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beargonefishing

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Received my first pair from Main d'Or/Eiji Murata a while back, now have summarised the whole process in a large post on my blog, including lots of pics from the making. Way too much to show here, but share some pics that Eiji took of during the making and some I took of the finished shoes. I had very high expectations on these shoes, I am very pleased those were fulfilled, truly great shoes that fit really well.

First some making pictures:
View attachment 978132 View attachment 978133 View attachment 978134 View attachment 978135

And some of the final pair:
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View attachment 978318

So damn good. How many bespoke pairs do you have now from Japan?
 

j ingevaldsson

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As so often on this thread: Holy ****.

So damn good. How many bespoke pairs do you have now from Japan?

Thanks guys!

I have four pairs from Yohei Fukuda, three from Hiro Yanagimachi (though they are on a modified standard last, since his international last fits me really well with some smaller changes), and then this from Main d'Or.
 

beargonefishing

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Thanks guys!

I have four pairs from Yohei Fukuda, three from Hiro Yanagimachi (though they are on a modified standard last, since his international last fits me really well with some smaller changes), and then this from Main d'Or.

When you write in the article that he only makes 15 shoes a year, does that refer to just new customer shoes or all shoes from new and existing customers? With the base price of €2,600, I don't see how that works economically.
 

Concordia

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Actually, that amounts to 7.5 pairs.
 

Krish the Fish

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22D3F198-96C9-4005-AFFE-AF25B8852FD3.jpeg
92691F64-E527-4123-811B-ABB2BA3F1240.jpeg
 

Zapasman

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Thanks guys!

I have four pairs from Yohei Fukuda, three from Hiro Yanagimachi (though they are on a modified standard last, since his international last fits me really well with some smaller changes), and then this from Main d'Or.
You wise man!!
 

Testudo_Aubreii

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Received my first pair from Main d'Or/Eiji Murata a while back, now have summarised the whole process in a large post on my blog, including lots of pics from the making. Way too much to show here, but share some pics that Eiji took of during the making and some I took of the finished shoes. I had very high expectations on these shoes, I am very pleased those were fulfilled, truly great shoes that fit really well.

First some making pictures:
View attachment 978132 View attachment 978133 View attachment 978134 View attachment 978135

And some of the final pair:
View attachment 978319 View attachment 978320 View attachment 978321 View attachment 978322 View attachment 978323 View attachment 978324 View attachment 978325 View attachment 978326 View attachment 978327 View attachment 978328

View attachment 978318
Beautiful shoes indeed! The attention to detail is stunning. Enjoy.

Was it by design that the shoes' lace guards don't close flush at the throat?
 

j ingevaldsson

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When you write in the article that he only makes 15 shoes a year, does that refer to just new customer shoes or all shoes from new and existing customers? With the base price of €2,600, I don't see how that works economically.

15 pairs is an estimate, and years when he has more orders from existing customers he makes more pairs. Where he lives quite far outside Tokyo it's relatively cheap, and he doesn't have that much expenses living the life he does. Plus, as mentioned, he also teaches and has extra income on that (which also takes time of from his shoemaking).

You wise man!!

:thumbs-up:

Beautiful shoes indeed! The attention to detail is stunning. Enjoy.

Was it by design that the shoes' lace guards don't close flush at the throat?

Thanks! You mean that the lacing doesn't close entirely? In general I want it to be a bit opened, to give some flexibility of how hard it should be laced, and since this is the first wear pictured it has to be opened a bit, otherwise it wouldn't work once they have been broken in.
 

angusangus

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From reading through the thread, I've been absolutely smitten by the craftsmanship from some of these makers. But I see that many of them favour elongated and pointed or chiseled lasts -- even in their more 'round toe' lasts -- would I have any difficulty getting a truly classic round toe in the style of the EG202 from someone like Fukuda or Murata ?
 

clee1982

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During my latest trip to Tokyo I finally had the time to visit some factories as well. One of them were the factory of Union Royal, some pics from there below, more in the report on my blog:

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starting from 350 euro for HW? that's like the only HW player in that range (Meermin is cheaper?, Vass is more expensive), how are the uppers/finish for those HW ones.
 

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