my absolute favorite surf spot in Japan has to be here. it’s here where i’ve gotten the best barrels in my life. it’s here where i met the coolest local surfers. and it’s here where i got my first Surfing Life Magazine Cover Shot. i wasn’t welcomed in the beginning by the locals, but throughout the years, they accepted me. i always showed them the upmost respect and i always thanked them for sharing their waves. in my opinion, this is the heaviest localized spot in Japan and if you know the right people, you will be welcomed with aloha. but if you don’t know the right people, you will be sent in and sent home. and if you ever heard the story about Kelly Slater being sent in and told to never come back here, this is the spot. 
it was in 1992 when i first got my barrel there so that makes 30 years of surfing, barrels, friends, laughs, and memories. i’ll never ever forget the locals that gave me these kind of waves for the rest of my life. thank you boys for everything. and you know who you are. and yes, i still promise i will never tell anyone where this spot is until i die. i never did, and i never will…
and i want to thank Kenji Sahara for capturing so many classic moments of my life. i’m so grateful for all the wonderful memories. and i can’t wait to go back there and share some waves, beers, and bbq’s with the boys. “locals rule!”
