Shoe Dog

Kitami visits Portland as part of a tour of the United States in search of new distributors. In an attempt to win him over, Knight decides that Kitami will “have the time of his life” while visiting Oregon (167).

Knight and Penny pick up Kitami and his assistant, Iwano, at the airport. Over the weekend, Knight takes Kitami to the Oregon coast, Knight’s bank in Portland, and Blue Ribbon’s offices in Tigard. During a meeting, Kitami berates Knight for slow sales. While Kitami uses the restroom, Knight steals some documents from Kitami’s briefcase. Later, Woodell and Knight study the folder’s contents. They find a list of 18 potential new distributors across the United States.

On the final day of Kitami’s visit, a dinner is held at Bowerman’s home in Eugene. While Kitami travels the United States, Knight meets with Hayes, his eccentric former colleague at Price Waterhouse, whom Knight has recently hired to do work for Blue Ribbon. Together they decide it would be best to maintain their relationship with Onitsuka for as long as possible. When Kitami returns to Oregon before flying back to Japan, he tries to convince Knight to sell Blue Ribbon to Onitsuka. Knight stalls, saying he will talk the option over with Bowerman.