The garment worn by the karateka is not, strictly speaking, a kimono, but a karategi or karate gi. Made up of a jacket and pants, held together by a belt, the outfit must be able to withstand kata, kumite and competition practice.

But did you know that there was a time before karategi when karatekas trained in much less codified sets? And that Tokaido was the first brand to mass-produce today’s karategi in 1956 ?

When Gichin Funagochi (1868-1957), the founder of Shotokan Karate, performed his moves on the Shuri side of Okinawa prefecture, he wasn’t wearing a karategi, or even a keikogi (“exercise outfit”).

It was only later, during a meeting with the founder of judo, Jigoro Kano, that he donned a white keikogi and black belt in the style of judoka. The simple outfit comprises 3 elements:uwagi(double-breasted jacket), zubon (pants) and obi (belt).

The future founder of the prestigious Tokaido brand began cutting, trimming and sewing pieces of white fabric for his karateka friends.

As Boileau says, “Vingt fois sur le métier remettez votre ouvrage”! First attempts are far from perfect. And Sugiura is constantly undoing, redoing and refining, taking into account the comments and criticisms of the karate instructors he supplies with samples.

And so, little by little, his hobby became his profession. The karate uniform is born. Sugiura San set up Tokaido, the first company to mass-produce karate uniforms. Thanks to his hard work, his karategi is a success. But he doesn’t rest on his laurels, and never stops improving his hand-cut and hand-sewn uniforms.

Today, the brand is proud to be the repository of such expertise, and continues the tradition of bespoke craftsmanship at its original factory in Nagoya.