Heel shoes for long walk

Is there such kind of ladies shoes that I can wear to work (look decent, formal and nice, with heel), and also comfortable for me to walk from home to the train station, walk up and down the stairs, then walk to the office, and to be able to ride a bicycle?

I marvel at how the ladies here ride bicycle with high heels (and with skirts), look gorgeous walking in suit and heels, and catching up with the men walking pace. I need practice!

I'm used to driving at home, and can only walk ''long'' distance (such mentioned above) in sneakers, but I want to be appropriate to work too, and to look beautiful!

And where can I buy such a pair of shoes? Brands? Please advise. Thank you.

PJ,

Yes, there is! Wallage by Asics is a brand that is amazingly comfortable and yet magnificently stylish!
https://www.asics.co.jp/ec/hojinkan/hojinkan-wallage/ladys/

The photos may not look nice enough, but try it on. Your feet and ankles will look like those of a movie star!

But note that very few workers wear them. They simply wear these ordinary aching shoes you get at any ladies' shoe shops.

I used to wear them to work every day until I quit my job (Yes, the bicycle, train and walking routine, plus driking on your way home). Years later I wore heals and noticed they were giving me terrible headaches. So I bought a couple of pairs of Wallage and now I can go to class reunions or parties, walk all day and not get tired!

I agree with Uco that most women you see are wearing ordinary shoes and putting up with the pain- I see plenty limping slightly, and most don't walk anything close to as fast as my normal walking speed, so they definitely slow them down.

I have seen interviews on TV programmes here where they asked women if they'd rather wear comfy shoes or "kawaii" shoes- the answer was "kawaii" every time, no matter how much they hurt.

I love "Aravaon by New Balance" just as much as I like Wallage - you can seriously run with those:

http://www.aravon.jp/collection/index.html

I used to wear painful shoes before too, but for the past several years my feet have been complaining so much that I switched to shoes by above brand, and a few others that are "kind" to the feet.

Here in Canada many women wear sneakers on the way to and from work and change to high heels shoes at work (some have them in the office, others carry them in a bag). Of course they do look a bit strange when wearing very stylish clothes, make up etc. and running shoes... but here no one really care.

Uco and AK,

Thank you specially for your sharing and for the brands websites. Very helpful. I am very excited receiving your responses, and become hopeful to hear the confirmation that there are such a kind of shoes (which indeed would help ease the "pain"--from walking/shoes--in my adjusting to Japanese life style). Thank you very much.

I may go for the the Wallage as for me, its style seems more flashy than the Aravon's. ;)

I think price is really the determining factor of a good comfortable shoes; yet I wonder if there are other brands with the same qualities that are cheapter than Yen22,000? :)

Thank you all for your responses. /PJ

Another brand (with gel massaging cushion insole) is this:
http://www.himiko.co.jp/camui/index.html

I admit all of those are relatively expensive, but that's the price for good-looking AND comfortable shoes lol I always look for their bargain sale!

Hi again. In fact, I think any kind of good-looking shoes cost around 20000 yen.

When I was in college, I used to wear 5000 yen fake leather shoes, but later on I realized they don't last as much as the 16000-yen-and-over shoes, and they obviously looked cheaper (which is alright when you are young). I have also noticed that you can buy really cheap shoes in other countries, but they often end up killing your feet.

As for health conscious shoes, there are plenty of other brands at every department store shoe floor in Japan, but to me they mostly look very nice-old-lady-ish. One day I was wondering "Why aren't there shoes that are comfy and stylish at the same time." and happened to spot a newspaper article that exactly said "Asics makes shoes both comfy and stylish" and thought that this is it.

Asics Walking is doing a sale until July 19th.

By the way, in the late 80s, quite a few female office workers including myself commuted in sneakers and changed at the office. I suppose the style was influenced by New Yorkers of that time, but I don't notice anyone doing this today.