The Asian Championships of Shoe Shining 2026 finalists have now been selected, and we are one step closer to the event taking form! And given that Asians have dominated the World Championships of Shoe Shining since creating the event, we’re in for a treat with the first Asian champs, with the final taking place at the Singapore Super Trunk Show on January 31st, 2026. Now we can reveal the three finalists, who come from Japan, Vietnam, and Singapore.
In our previous article, we announced the line-up and everything that will happen at the first Singapore super trunk, which will be hosted at 5 Jiak Kim Street, in the middle of Singapore, on Saturday, January 31st, 2026. If you want to know more about the qualification process, jury members, and how the final of the Asian Championshops of Shoe Shining will unfold, this is thoroughly explained in this article,
Here and now, we only showcase the finalists’ submissions and briefly introduce them. The contest is hosted in collaboration with Saphir and Bridlen, where the prize pool consists of medals, shoes, shoe care products plus 1,000 SGD (800 USD) in cash, given by Saphir. These received the most jury points (from the ones that were counted, due to bias, a couple were excluded, read more below*) and made it to the final:
Niko Cho, Singapore
A shine that is about as stunning as a shine can be. Completely smooth and even, also when zoomed in closely on the photos, with a crisp depth to it. Niko Cho is a professional shoe shiner and shoe care specialist who has been working at Mason & Smith in Singapore for many years. She’s always been excited by mirror shining and finds great joy and satisfaction in restoring leather.
Tyler Tran, Vietnam
A black superbly shined shoe can surely be a thing of beauty. True mirror gloss is what Tyler Tran has achieved on his entry. When he grew up near Ben Thanh Market in Saigon, some of his friends were street children who shined shoes to earn their living. He learned shining shoes from them, a way to hang out with his friends. Tyler’s family worked in menswear, and his focus in that world became shoe shining.
Tyler has been working as a professional shiner since 2019, and since 2024 with his own company Marcher. Now he is dedicated to changing the view of shoe shining in Vietnam, from an informal job done by street workers, he aims to show that shoe shining can be a respected passion built on passion, skill, and artistry.
Naoki Hayashida, Japan
The 2023 World Champion of Shoe Shining aims to take the crown at the first Asian champs. He’s been a true ambassador for shoe shining since his world title. Naoki Hayashida’s entry is an impeccable shine work where not only the upper is mesmerising and shows off skill, but also the edges and soles are mirror glossed. Naoki Hayashida runs the Brift H branch of Sapporo in northern Japan, and he has shined a far bit over 1,000 pairs of shoes in his career.
*All seven of the jury members judged all entries and gave 1-5 points to the five entries that they found gave the best shines. It was judged anonymously; only Justin FitzPatrick who handles registration, knows who all entries were. After this was counted, as before, if someone in the jury is biased, their points are removed for a new count. Since Niko Cho works for Mason & Smith, John Chung’s points was removed, and since Naoki Hayashida runs a branch of Brift H, Yuya Hasegawa’s points was removed. There were no change to the top three after this though, showing jury can make unbiased votes, but should it be it’s always this that is valid. In the final, these jury members will not follow the contest and the polished shoes will be judged anonymously for them.
We look forward to seeing the Asian Championships of Shoe Shining 2026 Finalists go head-to-head on January 31st, 2026, and hope that you do too!
We look forward to seeing you all there!
