With fewer than three months left until the Games are set to open, the venue which is scheduled to host the upcoming Japan surfing competition is refusing to cooperate by not setting up COVID-19 testing facilities for athletes. This is creating a few logistical problems for Japan struggling to drum up support for an already …
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A senior member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stated that the cancellation of the Olympic Games, is on the cards should the Corona Virus not be contained. Japan is reportedly spending at least $25 billion to put on the games, so there’s a lot at stake here. The IOC’s Dick Pound (yes, that’s …
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Japan will finally open a wave pool powered by American Wave Machines (AWM) before the start of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Kelly Slater and his WSL will have to take second place to the new Japanese surf lagoon, currently being built in Shizunami, Shizuoka Prefecture, about 280 kilometers from Tsurigasaki Beach, the official venue …
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4 more surfers have secured their places for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics following the Rip Curl Pro in Portugal The USA’s Kolohe Andino, Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, and France’s Jeremy Flores and Johanne Defay will make the trek to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. There is one event remaining on the World Surf League tour schedule. …
Australia has taken out the Aloha Cup title at the World Surfing Games in Miyazaki Japan. Aussie Ryan Callinan, Owen Wright, Sally Fitzgibbons and Nikki Van Dijk scored a total of 38.19 points to take the win. South Africa won silver with 38.11 points, and the US scored 35.38 for the bronze at the International …
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The waves have officially been tested for surfing at Tokyo 2020 Olympics! Local competitors tested the waves at Tsurigasaki Beach – located 90 kilometres south-east of Tokyo (2-hour train ride) – the venue for next year’s Olympic surfing debut. This event forms part of the ‘Ready Steady Tokyo’ series of test events. The International Surfing …
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July 15th and 16th sees the first artificial wave pool world tour in commence in Japan. With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics fast approaching, the popularity of surfing in Japan has skyrocketed, and keen to build on this momentum, organisers have put on the Citywave pro WORLD TOUR in Tokyo. JEEP is sponsoring the event with …
Kanoa Igarashi became the first Japanese surfer to win a Championship Tour event on Saturday at the Corona Bali Protected. The 21-year-old scored 15.10 points in his final heat, beating France’s Jeremy Flores by 0.47. En the way to winning the third CT event of the season, Igarashi also eliminated Kelly Slater and Adrian Buchan. …
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After the Golden Week holiday period this year, surfers were geared up to participate in the inaugural Japan Open of Surfing, which was organized by the Nippon Surfing Association. The event took place in Ichinomiyacho, Chiba Prefecture, which is an Olympic surfing competition venue. Shun Murakami won the mens division. Murakami also previously won 4th …
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The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee has just announced the details of the surfing schedule, just in time before tickets go on sale for the events after May. The opening ceremony will be held on July 24, 2020 and the closing ceremony will be on August 9th. The “Olympic Surfing Festival” (a tentative name at this …
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Japan’s Keito Matsuoka has taken out the O’Neill Wave of the Winter award for a gutsy ride in January of this year at Pipeline. Building on his User Choice entry from last year’s competition, Matsuoka got another entry into the comp, only a little bigger and heavier. The 29 year old Japanese national started coming …
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Leading up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, we can expect to see a plethora of new TV commercials and sponsorships for athletes competing. Recently one of Japan’s surfing gold medal hopes, Kanoa Igarashi has just been featured in a new TV commercial for VISA Debit. The new commercial which features Igarashi riding a wave of …
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The Tokyo organising committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has unveiled the official pictograms, and the surfing pictogram is getting some serious air on a single fin retro board. Pictograms were first introduced at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and are used for a variety of purposes including signs at competition venues, on licensed products, …
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On 11 March 2011 a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami along Japan’s north-east coast, killing almost 19,000 people and displacing tens of thousands more. Although insignificant compared to the loss of life, the surfing community in Fukushima was also hit hard, with many beaches declared a no-go zone in the wake of the nuclear meltdowns. …
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Japan’s Sara Wakita managed to grab second place honours at the Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro held in Avoca, Central Coast, NSW, Australia. Wakita lost the hard fought final in bumpy 3-to-4 foot right-handers to Sage Erickson (US). This marks the first time 16 year old Wakita has made it past the early rounds of a …
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There’s no doubt about it. Tourism in Japan has certainly skyrocketed the past few years. Not only from neighbouring China, but also from western countries, particularly Australia. And unfortunately with high tourism numbers, comes a high chance of unruly behaviour. Foreign visitors to Japan reached a record high of 30 million in 2018, and it …
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The introduction of Surfing at the 2020 Olympics in Tsurigasaki Beach Chiba Prefecture hasn’t been without controversy. There are many naysayers who are against holding the event at an actual beach, rather they would prefer to have the surfing events held in a wave pool where the quality and condition of waves can be controlled. …
The ISA (International Surfing Association) recently announced the the first direct qualifier for surfing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held in September this year. This September 7-15, the World Surfing Games will hold a qualifying event at Kisakihama Beach in Miyazaki Prefecture. ISA President Fernando Aguerre said, “Japan has demonstrated time and again …
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