living in japan, your forced to take the train. and if you can’t read japanese, you will get lost for sure. how the heck do you read something like this? i’ve been getting lost and lost in the train system for years. sometimes so lost that i go in the opposite direction without even knowing it. i hate to catch the train but it’s a part of life here in japan. i spent years and years studying the train system around japan and i think i figured it out. it’s pretty simple, ask someone… haha….

they just came out with a new system. you put a deposit of 500 yen or $4 to get this card. then you can charge it up with money and just flash it going in and out of the train station. it’s like a prepaid card so it just deducts from your balance. it makes things much easier for me. it saves me a lot of time trying to read japanese and putting coins in that complicated machine to get a ticket. thanks suica. you saved my life….

well, my trains coming. gotta go…..

good evening. the waves came down today but it was still fun. i rode my new 5’9 chris kaysen 4 fin. it’s the same template as his twin fins but we changed the fin setup so it will ride like a twin fin and have the drive as a 4 fin. did it work? yes sir. it works exactly how i wanted it to. i’m super stoked on this board and can’t wait to ride it in some big waves. well, today is hot, the sun is shining, i’m staying indoors and getting my equiptment for what’s coming next week….. have a great evening…..

on my way here to shikoku, i was reading an old maxim magazine. i was flipping through the pages and seen this photo of kelly hu. kelly hu is from hawaii and is a little younger than me. she won the miss teen usa pagent back in the 80’s and she got famous from there. she is a successful actress and looks pretty dam good. i remember seeing her hanging out a pearlridge shopping center and when ever i use to check her out, my x-girlfriend would slap me in the head. can’t blame me right?

here’s another spread. gosh, she looks like some asian doll in these photos. it’s so cool too see people coming out of hawaii and making it big. we use to call her kelly who? or maybe that’s what i use to tell my girlfriend back then…. haha….

here’s another trippy photo. this is the volkswagon plant in germany. this is how they store all the cars they make. i thought this was pretty cool. i’m going back to hawaii and make my garage like this. then i’m going to use it to store my precious surfboards….

good morning. 7am here on this beautiful sunny day in japan. gosh, it’s only been 2 days of surf here in shikoku and i’m kind of burnt out. i’m as black as can be, my eyes are red, my face is sunburned, and it’s only the beginning. i’m not complaining but when the waves are good, it’s good. the waves dropped a little today but there still should be some fun ones. i’m going to get a few this morning. had a great dinner last night at morimoto’s. thank you yasan and tomoko-san for the awesome dinner. i’m still full…
after i surfed a couple hours yesterday, i went and grabbed my camera. shooting is so fun and i love to just be in the water. check out some of the photos….

starting off with the lineup shot. this was toward the evening. i took this photo right before i left to go back home. imagine, i left waves like this. so think how good it was earlier….

this is kaori mayaguchi. kaori-chan just got back from europe 2 days ago and was already back out in the water ripping. this is one of japan’s top women pro surfers….

kenta hayashi rips. this kid surfs light and fast. he could take off on a knee high wave, and pull a big air off his first turn. this is japan’s top gun right now…

yoshiji’s a local at this spot and has it down. i’ve probably seen him get over a 100 barrels since i started surfing out there. i’d say he averages about 300 barrels every typhoon season. i wish it was me. i saw him last night and he told me that he’s going to give me his waves next typhoon. well, that was after a few beers. haha….

i’m always stoked to surf with matchi. we’ve been surfing together for over 15 years and we have just as much fun as we did back then. throughout the years, we’ve gotten some of the best waves of our lives together. it was 8 years ago when we went to the mentawai’s. matchi and i were the only 2 guys out at perfect epic 4-6′ HT’s for a couple of hours getting barrels after barrels. it will never happen out there again. and it was 10 years ago when matchi and i were the only 2 guys out at this outer island spot in shikoku. that day was 8-10′ and smoking. scary but smoking. that’s just two of the hundreds of sessions we had together. it’s so amazing how i can remember every surf session for the past 20 years. the time of day, the wave size, the spot, who was out, and the board i was riding. and it’s so funny how i can forget everything else like birthdays, meetings, and sometimes my own name… haha…. have a nice day….

look what’s on the way guys. get your guns out and get ready for some huge barrels….