↩ ↩2

  28. https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/topics/digital-commerce/asics-speeds-up-e-commerce-operations-with-api-led-product-management ↩

  29. https://www.levi9.com/news/asics-digital-partners-with-levi9-to-innovate-the-digital-landscape/ ↩

  30. https://www.wavecommerce.hk/clients/onitsuka-tiger-dtc-shopify ↩

  31. https://corp.asics.com/en/p/code_conduct ↩ ↩2

  32. https://corp.asics.com/en/about_asics/corporate_governance/board-of-directors ↩

  33. https://leave-russia.org/asics ↩