Jun 1, 20212 min read

日本海 The Other Side

Keito Matsuoka, Reo Inaba, Shu Hagiwara, and Shunsuke Ezawa - Secret Japan

Japanese Version by Nana

Late call trips usually ending up becoming the best surf trips, especially when tracking the swell. Some months ago I went for one of these trips to a secret spot in the middle of Japan. The location is really remote and far away from everything, but close by one of the best A-frame waves on the main island. Just a few hours before departure I talked about the next day swell on the phone with Keito Matsuoka, the most dedicated wave hunter I know in Japan. After talking to him, I met my friends Shunske Ezawa and Reo Inaba early in the morning at the beach in Chiba, considering going on a strike mission following the swell.

Reo Inaba - Somewhere in Japan

After we chat for few minutes about the next day's swell and if it was worth driving over 10 hours from Chiba to the other side of the island, we agreed to take the road and face the long driveway for the waves. We got there still in the dark, Keito was already there with his friend Shu Hagiwara, and the local legend Mr. Roku, who always welcome the professional surfers in that area. The legendary surf photographer and one of my mentors, Kin Kimoto also showed up, and like every time I meet him we talked about surf photography and also the best angles for shooting that wave, I always like to listen to his words and practice the lessons I learn from him in my work.

Somewhere in Japan

When the Sun showed up, we went down the cliff for the first wave check, and all the guys got excited with what we saw, a perfect A-frame wave, light offshore wind, and a beautiful sunrise light gilding all over the place. If the waves weren’t big as we had imagined, the good vibes between us were the fuel we needed to ignore the cold and jump in the water.

Keito Matsuoka - Secret Japan

Once in the water, the sets were taking a while to come but when it came, it was worth the waiting. I tried to position myself following the directions of the waves, sometimes to the right but mostly to the left that was more consistent that day.

All the guys scored some waves, with Keito standing out for his knowledge of surfing that wave and Reo Inaba, who was surfing there for the first time but could get a couple of good ones.

On the way

In this post, I share some of the photos from that day, and also a short movie with some of the highlights of the day. Thank you for visit this page, for keep more posts coming, please support this page by following and subscribing to our social media accounts and visit our online gallery for photo prices and sizes.