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The Power Ace Japanese Tabi Safety Boots are designed to blend traditional Japanese footwear aesthetics with the practicality and safety features needed for modern work environments. Whether you're in construction, landscaping, or simply need durable footwear for outdoor activities, these boots provide a unique combination of style and functionality.
This is one of the best shoe/clothing purchases I've ever made in my life. Great for use as an active hiker, athlete, and martial artist. Fits great, steel toe is comfortable, works well with the flat sole, but enough room for an insole if desired. This is a more ethical and authentically Japanese-crafted alternative to Fugu boots aggressively marketed across social media.
I'm a contractor whose been wearing heavy leather steel-toed work boots every day for most of of my life but recently became allergic to the waterproofing in leather boots and have been desperately searching for an alternative during the pandemic while having to work in disintegrating running shoes. After exhausting all the usual workboot company options due to lack of stock or their lack or actual knowledge of what's in their products I got these. These boots have a lot of flaws but I'm personally happy with them so far but for unsual reasons. These boots do run a few sizes too big, as of writing this (6/11/2020) the instructions are wrong, I had to return the first pair that were sized per the instructions (size 10), and bought a smaller pair (size 9 which is half a size smaller than what I'd normally buy) and they comfortably fit a size 10 insole. Also the straps are waaay too long, the velcro does not line up if I try to strap them to the tightness I need. The heel is a lot softer than I think it should be and can slide and squish around a bit and ankle and arch support is non-existent. So why am I giving it a good grade? Because they're made of really good canvas, are generally roomy, and very simply designed they really lend themselves to modification. I added a few layers of aggressive insoles to my comfort preference which is something I usually do and recommend for work boot comfort anyway, and I bought some cheap ankle supports at a pharmacy that I used to reinforce the ankle stability and add necessary padding. Doing this has made them a perfect comfy fit and I wore them all day doing manual labor with no complaints and I accomplished this for all-together about half the price of a typical workboot. Other things to note:The steel toe is actually impressive, as good as I've ever worn.If you intend to wear these as-is expect them to feel like wearing slippers, they're very soft and warm and you'll likely have to sew on some extra velcro to the straps to tighten, which again is easy because it's canvas.The can easily be folded down to sneakers but you do sacrifice a tight heel when you do so because you're only using one strap, could be solved by adding another belt maybe.They're obviously not waterproof but they do dry very quickly which I honestly think is a fair trade since waterproofing is never permanent anyway and I've always ended up getting my leather boots wet anyway and the having a hell of a time cleaning and drying them.TL;DR they could be designed a lot better but all of the issues have easy work-arounds so they're a good base shoe to work with and they look pretty cool. Buy at least a size smaller than your actual shoe size.Edit: Finding that the red dye in the interior will stain socks for an extended period of time.Also I've traveled extensively using these as hiking boots; pictured is me wearing them at the top of Glacier National Park, they were comfy the whole way up but snugged up on my feet a little on the way down, otherwise no issue with discomfort or raw spots on my feet like I'd get with some leather boots. Now months in the soles have held up surprisingly well and had decent grip though the rubber on the side where my big toe bends the edge of the boot while I walk did separate and will need some shoe goo to repair.
They are lightweight and very comfortable. They look awesome. I get compliments on them quite often. I had to add some inserts to make them more comfortable for standing long periods of time. They are almost perfect. The straps are a little long and the heel needs some steel too. If they fixed those two issues, I'd never look for another pair of boots again.
Almost a year later, these are my favorite boots. The fit is great - as other people have mentioned, the calves seem enormous, but the Velcro closure makes it easy to tighten them and you can tuck your pants in when necessary. There's no arch support, so you may want to leave room for insoles when choosing a size. I really like how well you can feel the ground beneath your feet, but I did turn out to need a little more support, so I cut some insoles down to cover the rear 2/3rds of my feet. That probably sounds weird, but it ended up giving me the perfect balance of comfort/support for the heel and arch while letting the ball of my foot and the toes still feel the ground underneath me.
I like these boots because they are light, well made and comfortable.The issue I have with them is the boot part at the calf is to big. There is no way to tighten it up more with the way that the Velcro is sewn in.If it wasn’t for that I would be able to tighten it up to where it fits snug on my leg. When I walk the boot is held on my foot mainly by the straps on the foot part. My foot fits well in the steel toe cup and comfortably. For context I have narrow feet and no cankles, but not stick legs either.Another drawback to the canvas is if anything falls on the foot outside of the steel toe it hurts because there is very little protection (found out the hard way) unlike the leather made boots.I really wanted to keep them to use, but they would not be practical for me.
I was in the market for some new steeltoe work boots and came across these. They looked super interesting appearing light and flexible while also having the novelty of being from the orient. So I’m a us men’s size 9.5/10 and I went with a 9 because the reviews said they run big which they do. Wearing them for a couple days I drew the attention of some of my coolest coworkers earning the nickname swaggy p. However working in a warehouse 8+ hours a day my feet can’t handle it but due to a death in the in family I inherited the coveted Dr.Scholls insoles that have the arch support and heel cushion. Those have been a game changer because they also fix the problem of the shoes being a little big on me. If you buy these shoes get yourself a pair of insoles and you’ll have the perfect work shoe!
Really cool boots. Super comfortable too. My only complaint is that the toe is a little narrow. And with the hard toe there’s no room for my toes to spread out. I returned these since my foot was too wide. If these were wider in the toes these would be my favorite boots
