good morning. 8:30am here in shonan. still kind of cold. had a super long day on the train yesterday. took almost 5 hours to get back here. but riding the shinkansen is pretty cool. nice to see the city, country, city, and country all the way back here. had an awesome yakiniku dinner with everybody and i still have that horse taste in my mouth. yeah, we ate raw horse liver sashimi. yuck…. anyway, going to check the surf forecast because i want to go surf somewhere this weekend. have a nice day….
this past sunday had the tssc contest at ikumi beach. it was such an awesome contest. a lot of happy faces and a lot of good surfing. the waves were too small for me to surf but the competitors were ripping it up. and the competition? oh my gosh, it was at such a high level. honestly, i wouldn’t have been able to make a heat myself…. check out some snaps from the tssc contest…

early morning check in…..

this contest was well documented. more than most pro contests in japan…. thousands of photos and hours and hours of video. precious memories that will last a lifetime….

seth moniz getting ready for his heat. game on!!!

i wish i had a photo of myself when i was 10 years old getting ready for a heat. wait, i didn’t surf back then….

kids will be kids. play, surf, play, surf…

many happy faces and many peace signs…

this is sato-san from kagawa, shikoku. he came to hawaii last winter and i took him out to pretty big haleiwa. actually, big haleiwa. the current was ripping, the sets were 8′, and he charged. after he came in, sato-san told me he thought that he was going to die. i feel the same way everytime i surf big haleiwa too… it was good to see him in shikoku still alive.. haha… next time, we’re going bigger so be ready sato-san…

this was one of the most exciting finals i’ve ever seen. 4 groms battling out in the kids division. everybody surfed good and they were all winners. but today was shun morikami’s day… congratulations shun on an excellent performance. and congratulations seth for getting 2nd. i was really proud of seth because he never surfed waves that small before and never surfed water as cold as that before. and he never once complained…. unlike his uncle kirby… haha…

and the winner is!!!! shun morikami!!!!

since i started doing my blog, i’ve met so many nice people in japan, especially a lot of young surfers that want to take it to the top. the next generation of surfers in japan are the real deal. with good coaching and training, these kids can take it to the top… i can’t wait to see how things turn out… here is seth, kota, and reika… ganbatte kids….

if one of these kids make it to the top, i’ll be one happy guy. and with the talent in this group, i see a japanese champion coming soon…
**tssc contest gallery and night party photos coming soon…

i turned on the webcams in hawaii today and seen small waves, rain and onshore winds. it kind of made me happy… haha… then i checked the news and seen this photo on the front page of the newspaper. “stuck in paradise”….. what???? because of aloha airlines going under, hawaiian airlines is overloaded. a lot of people seem to be stuck in paradise. i wouldn’t be complaining one bit…. i wish i was stuck in hawaii right now.. haha… i wish i could be in 2 places at the same time. i love hawaii, and i love japan. i wish i could be in both places at the same time… surf in hawaii and eat in japan? now that’s a dream life…

everybody in this world knows who glenn minami is. and everybody in this world has probably once in their lifetime ridden one of his boards. or has one in their collection. glenn is from hawaii and has been shaping for 40 years. he has shaped boards for the best surfers in the world. glenn’s in shikoku right now shaping for TSSC. we were hanging out and thought i’d shoot a little video interview to introduce the young generation who this legendary shaper is. glenn’s only here for a few more days so if you want a board, now is your chance. i got my orders in. glenn also has an interview in this months “Surfing World” magazine. check it out!!!

**by the way, wanted to thank shin-san from wavy surf for the bottle of sake….. kanpai!!![:??????:][:??????:][:??????:]

good morning. 7am here in beautiful wakayama. slowly making my way back to shonan. it’s been a long road trip and i’m ready for a vacation. but first, i want to surf a little more here in japan. i love cold water. haha.. just joking… but really, i’m going to go on a little surf trip in japan and enjoy these waves. i surfed ikumi yesterday morning and i felt so out of shape. after i did a few turns and kicked off on the beach, i felt tired. out of shape? yes… too much eating? yes.. so happy? yes…. anyway, going to head down to the fishing port to see what the fishermen are bringing in this morning. then maybe head down to isounora later to sit under an umbrella sipping my blue hawaii enjoying the view. i hope your having a great time where ever you are. be safe and have a nice day…..
**last saturday, we put on a tssc surf clinic down at ikumi beach in shikoku. gosh, i was so stoked on the turnout. matchi, yuichi, tony, seth, glenn minami, and i got together and tried to make some happy faces…..

tony taught roma and taku how to surf in hawaii last year. these kids are from kugenuma in shonan and the family drove down just for the clinic. roma is 7, and taku is 6 years old. they both love to surf and love the ocean. awesome kids….

before you surf, you should stretch out and warm up your body. this is so important so you lessen the chance of getting hurt. this is something i never do. i’m not a not a good example when it comes to this….

tony was rated the #1 surf instructor by honolulu magazine this year. he’s taught so many people how to surf. teenagers, adults, movie stars, and most of all, his own kids. oh, and he also taught me too. he taught me how to paddle out in 15′ surf with a 6’4….. tony’s the man..

there’s 3 simple steps in surfing. set your hands on the rail right about your chest line, jump up on 2 feet, then let go of the rail and stand up. pretty simple….

just seeing this made me happy…. the whole gallery coming up soon on GO-NAMINORI.COM…..
**thanks nishi-san from dove wetsuits for taking these photos with my camera. awesome….