i am in the middle of cleaning and cleaning my house. throwing away so many things because i realize that i don’t need much anymore. kind of a good feeling throwing things away, even the memories. hard to get rid of, but it will always be an image in my mind. there were 2 cover shots that had a big impact on my career. thought i’d take a photo before putting them in the trash.

in 1993, i was a nobody in japan. i didn’t know too many people, and nobody knew me. i’d pull up to heavy localized surf spots and get harassed all the time. but i didn’t give up trying to surf some of the best waves in japan. i kept on going back and going back until i was accepted. this one particular day on July 26, 1993, i pulled up to this spot. there was a huge typhoon right outside of the bay, it was raining, stormy, huge, dangerous, and nobody out. that’s exactly what i lived for. i paddled out and caught one of the greatest waves of my life. the rest is history. when this cover shot on Surfing Life came out, my surfing career started. nobody could pronounce or spell my name but i didn’t care. it was my first mark in japan and the start of my japanese surfing career. thank you Fujisawa-san for standing in the rain to take these photos, and thank you to Surfing Life for giving this foreigner a chance.

another big impact on my life was this. i was called to do a modeling job. i wasn’t a model to begin with and i had no idea what i was getting myself into. we shot around the whole island with photographers, coordinators, reflectors, stylists, make up artists, and many staff from japan. it was pretty embarrassing as a lot of my friends seen me that day. i felt like an idiot standing by these 2 beautiful girls. Malia Jones is a super famous model, and so was Kumiko. i was so nervous and felt foolish, but when i got my paycheck at the end of the day, i was a happy man. stand between 2 beautiful girls all day long and get paid? are you serious? thank you Manabu Nomoto for taking the photos, and thank you to SOS Street magazine for using such an amateur.

and because of all the media in japan these past 24 years, i can live out my dream of being a surfer! thank you to all of you who supported me throughout the years. mahalo from hawaii!

Great costume dude! Happy Halloween!
Good morning 6:45am.
North shore 2-4′ and bumpy. Super morning sickness.
South shore waist high with chest high sets. Crowded.
Clouds, rain, and maybe a wet halloween day.
Going surfing all day!
Have a wonderful day!

did you feel the cool winds and cool weather today? it’s the start of the winter season in hawaii. south shores will go to sleep while north shores will awaken. i love it!

omg, check out the volcano lava flow on the island of Hawaii. super cool nature in progress, but scary if you live nearby. nothing can stop Madam Pele’s path. hope she finds her way to the ocean soon.

have hundreds of photos on my desktop that i totally forget to upload. so before deleting them, i’d better do it soon. this was the Local Motion Surf into Summer contest held at bowls this past summer. i was shooting from the water for 5 hours or so. check out Sara Wakita backside snap.

Sara’s older brother Taichi Wakita nice cutback. style just like his father Wakita.

i don’t know who this was but he got a really nice barrel! must have been a heat winning wave.

this girl was surfing in the finals really good too.

i think this was the mens final. super good barrels all day long.

oh, Taichi again.

and again!

Kekoa Cazimero in the finals of the pro am division.

Flynn Novak in the finals of the pro am division too. Seth Moniz ended up winning it, and Isaiah Moniz got 2nd. great contest and great memories!

i also found some photos of the Flotilla on july 4, 2014 in waikiki. a crazy party with crazy people. gallery coming soon so stay tuned..