A local maker of traditional tabi split-toed footwear is looking to widen overseas sales channels after its fashionable products gained traction in France.
Musashino Uniform, which runs a shop specializing in work clothes in Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, exhibited a lineup of tabi footwear tinged with pop-art colors and modern designs at the Japan Expo in Paris in 2015.
The items were well-received and the company has since paid more attention to foreign markets in the hope of helping revitalize its hometown, which was once a major tabi manufacturing center.