Onitsuka Tiger and ASICS serial number checker, read part by part

Not in the sense of a number unique to your pair. What people call the serial number is the style code, which ASICS calls the style number. Every pair of the same model in the same colorway carries the same one, so it identifies the product, not the individual pair. Retailers call it the style code or SKU.

ASICS says it is the number at the top of the size label, usually on the inside of the tongue. On the Onitsuka Tiger pairs we have photographed, that top line is the eight character model code, such as 1183C123, without the three color digits. The full style code is also on the sticker on the side of the box, and its first eight characters should match the tongue. Some guides show the full code on the inner label, so either form can turn up. Onitsuka Tiger is an ASICS brand and its pairs follow the same labels, and some ASICS owners report the same missing color digits on their tongue labels.

Take 1183A201.003. The first four digits are the category block, here the one Onitsuka Tiger uses for its unisex shoes. A201 is the model number within that block, here the Mexico 66. The three digits after the dot are the color code, here black and yellow, and the 00 it starts with usually means a black main color. ASICS publishes no table of the blocks, so the readings on this page say usually, and the full list we can name is in the table below.

Because the scheme changed. Older pairs carry a model code of five or six characters that starts with a letter, such as DL408 for the Mexico 66, followed by a color code, for example DL408.0101. Current pairs of the same shoe are mostly sold under 1183 codes such as 1183C102.001, and some women's pairs under 1182 codes such as 1182A129.100. The change was gradual rather than on one date: Onitsuka Tiger's own stores still had DL408 pages next to 1183 codes from 2022 to 2024, and some still do. Both formats are real, and resale sites list pairs in both.

Yes. Onitsuka Tiger codes sit inside the ASICS scheme: the same four digit block, letter and three digits, the same three digit color code and the same dot on the brand's own stores. The blocks Onitsuka Tiger uses start 118, which is why one checker reads both. On its own stores 1181 is filed under men's shoes, 1182 women's, 1183 unisex and 1184 kids'.

No. Nothing in the style code is a date. The same code is sold across several seasons, and a model can move to a new code while staying on sale. Any site that gives you a year from this code is guessing.

No. A code is printed on a label and a box, and counterfeiters copy real codes from listings, so a well-formed code proves very little on its own. It becomes useful when it disagrees with the pair: a box code whose first eight characters do not match the tongue label, or a code whose model or colorway is not the shoe you are holding. That is a reason to look closer, not proof of a fake. Construction, materials and finishing are what settle it, and that is the work our authenticators do from photos.

No. ASICS says it cannot verify or give an opinion on whether a purchased product is counterfeit, and Onitsuka Tiger says it does not authenticate, verify or assess products bought outside its official sales channels. Neither offers a public code lookup. What you can do is search the code on the brand's own store: a current code usually leads to the product, and its model and colorway should match your pair.

It is worth a closer look. On a genuine pair the box label and the tongue label normally carry the same model code, though the tongue often prints only the first eight characters while the box adds the three color digits. A difference in those first eight characters is one of the few things this code can actually tell you. It can have an ordinary cause, such as a pair moved to another box by a reseller, so treat it as a reason to have the pair checked rather than as a verdict.

Not for a current code. ASICS and Onitsuka Tiger write the color code after a dot on their own stores, most retailers use a hyphen, and some resale sites use a space or nothing at all, and the checker reads all of them. An older letter-led code such as DL408.0101 needs the dot, hyphen or space, because without it the code looks too much like other brands' style codes to read safely.

Roughly. On a current code the first two color digits usually follow the main color: 00 black, 02 gray or silver, 10 to 12 white or cream, 20 brown, 25 beige or brown, 30 green, 40 blue or navy, 50 purple, 60 red, 70 pink, 75 yellow and 80 orange. 00 was black on every code we checked in two ASICS group catalogs, while the others hold for most codes but not all. So a family that does not match your pair is not a finding on its own. The colorway the brand's own store shows for the full code is what to compare. On an older four digit color code, the first two digits are usually the main color and the last two the second one, with 01 for white and 90 for black.

No. NIPPON MADE is Onitsuka Tiger's made in Japan line, and its pairs use the same 1181, 1182 and 1183 blocks as the rest. Onitsuka Tiger says these shoes are made in factories in Japan, and its page for the MEXICO 66 DELUXE says the insole is stamped with Made in Japan in Japanese characters. Many model names carry DELUXE or NM, such as MEXICO 66 DELUXE or GSM NM, but not all: the ULTIMATE TRAINER and MEXICO 66 GDX are on the line too. Other Onitsuka Tiger pairs are made in Vietnam or Indonesia, and the brand's India store lists a few made in Cambodia. What you can check is agreement: the country on the label should be the one the brand's own store gives for that model, and a pair sold as NIPPON MADE should say made in Japan. A mismatch is worth a closer look, not a verdict.