kimura-san took tony, seth, and i to the negoroji temple up to the mountains in wakayama. it was such a magical place. and we were so lucky to have been guided by buddha artist uke maki-san that lives there. as we were walking around, uke-san told me that this day was the best of the year. the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and the weather couldn’t have been any better. lucky…..

this temple’s been sitting here for hundreds and hundreds of years and has seen it’s fair share of samurai battles, and ninja attacks. it was built in 1496. yeah, 1496. this is the largest and oldest temple tower in japan. there are even bullet holes that are still engraved in the wood. gosh, so much history. seth is so lucky because the things he learned and saw that day can’t be taught in any book or school back home. that was the real deal….

uke-san took us in a back secret room where he’s been working on a masterpiece for months and months. there are only a few people in this world to have been behind the scenes of such a historic temple. we are lucky tourists….

i’ll never forget what i saw and tony said the same thing. i studied about japanese temples in college but it was nothing like this. i was in awe the whole time. and still am…
**by the way, this temple is 513 years old and took 67 years to build. 67 years of blood, sweat, and tears…

osaka bagus

shun murakami and seth moniz are friends, but at the same time, rivals. they hang out in japan together, hang out in hawaii together, but when they hit the water and the horn starts their heat, it’s game on. none of these 2 kids want to lose. they will paddle battle, snake each other, and do anything to win. but as soon as the horn ends the heat, they walk back to the beach and become 2 little kids again. playing, laughing, and having a great time. it would be a dream come true to see these 2 kids traveling and doing the WCT tour together when they get older. and i’m going to do anything i can to make that happen….

shun’s surfing is fast, quick, and flashy. he does 2 turns at a blink of an eye. nobody can touch him at a beachbreak in japan. give this kid a couple of years training in hawaii and he’ll be the first japanese junior world champion. and i’ll put my money on that….

like father, like son. seth moniz is going to be a big wave charger. and that’s a fact. he charges sunset, pipe, backdoor, haleiwa, and anywhere else his older brothers take him. he knows how to surf big powerful waves already so the only thing he has to learn is how to surf knee high weak mushy waves a little better. once he gets that down, seth will be unstoppable. a future junior champion? guarantee. i’m looking past that, i’m looking for seth to be a triple crown champion. look at this turn he did in the finals at the TSSC contest? are 11 year old kids supposed to be doing things like this? incredible…. seth moniz and shun murakami. don’t forget the names of these future champions…..