The adidas Tokyo MJ Is a Samba With a Mary Jane Twist

By Danial Martinus • 19 Jan 2026 in Sneak Peek

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Take one look at the adidas Tokyo MJ, and you might be inclined to think it belongs in the Samba family of low-profile sneakers. After all, it’s got a slim silhouette and a very thin, close-t0-the-ground outsole.

But if you look closer, you’ll notice details that flirt with the typical design of Mary Jane shoes, and it kinda works to adidas’ advantage.

Olympic heritage mixed with timeless design

If you’re scratching your head, wondering what Mary Janes are, it’s pretty simple. Mary Jane shoes are a classic silhouette defined by a single strap running across the instep of the shoe. They were traditionally associated with school uniforms before being adopted by women’s fashion.

They’re simple, comfy, and exude old-world charm. But the core idea of a Mary Jane is a shoe that has a rounded shape, a clean upper, and a single strap holding everything together.

The Tokyo MJ borrows from that DNA and fuses it with an archival design, first appearing as a lightweight track shoe called the “Tokyo” at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics (thus the name). It then went on to find a much wider audience in the 1970s.

Since then, it’s been revived as a minimalist sneaker, with the Tokyo MJ pushing that idea even further, and it shows. The “laces”, for instance, aren’t your traditional kind. They’re made up of one piece in the form of a strappy elastic closure. This technically makes the sneakers laceless.

It’s a subtle nod to the Mary Jane design, yet it deliberately changes the character of the shoe, making it feel a lot lighter and cleaner.

The rest of the shoe’s design shares that same restraint. The shoe features a minimal textile upper and an ultra-slim outsole, making for a pretty sleek profile. In the black/creamy white colourway, the Tokyo MJ feels more timeless than it does modern. But that’s probably the point.