when coming to wakayama, eating at Sego-san’s Marutaya is a must. i’d have to say probably the best ramen in japan. and i keep on telling him over and over, please open a restaurant in hawaii!” i’d love to take every single person i know there!!!

i always order a large but can eat more and more. just can’t stop.

drying out or dive gear and getting ready for day 2.

then we went to Ushio last night for dinner. another must go place in wakayama. the master picked up our fresh catch earlier in the day and prepared for us a wonderful dinner!

started off by fresh rock oysters hand picked by Naoka.

then the fish came out one by one. starting off with this one. it’s hard to believe these fish were swimming in the ocean just a few hours before.

sashimi platter 1.

sashimi platter 2. after eating all kinds of sashimi here in wakayama, i realized that nothing can beat fresh ishidai. it was amazing!

and the sazai sashimi was awesome! i found 4 in one breath. if i had an hour in the water picking sazai, i could have picked over a hundred. but why? we just took what we needed for dinner and left natures refrigerator alone. it’s always there and that’s nice to know.

it’s always great hanging out with such a wonderful family. the Kimura-san family have been taking care of my for many many years. i feel so comfortable here and that’s what makes it so fun. sometimes they probably get irritated from my selfishness and loudness, but they always seem to understand that’t the way i am. i should thank them more for putting up with me.

this was my favorite of the night.

master made us nitsuke from the trigger fish. this was amazing!

and i learned in my life that if you eat good food with good people, it’s even better than better. this was only day 1 and there are many more days to come.

hanging out at the Yamari house late night. just so welcoming and feels like home. i joke to a lot of people when they come here, “welcome to my house.” that’s what i told Eri-chan when she got here last night. she laughed, but after a few times here, i’m sure she will be saying the same thing. haha.

i haven’t seen this baby in a while. good camera gear equals good memories. say cheese!

We go free dive right now!!!

i was talking to Naohiro the night we arrived about the diving conditions and he was telling me this year is weird. everyday super strong onshore winds and dirty water. OMG!

then we get up yesterday and the weather was freaking beautiful!!! i look at the ocean and knew i just needed to get in.

Kimura-san and Kyle checking out Isounora and it wasn’t looking too good for surfing, so we head to the fishing port. yesterday was a holiday and no fisherman were around. so Kimura-san got on his old school cell phone, made some calls, and made it happen.

we load up the car, get our stuff ready, and it was time to go to work.

but first, it was family photo time. a tradition here at Yamari. the next generations to come.

we jump into the little van and head to the port. taking the kids with us was cool because just by them watching, they will get to experience a mixed taste of hawaii in japan. something they will probably never forget.

japan’s culture is based around fishermen. they are surrounded by ocean and they live off the ocean. everywhere you go, there are different kinds of wildlife, and different techniques. we spend the morning on a local fishing boat with a local fisherman. i was a very happy guy!

this trip was planned last minute like usual. it was only 3 days ago i decided to come and Go-Naminori web designer Naoka just so happened to be on his way back from his home town hiroshima to shonan. when i seen him, the first thing he said was “Destiny.” haha.

i dive here pretty often so i kind of know where the fish are, and how to catch them. first it was hard, now it’s much easier. i guess experience pays off. this fish is called an “ishidai” and is one of most tastiest fish here in japan. and also very expensive. so stoked Kyle is here to document some of the coolest people and culture i love so much.

mixed bag of all good eating fish. like usual, we take it to the nearby chef and get ready for the fresh dinner party!

i remember taking Naoka diving for the first time years ago. he couldn’t catch anything but kept on trying and trying. finally, he’s producing. yesterday, he picked up some prized rock oysters and other shell fish. good job Naoka!