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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