Shoe Dog

Knight approaches his father while he watches television. Knight wants to ask for help with his Crazy Idea. While in business school at Stanford, Knight wrote a paper about the potential impact of Japanese running shoes in the running shoe market. Knight saw enormous potential there and continued thinking about this idea well after presenting his paper. He imagined flying to Japan and finding a company with which he could partner to sell shoes in the American market. He also imagined pairing this trip to Japan with a trip around the world, where he could see many of the planet’s most beautiful and sacred sites. However, to make such a trip, he must borrow money from his father.

Knight pitches the idea of a trip around the world to his father, who approves. Knight spends weeks preparing for his trip. He asks his friend and former Stanford classmate Carter if he’d like to join him, and Carter agrees. On September 7, 1962, Knight and Carter drive from Oregon to San Francisco. From there they fly to Honolulu. After checking into a motel on Waikiki Beach, they go swimming together and quickly decide they’d like to stay in Hawaii for an extended period. They get jobs selling encyclopedias door to door, but Knight has trouble making sales and changes jobs, becoming a securities salesman. Knight has more success in this job, quickly earning enough in commissions to pay for six months’ rent. After a relatively happy period of surfing and frequenting local dive bars, Knight feels it is time to continue his travels. Carter decides to remain behind in Hawaii. On Thanksgiving Day, 1962, Knight flies to Japan alone.

In Tokyo he’s struck by the lingering presence of World War II, observing war wreckage from a taxi window. After visiting many of Tokyo’s commercial and religious sites, he meets with two ex-GIs who have launched a magazine about importing Japanese products. They give Knight important advice on interacting with Japanese businessmen, advising him not to be too aggressive in his dealings.

Shortly after his meeting with the GIs, Knight boards a train to Kobe to meet with a shoe company called Onitsuka. He is given a tour of the factory and led to a conference room, where he is given a seat at the head of a large table. A man named Mr. Miyazaki asks Knight what company Knight represents, and Knight says, “Blue Ribbon,” after the ribbons on the wall of his childhood bedroom in Oregon. Knight tells the executives of Onitsuka that the American shoe market represents a very profitable opportunity for them. After Knight’s presentation, Onitsuka asks Knight if he’d like to represent Tiger shoes in the United States. Knight agrees and asks for a shipment of samples to his US address. An agreement is reached.

It’s during this first trip to Japan that Knight becomes enamored with the idea of Zen, particularly as it relates to business and sports. Zen philosophy asserts that success is only possible “when we forget the self and the opponent, who are but two halves of one whole” (23). This philosophy informs Knight’s business strategy once he’s back stateside.

Before that, Knight continues his travels. He goes to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and India. In Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), Knight gets so sick he believes he is going to die. In Nepal, he begins to notice everyone’s shoes. He visits Kenya, the pyramids in Egypt, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and finally, London. The highlight of his travels, however, is Greece. While looking out upon the Acropolis, he has the feeling that he’s been there before. He sees the Temple of Athena Nike, which is said to have “housed a beautiful frieze of the goddess Athena, thought to be the bringer of ‘nike,’ or victory” (37).

On his 25th birthday, on February 24, 1963, Knight arrives home from his travels.

After returning home from his trip around the world, Knight looks for work. Knight visits Don Frisbee, a local CEO whom his father is friends with. Frisbee advises Knight to get his CPA, so Knight enrolls in accounting classes. He then gets a job at an accounting firm, where he works 12-hour days. He is paid well but misses the adventure of the previous year when he traveled the world. In summary, Knight writes, “This is how I spent 1963. Quizzing pigeons. Polishing my Valiant. Writing letters” (42).

In the first week of 1964, Knight goes down to a warehouse on the waterfront and receives a large box with Japanese writing. When he returns home, he opens it to find 12 pairs of white shoes with blue stripes. He finds them beautiful. He sends two pairs to his old track coach at the University of Oregon, Bob Bowerman. Knight remembers Bowerman as an intimidating but powerful presence and as a legendary coach. Bowerman responds to Knight by suggesting they have lunch the following week.

On January 25, 1964, the two men meet at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Portland. Bowerman likes the Japanese shoes and asks if he can be let in on the deal with Onitsuka. They decide to become partners with a 50-50 share in the company. A few days later, Knight and Bowerman meet with Bowerman’s lawyer, Jaqua, to make the agreement official. Jaqua explains that Bowerman does not want to be in charge and suggests that they split ownership 51-49, giving Knight control. Knight agrees, and they sign the paperwork.

The same day, Knight writes to Onitsuka asking to be “the exclusive distributor of Tiger shoes in the western United States” and places an order for 300 pairs (52). He borrows $1,000 from his father to make the purchase. In April 1964, Knight receives the order of shoes from Onitsuka. He is told in a letter by Mr. Miyazaki that he can be the “distributor for Onitsuka in the West” (55). He quits his job at the accounting firm and commits himself to selling Onitsukas out of the trunk of his car.

Knight has success driving to track meets around the Pacific Northwest and talking up the shoes to coaches, athletes, and fans. Soon he finds himself receiving requests for shoes by mail. He reflects, “Without my even trying, my mail order business was born” (56). Sometimes runners would arrive at Knight’s parents’ home to ask if Buck was around. Knight would then welcome the runner and measure their foot.

Knight sells out his first shipment on July 4, 1964. He writes to Onitsuka requesting 900 more pairs, costing him around $3,000. To cover the cost, Knight gets a loan from the First National Bank of Oregon.

Since business is going well, Knight decides to hire a salesman in California. He attends a track meet at Occidental College near Los Angeles, where he’s greeted by a former track competitor named Jeff Johnson. Johnson says that on weekends he sells shoes for Adidas. Knight tries to convince him to sell Tiger shoes, but Johnson declines.

A letter arrives from a man on the East Coast. The man, whom Knight calls a “Marlboro Man,” claims to have been named the exclusive distributor of Onitsuka in the United States. He demands that Knight cease selling Tigers. Knight contacts his cousin, a lawyer named Doug Houser, for advice. He later decides that he must fly to Japan to confront Onitsuka in person.

After arriving in Kobe, Knight calls Onitsuka from the hotel and leaves a message. A secretary calls back to tell him that Mr. Miyazaki, his previous contact, no longer works at Onitsuka. His replacement, a man named Mr. Morimoto, will come to meet Knight at the hotel restaurant the following morning.

When the men meet, Knight makes his case for continuing to be a distributor for Onitsuka. Mr. Morimoto says that he will be in touch. The following morning, Knight receives a call telling him that Mr. Onitsuka himself would like to meet with him. Knight heads to the Onitsuka headquarters, where he meets with executives and Mr. Onitsuka in a conference room. Ultimately, Mr. Onitsuka decides that Knight can continue selling in the 13 western states, while the Marlboro Man will be forced to limit the sale of his track shoes to the eastern states. After a year, the decision will be revisited.

Following this successful negotiation, Knight decides to climb Mount Fuji. He arrives at the foot of the mountain at dusk. At a rest station during the climb, he meets a pair of Americans, a man and a woman. As they climb together, Knight talks with the woman, whose name is Sarah. After returning to the bottom of the mountain, Sarah asks where Knight is headed and decides to go with him.

Knight spends two days with Sarah before they part ways. He leaves her a note at the American Express office suggesting that she visit him in Portland and then flies home. A few weeks later, Sarah surprises him by visiting him at his parents’ home unannounced. She stays for two weeks, charming “the uncharmable Knights” (69). Christmas that same year, 1964, she visits again. After she returns home this time, Knight notices “a slight cooling in her letters” (71). He calls her, and she tells him that he isn’t “sophisticated” enough for her. They quit seeing one another.

A new order of shoes arrives from Onitsuka. Knight hires his sister Jeanne to help him with secretarial work. She agrees and thus becomes “the first-ever employee of Blue Ribbon” (71).