there is a huge littering problem in japan. i see plastic drinking bottles and cans all over the place. a long time ago in hawaii, we had a problem like this too. but our government fixed it. how? simple. RECYCLE….

how to do it? simple. charge the customer 5 yen extra when they buy a drink. then when they recycle the can or bottle, give them the 5 yen back. if they implicated that system in japan, there would be not one single bottle or can on the beach. and people, including the homeless would be rich. gosh, if this was hawaii, i could have made $20 in less than an hour.

ever since i met yumie-chan, i started to think positive like her. i guess you can call it a gift she has in reaching out to other people. it worked on me and i bet it worked on a lot more people. when ever people ask me what i think the best quality is of a person, i always say, “the smile.” this is a perfect smile…. and nice haircut too yumie-chan…
**CLICK HERE TO CHECK YUMIE’S OFFICIAL GO-NAMINORI BLOG….

i got an email regarding my dream about revenge. it wasn’t a dream. it was a flashback moment. i really don’t like to talk about my past but i’ll share the story so maybe it can help somebody.
i was in 9th grade at kaiser high. i was a short, skinny, and weak kid. yes, i surfed, but not that good. i use to go surf sandy beach and this 12th grader pro surfer use to run me over with his surfboard, spray me, call me a “fucken jap,” and even sent me in a few times. i was hurt and felt helpless. this went on for 3 long years. back then, i was crazy. if i had a gun, i would have shot him. but i didn’t. so i just kept thinking, “when i get bigger, i’m going to get my revenge on this guy.” after i got out of high school, i started growing. then my friend carter was fully into kempo and kick boxing so he had all the training gear at his house. i use to go over everyday and train hard with him. i’d put on all the gear, and get my assed kicked, but learning the same time. and every time i threw a punch, i imagined the guy in front of me. carter taught me some fighting skills that i really needed to take on the guy that was older, and stronger than me. i guess i came to a point where i wasn’t going to take anymore bullying..
2 years of that passed and i never seen the guy around. then one night in a night club in waikiki, i spotted him in the corner. i told myself to be cool and walked over to him. as soon as he saw me, he called me a kook. huh? that was it. i dropped my beer and my fists flew into his face before he could even put down his beer. it was crazy. we got kicked out and took it on the street. he wanted to kill me, and i wanted to kill him. we started fighting in the middle of a circle of mutual surfer friends so nobody jumped in or stopped it. they all knew exactly what was taking place, i call it, unfinished business. carter was on the side coaching me and everything i trained for was working. i got some good shots on him and he had nothing on me. i felt stronger than him and super confident. after 10 minutes, he said “hey, let’s stop and shake hands already.” i said “no way, i ain’t stopping. i’m getting my 5 years of anger out right now. let’s go!” so we were fighting for another 10 minutes before the cops came.
i get back to the parking lot to my car and my blood was just pumping. i finally got my revenge. one of my friends said it wasn’t fair to punch him while he was holding his beer. i said what?? fair??? are you kidding? was it fair for him to pick on a weaker kid for 3 years??? i was a pretty rewarding feeling. i felt like i could let that bad part of my life go. i seen him a few months after and walked up to him, he thought i was going to punch him but i stuck out my hand and said “hey, it’s over.” we shook hands and walked our separate ways. i’d see him surfing once in a while and he treats me a lot different now. i’m the one taking all his waves. why? because i deserve it….
revenge is a negative word. i don’t like to use it but in this case, that’s what it was. i was young back then so it was a good learning experience for me. now, i don’t let those things bother me. i just turn the other way. sometimes i think about revenge, but after all that drama, not again. i love my life too much and jail is the last place i want to be….
sometimes i think back to that time in my life. yeah, i was wrong for fighting, but i felt like i did it for the weak people in this world, and more for myself. i think that guy is going think twice before picking on a small guy again. that’s for sure. and if your a bully picking on the weak, watch out because i’m not the only one in this world that thinks like that. i see big guys picking on small or weaker guys all the time. it hurts because i can still feel the weaker guys pain. i just want to jump from the side and thrown a flying punch. wait! i better stop….

good morning. you can call it jet lag or you can call it sleeping disorder. either or, i feel like i drank 5 cups of coffee. i feel like doing everything! first, i’ll be on my computer until my eyes say stop, then i’ll go down to the beach for a surf, then i’ll go in my garage and clean my boat and get it ready for a dive, then i’ll have a nice day… oh wait, i forgot i have a wedding to go too. i almost forgot… gotta go. have a nice day….

on any surf trip, i always believe it’s best to have 2 photographers with you. why? just in case you miss the shot, the other guy will get it. here is a classic example. i went out for an early morning surf before the sun came out. i thought everybody was sleeping but when i opened my email last night and seen this, i guess kyle was up. he took this awesome lineup shot at our secret spot. i was out there surfing some of the most fun waves in my life. and when everybody else came out, i grabbed my camera and got some of the most amazing photos ever…. stay tuned….

and check out this photo mari sent me. it was late in the evening after surfing one of the best typhoon waves ever in japan. i pulled up to kamakura and seen one of the most amazing sunsets. i jumped on the wall and started shooting away….
**i want to thank kyle nakamoto and mari sullivan for getting my back. it’s good to see myself working hard. haha….