I brought the shoes to work, with the intention of taking them to the cobbler after work. But then I realized that there is contrast stitching right across the area that needs to be stretched. AND that exact area has 2 layers of leather, not just one. Sounds like stretching them may not work.

Note: stuff like this is always more challenging in Japan, because I can’t really explain to the clerk what I want done… it makes tasks like this 20 times more daunting than they would be otherwise :-(

I’m kind of procrastinating and kind of giving up.