This Singaporean shoemaker moved to Kyoto to make barefoot shoes by hand

Singaporean artisan Chin Shiying traveled to Japan to learn traditional shoemaking but soon realized she did not want to wear the shoes she crafted. This realization eventually led her to barefoot footwear and a new life in Kyoto. Chin's friend had once told her that she had never owned comfortable shoes until she was in her twenties, after getting his feet professionally measured.

For years, she had worn ill-fitting shoes without realizing the discomfort. Chin's work with Yanmaei, her Kyoto-based label, involves creating barefoot shoes designed to provide the feet with more freedom of movement. These shoes feature thin, flexible soles, no raised heels, and wide toe boxes that allow toes to spread naturally.

Chin believes that wearing shoes that are not shaped like feet can cause feet to conform to the shoe's shape over time. She believes the issue is particularly prevalent in conventional dress shoes, which have narrow, pointed lasts and rigid soles that restrict natural foot movement. Growing up, Chin enjoyed fixing broken toys and Barbie dolls, and her parents ran a signboard-making business.

She spent her childhood in their workshop, learning various skills. After struggling through Millennia Institute, Chin left early and enrolled at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts to study fashion design. She discovered her passion for shoemaking during a 2014 visit to Kyoto to see her sister. She attended several workshops at a leather studio and eventually returned to Kyoto to apprentice under a Japanese leather artisan for about two and a half years.

In 2016, she returned to Kyoto and launched her own leather accessories label, Senkoubou, the following year. During the pandemic, Chin faced challenges in running a one-person craft operation and decided to enroll in a shoemaking school in Tokyo to expand her technical skills. After completing her course, she discovered barefoot shoes on Instagram and decided to create her own using the techniques she had learned.

Chin has hypermobile ankles, and barefoot shoes provided her with a more stable and comfortable experience. She also wanted to create shoes that would help her mother, who suffers from bunions. Chin felt that staying in Japan would offer her a supportive community of craft enthusiasts and the necessary resources to pursue her new venture.