on my last dive in hawaii, i found this float in the middle of the ocean. if it’s yours, let me know and i’ll give it back to you. you have to describe to me the color, and the writing on it ok? haha…

this is hanging on the wall at the dove factory.
To: Tokura from Mark Richards in 1977. a piece of history..

when i flew in to narita, i was on a train coming back to shonan. i jumped in with all my luggage and took a seat because i was so tired. i sat down looking around thinking to myself “wow, i didn’t realize but there are a lot of girls in japan.” when i got out of the train, i found out i was sitting in the “women only” cars. haha…. no wonder the girls in there were staring at me. and the whole time,i thought it was because of my new hair cut… haha….

i’ve been here for 3 days and haven’t seen the ocean yet. i feel like a turtle lost in the city. do i miss hawaii? of course!! i miss the ocean, the tropical weather, and the amazing sunsets when driving home from the beach. ahhh……

I got fresh shirasu!
Thank you Kimura-san and everybody at Yamari!
Itadakimasu!

good morning. another hot day here in japan. i’m sweating as i’m writing this. humid is an understatement. i go through 3 tshirts a day. stinky and wet.. yuck..
well, been eating well of course, been catching up on work, and been finding out more and more about my family. first, i want to thank everyone sending emails to me about helping me out. i really appreciate it. once i get all the information i need, i will let you know how i got it, and what it means. then if any japanese/american from hawaii wants to search for their relatives here in japan, i will help. it’s just an amazing feeling that i can’t explain. but yeah, thanks for the support!! second, i just changed over to my iphone and my sim card could only carry over 50 phone numbers in my phone book. i had 300 on my old phone so i don’t know who’s number made it over or not. 50 made it, and the rest is lost forever. i’ve been getting calls from numbers i don’t know and i usually don’t answer. and when i try to call people, their phone number isn’t in my phonebook anymore. so if your trying to get in touch of me, please keep calling, or email my phone at gonaminori@softbank.ne.jp. that would be best. last, volume 3 is coming out soon so stay tuned. it’s just getting better and better!!! have a nice day!!!

when ever i go to the dove factory, i sit down, relax, and check out the latest surf magazines. i flip through a whole magazine in less then a minute but always stop at photos that catch my eye. this one did. this is a photo char took of a pretty fun looking wave in the philippines. looking at this photo made me want to go to the philippines again. and i bet it made thousands of other surfers want to go too. a great photo with a lot of impact. this photo was published in the new Surf Trip Journal magazine. great job char!!!

then i stopped at this page in the same Surf Trip Journal magazine. something was familiar to me. no, i haven’t been here before, but i know who took these photos. yes, my friend john callahan. i’ve been traveling with callahan since the late 1980’s and i know his work pretty well. callahan’s my favorite lifestyle photographer in the world. his photos are breathless. look at the photo on the bottom, just makes me want to go there. i’m going to shoot callahan an email asking for directions…..

this is another awesome photo. i had to stop here for a while and the memories were coming back. this photo is in the new Surf1st magazine and kinsan took it. niijima use to be my favorite place to go in japan. been there over 30 times. i use to go there 5 times a year for contests, surf trips, or just to hang out. i haven’t been there in 7 years or so? seeing this photo really made me miss niijima and i’m going to try my best to make it there this year. when kelia comes in august, we will have a couple of free days, and if the waves are good in niijima, we’re going! hope to see all my old time friends in niijima soon!!!