ever since august 10th, the waves here in japan have been flat. and i mean totally flat! the forecast before i left hawaii was looking bad. but like any surfer, we threw our boards in the car just in case. the ocean is the ocean and only she can make up her mind. if she wants to throw us some waves, she will. and yesterday, she did!
we pull up to a secret river mouth and nobody was out. the waves super fun and i couldn’t wait to get into the water. head high? i guess you can say we scored again!
and to be able to surf with friends makes it much better. Toda-san with the big off the lip.
Takami-san always sits in the right place and gets the right waves. i don’t call it luck, i call it experience.
a magic board can change your life. i have many magic boards all around japan and that’s why my life is perfect. thank you Kyle for sitting in the rain taking these photos. i know you would have loved to surf but at the same time, i know you were thinking that you will be back in hawaii scoring barrels at big rights really soon.
we pack up the car and race to the ferry. but stopping by the TSSC factory to pick up another brand new magic board was mandatory. thank you Yassan for packing up my Mini Fat Bat Slim! can’t wait to ride it!
we get to the ferry 1 minute before departure. now that we were safely on, it was time to go back to wakayama to eat marutaya ramen and see Kat perform.
Kat is amazing! i still won’t forget the first time i met her in chiba a long time ago. ever since then, she’s been following her dream. and i’m glad we got to share her dream with her!!!
i was sitting at a cafe last week looking at the wall. there was a poster of Kat. then i looked below and saw that she was going to perform on my last night in japan. so i kind of planned our schedule to be back in wakayama and everything worked out perfectly. it was so cool watching her shine on stage.
fan club!
father and daughter came all the way from osaka to see Kat sing. both surfers and both so young. i thought they were brother and sister. haha.
Shelter is the place Kat played at. a super cool place to hang out, listen to music, and meet friends.
Kat really inspires me through her music. i listen to her lyrics and it makes me happy. “Thank You” is my all time favorite Kat song.
i learned a lot on this 1 week trip. seemed like a year of memories but that’s how we travel. of all the things i learned, the most important is “love and support each other.” everybody has dreams, so do i. and if we all love and support one another to achieve those dreams, i’m sure we can all get there together! so start thinking positive and chase your wildest dreams! and yes, i’ll see you there!!!
Surfing to Kat!
Deepest Japan?
a few days before i left hawaii for this trip, i called Matchi. i’ve known Matchi for over 22 years and we’ve traveled the world together. we went deep into foreign countries, and even deeper into japan. so when i told him i wanted to see some deep japan, i knew he was going to find the deepest ever.
a day before i left hawaii, Matchi called me and told me he set everything up at a little fishing village on shikoku called “Abu.” Abu? i googled it and absolutely nothing came up in english. i couldn’t even find a google map on Abu. right there, i knew this was the place i was looking for. come to find out, i’ve passed by Abu probably a hundred times but never took the turn off the main road that leads to this secluded area. no 7/11’s, no gas stands, no super markets, no nothing. everybody wakes up at 4:30am, and sleeps at 7pm. totally self sufficient. it’s pitch dark and very quiet at night. this was the place i’ve always been looking for.
like i said over and over, if it wasn’t for Matchi, none of this could have happened. yeah, we could have stumbled upon this village, but it would be impossible to connect with Amasan’s, let alone, have them show us their lifestyle.
this Amasan is 70 years old. super healthy, super genki, and super happy living the simple life. they wake up, go diving, sell their catch, and sleep early. only 3 months is abalone season so in this time, they have to make enough money to last the whole entire year. they take their work very seriously and by watching them, i learned so much. now i’m going to take what i learned and live more simple life. as i was leaving Abu, i was thinking “this place is untouched and will probably be the same forever.” my advise to travelers going there, “leave Abu as you found it.”
Kat LIVE in Wakayama tonight!!!!
Perfect timing!
See you there!!!!
