Comfort sandals that are proven to improve children’s posture

Nagata Ward in Kobe is a center for chemical shoe manufacturing in Kobe, an area known for its shoe fashion. Lucky Bell, the creator of LB Sandals was established in 1961. Since then, the shop has provided elementary school exercise shoes and hallway slippers to educational facilities across the nation. LB Sandals was created approximately 30 years ago from a chance consultation with an elementary school principal in Nagano Prefecture. “Something strange is happening to the children’s feet,” said the principal. Many of them had poor posture during the morning greeting, and their feet weren’t forming a proper arch. The headmaster tried incorporating training barefoot, but could not acquire results. He wondered whether there was any solution.

This inquiry led to the beginning of a product collaboration with the local factory in Nagata. A shoe was developed from the need to provide footwear that improved children’s stride. The result: a flip flop sandal that grasped the toe. After six rounds of improvement, the shoe went on sale in 1990, and has since become a popular footwear for school use. Furthermore, in 2014 a professor at Ishikawa Prefectural University Graduate School conducted a study targeting 106 four to five-year-olds, and proved that this product results in improved posture for children. The reason for this is that the sole has an incline which pushes one’s weight slightly forward.

In 2017 Lucky Bell updated the design of the shoe to create a comfort sandal that supports modern adult feet. As usual, the shoes are made with durability and comfort in mind, using 100% domestically sourced high quality materials. Lucky Bell works with partnered factories to carefully provide one-of-a-kind processing, sewing, and assembly. “I hope to expand the scope of design to support special orders for the sole and strap,” says head of development and production Yuki Tatsumi. The company is motivated to keep developing products moving forward.