good morning. it feels great to finally be back in shonan. shonan is the surfing capital of japan. it’s like the huntington beach of california, the kuta beach of bali, and the waikiki of hawaii. everything is here! surfer guys, surfer chicks, parties, lights, fireworks, tons of people, and tons of traffic. i was stuck in traffic for 2 hours yesterday but i enjoyed watching all the people enjoying a beautiful summer day. by the way, i drove back from shizuoka by myself yesterday. it took me 2 hours and i felt so relaxed driving through the mountains and tunnels. i wanted to thank toda-san and takami-san for taking care of me in shizuoka and for letting me borrow thier car. i have a car now and i’m ready to go anywhere. i feel free!!! i feel like exploring!!! i feel like working!! i feel great!!! except for my shoulder…. mada itai… jya, have a nice day….

i took a drive around the base of mt. fuji the other day. it’s my dream to climb to the top of mt. fuji and if my shoulder, knees, and foot wasn’t hurting from my surfing accident, yesterday would have been the day. i stopped by this lake where on a clear day, you could get the most amazing photo. but even though wasn’t clear, it was amazing. wait till you see the photos i took with my other camera. super magical….

talking to the older japanese people remind me of talking my grandparents. they all have 2 things in common. work hard and never complain….

back to hawaii news. they are proposing a stand-up paddle boarding zone at ala moana park. yeah, there are so many people doing it now that it’s getting out of control. i think that’s a great idea…

for you kalua fans. kalua is doing good. well, except for the two 5″ fangs coming out of his mouth. get cut with that, it’s staight to the hospital..

and last, the perks of doing a blog. this surfer from ???? invited me on a surf trip to ????. all i can say that it’s somewhere in asia were nobody’s around. am i taking the invitation? yes sir…

it’s the biggest news story in japan for the past week now. famous actess/model/singer noriko sekai got busted for the drug ice. they police found it in her apartment and she took off running, then turned herself in. i was shocked because noriko sekai was one of my favorite actresses when i was hooked on watching dramas all day everyday in japan. i use to run to the video store and if i seen her on the cover, i would rent it, even though i couldn’t understand japanese. i even had one of her music cd’s. so watching her on the news this week kind of bummed me out….
then enter her husband who claims to be a pro surfer. yuichi takaso claimed to be a pro surfer even though i’ve never heard of him, nor anybody else until he got married to the star. i, along with many other pro surfers don’t like the fact people call themselves pro surfers and do bad things that tarnish our already tarnished image. surfers have had it hard and never get the respect they deserve. i’ve been doing it for 20 years and i’m still ashamed to call myself a pro surfer at times. it’s kind of embarrassing because people look down to surfers. and if i do tell them i’m a professional surfer, they ask me “how do you make a living?”
so when i got a call from a friend out of the blues yesterday telling me “kirby, be very careful. please don’t do anything bad, i’m worried about you”. i knew it was related to the big news that’s happening right now. one sour grape made us all look like sour grapes. that sucks…
so here’s what i think. i kind of feel sorry for noriko sakai. i don’t blame her for what she’s done. well, maybe a little because she’s an adult. but i mostly blame the person who introduced her to that drug. drugs are addicting and it’s like giving candy to a baby. drug dealers are the ones to blame…. it’s a sad ending to such a bright star. now she has to live with the consequences for the rest of her life….

and for those of you in hawaii that don’t recgonize noriko sekai. she was the leading actress in the popular drama “HOSHI NO KINKA” OR “HEAVENS COIN” back in the late 90’s. it played like 3 times on KIKU TV and was the start of the japanese drama boom in hawaii. yup, her name was “Aya” in the drama and everybody loved her, including me. she even sang that opening song. i always felt sorry for her in the drama because her part was always sad. and now in real life, it’s just as sad…
one last thing. to all you surfers out there that want to become a professional. do it right. there are steps to becoming a professional surfer in japan. we all did it the right way and if your don’t, please don’t call yourself a pro and tarnish our image anymore than it’s already been tarnished….
**ON HOW TO BECOME A PRO SURFER OR INFORMATION ABOUT REAL PRO SURFERS, CLICK ON THE OFFICIAL JPSA WEBSITE….

starts tomorrow @ kugunuma…
see you there!