• alex broskow
• chiaki ito
• featuring the world
• japan
• jeff stockwell
• jeremy stephenson
• jeromy morris
• mike choley
• tokyo

Well, every trip has to have it’s end point, and today is that day. After 30 hours of travel, leaving from the future, arrived back to the USA. The last leg of the Japan tour was great though. All the Japanese skaters were on vacation from school and work for 2 weeks, and so it’s an annual event to travel around about 20 people deep to the different cities and hold competitions on the weekends. The last competition was in Shizouka, a mountain town famous for it’s Japanese tea, with Mt. Fuji lurking in the background. It’s a small city park called the Fujieda skatepark, but lots of people showed up from various cities. There is a bamboo forest surrounding the skatepark, not your typical skatespot. The competitions here are really fun events, and Chiaki Ito took the win this day. And after a hot humid day skating in the bamboo jungle, there is nothing more relaxing than cooling off in the river. Lot of locals were out chilling and BBQ style. There was a cliff jump spot, and most of us made the dive, but Hiro took it to the next level and climbed the rest of the rock and took the 30 foot plunge. We left for Japan not really knowing what to expect, but looking back it exceeded anything we had hoped for. Awesome people, great spots, good memories. A big thank you, ARRIGATO!!!, to all the Japanese skaters who helped us out so much. Keep an eye out for the online and print articles showcasing all the amazing skating from the Far East. Sayanora

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We left Okayama for Kobe, and first stop was the beach. Horseman came with us, and put on a show for all the beach folks. Some loved him, some were terrified, and most of them took pictures of him on their camera phone, but either way he was a big deal there. We hung out for a few hours, then went skating before calling it a night. The next day we skated a few good Kobe spots, and then took the trains to Osaka. We stopped in a train station for Souichiro to handle a burly train station ledge. It’s always fun to play the “lets see how long security takes to get here” game, but he handled 5 tricks in 5 minutes and we were off to another sick Osaka night spot. We barely caught the last train, and I was smart enough to leave some flash equipment behind in the rush. We spent the night in a capsule hotel, which is an awesome experience if you ever come to Japan. Just picture traveling all day, and then skating, and getting to relax in a huge bathhouse when your finished. It’s like a room full of different style Jacuzzis designed to relax all your muscles. Then when you’re finished your “room” is a futuristic capsule just big enough to fit in, but complete with lights, radio, and a TV on the ceiling. They also give you some free drinks and free breakfast … it couldn’t have been better. Mike Choley left today to continue his tour to Australia, and we spent the day around Osaka. A little skating, a little chilling at the skate shop, but everybody is pretty tired and sore from non stop traveling and skating.

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Horseman pulling stunts at the beach

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There was an annual competition in Okayama, at a great skatepark just outside the Okayama dom;, reminded me a lot of the YMCA facilities in the USA. All the top Japanese skaters were present, either competing or running the show. It was a 2 day event, and in the end Shintaro took first place. All in all it hardly felt like a competition, everybody was just skating, having fun and laughing, it felt more like a normal session than anything. At night we ate at a place called joyful, and checked out the festival downtown. There were lots of people out, and we even saw a few drifters in action, just like Hollywood!!! There are tons of shots from the competition, so many ninja air maneuvers, and a great 2 day contest.

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