This early morning barrel session!
Perfect river mouth.
Nobody out.
Many many perfect barrels.
Fun, sun, laughter.
Lucky or Luckiest?
Dream or Reality?
Please don’t wake me up because I’m in the happiest dream of my life!

ok, yesterday was really good here in shikoku. morning better, but evening still good. super glassy perfect right hand point break as good as it gets. there is no wave in hawaii i can even compare this too. only in japan.

Matchi isn’t just my friend, Matchi shapes my boards. super smart, good shaper, and most important, a great person.

and when your shaper can surf this good, you know you’re going to get a magic board. good ripping Matchi!

Hinako is one of japan’s top girl surfers. she’s moving to australia for the next 2 years to boost her surfing and english skills.

i watched this girl go from a beginner with huge dreams, to a champion.

and if a girl can hit the lip harder than a lot of guys, she’s got game. good job Hinako-chan. wish you the best of luck in australia mate!

Matchi took me into some deep areas on this huge island. places i haven’t been before and places that tourists seldom or never visit. this is deepest japan.

then we pass by this temple that was in a small village. i had to stop to take this photo. this is as deep in japan as you can get. enjoy.

shikoku is known for katsuo tataki. i ate the best of the best katsuo tataki last night and i was so happy with every single bite. it was brought in by the fisherman to the port at 5pm, and we were eating it at 8pm. the best ever!

and slice tomato is my absolute favorite fruit. yeah, so sweet! japan has the best tomatoes in the world.

been coming to Shikoku for 23 years and it’s the first time i ate at this restaurant. i was asking Yassan and Tomoko-san, “why didn’t you bring me here before???” haha. thank you Yassan and Tomoko-san for the wonderful dinner. can’t wait to go back there again.

i get home after 10pm, i work a little on my computer, then i sleep around 11pm. set my alarm for 4am, picked up a sandwich at the convenience store, and was in the parking lot before 5am. i was the first guy here, even came before the fishermen came.

the waves were going off! only had 6 surfers including Matchi and I this morning exchanging wave after wave. the conditions were epic as the swell pulsed for an hour. 4′ sets and very very friendly barrels.

paddling out watching Matchi getting barreled was cool. we’ve done this way too many times.

everybody tells me “perfect timing.” i hear it every year. i don’t think it’s perfect timing, i think it’s perfect friends that give me the perfect reports. all i have to do is jump on a plane and come here. pretty easy. and when Matchi told me this morning “Kirby, you are so lucky! today is the best day of the year.” hearing that from one of my best friends in the world always makes me super happy.
i’ll be here for only 2 more days, decided to cut my trip short. have lot of work waiting for me back in hawaii, and another big 6′ south swell is heading there right now. i’m timing it perfectly so i can get off the airplane and pull into a big barrel at big rights before i go to work. stoke!