KENTO YOSHIOKA RIDES TOKYO IN THE SAMBA ADV JP

Kento Yoshioka rides through empty Tokyo streets before sunrise, and the shoe under his trucks does not exist anywhere else on earth. adidas Skateboarding built the Samba ADV JP for one city, then let a Japanese team rider prove it on concrete instead of a runway.

The Samba ADV JP is a Japan only colorway of the Samba ADV, the skate specific rebuild of the brand's football boot from the 1950s. adidas Skateboarding released it at two Tokyo skate shops, Instant Kichijoji and Instant Odaiba, on September 19, 2026, plus the brand's own online store the same day, six days before the adidas Samba reaches the brand's own Japanese flagship stores on September 25.

Six Days Separate the Shop Drop From the Flagship

Instant Kichijoji and Instant Odaiba got the Samba ADV JP first, alongside adidas's own online store, all on September 19. Six days later, on September 25, the shoe reaches adidas Japan's directly run stores, the same staggered rollout the brand used for the Adituff toe rebuild this colorway is built on. That earlier release put a two layer toe cap and a grippier cupsole on the Samba ADV for one hundred dollars. The JP edition keeps that construction and changes almost everything you can see.

Kento Yoshioka Rides the City, Not a Ramp

Black pony hair covers the upper, black suede takes over the three stripes, the T toe and the heel tab, and a hang tag stamped with the kanji for Tokyo replaces the usual branding. Edo purple, the dye tradition tied to old Tokyo textiles, shows up only on the tongue logo and the insole, small enough that it reads as a secret rather than a colorway.

adidas Skateboarding did not shoot this in a studio. The brand's own city ride video puts Kento Yoshioka on the shoe through Tokyo's night streets, no ramp, no park, just concrete and streetlights, the same treatment the brand gave the Metalwood Predator Sala earlier this month. It is the label's second consecutive Tokyo skate release built around a rider's actual route instead of a trick list.

The Samba's whole arc runs through this shoe. It started as a boot built for footballers training on ice, spent decades as a terrace staple, and now gets a version that only exists because one city's skate scene asked for it. Nike SB and Vans have both chased Tokyo exclusives before. adidas Skateboarding just made the case that a decades old football silhouette can still win that fight, as long as it lets a local rider decide what changes.