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….

the other night wa a blast. everything was going ok until jacksan showed up. thanks hashitate for picking him up. after that, it was lights out… oh, wanted to say something about the person in the front. honjo-san is the nicest guy. we use to surf JPSA’s together about 10 years ago. we were on our way back on the ferry to shimoda from niijima island and he offered me a ride home. i asked him to drop me off at the train station but he refused. he ended up driving another hour past his house to drop me off in fujisawa. i will never forget that. one of the reasons i love japan is that the people here are so kind. and honjo-san is one of them. thanks again honjo-san….

this was a late night kampai!!! i remember sneaking out the front door right after this. i heard matsuo was pissed at me for leaving but he forgot about it the next day anyway. haha….

pulled up to this spot this morning. i forgot the name but shit, it was good again. smaller than yesterday but much cleaner…..

a closer view. i swam out to get a few shots after this. i’m too burnt to download the photos now. check them out tomorrow. have a great evening….

hey guys, look what’s on the way! typhoon sepat… south/west swell? umm, i wonder where’s the spot….

hello everybody. welcome to my new blog. i’m still trying to figure out this new system so please be patient. patience is something i can’t do but please try[:????????$B!r(B:] now i have all these fun little stuff i can play around with[:???:] i kind of feel like a chick…. haha…
anyway, i went to the 34th annual bob contest in tokushima, shikoku. it’s always a fun contest to go to. bob-san is such a nice guy. if you don’t know who he is, he’s the one charging big haliewa at first light every winter morning on the north shore. the waves in tokushima wasn’t anything like haleiwa but it was still fun and challenging….

japanese style of starting the contest. everybody comes out of the water for the opening ceremony. i think this is so cool…..

i told you the waves were challenging. i give every competitor in the contest. they were all surfing good and made it look easy. i grabbed a board, jumped in, and couldn’t even stand up….

i went to go sit on the jetty to watch the waves and i felt something biting my foot. these little bugs were all on my foot. what the heck is this? can you eat it? might be good with some butter and garlic….

this is the other side of the jetty. the waves were a little cleaner because the jetty was blocking the wind. but it was a lot smaller too…

this is the tent area. want to try a brand new TSSC board? take your pick…..

this guy drove up to the beach, caught a few waves, jumped back on his 4 wheeler, and was gone. smart guy….

so here’s the deal. your in the final, your heat starts in 3 minutes, the waves are small and onshore, and you only have 12 minutes. i wonder what this guy is thinking. oh wait, i know. i’ve been in situations like this. he’s thinking i can’t wait for a cold beer after this…. [:?????????:]haha..