Story and Photos by Bryce Kanights

Of all the countries I’ve visited in my years of traveling around this planet I’d have to say Japan is one that always leaves me yearning for return visits. For a few short days this past summer I had the fortunate opportunity for another visit to Japan. Although this trip was very brief, we were able to make the most of our time on the ground, even if it meant sacrificing sleep. We figured we’d catch up on the down time during the flight back home.

During the earlier part of the year I’d been working along with Lisa Hudson at Black Sun Productions in producing Konami’s then-upcoming and now-released video game, XGames Skateboarding. Konami is a large publisher in the electronic gaming industry maintaining several offices throughout the world with the bulk of their development teams based in Japan. Both Lisa and I had been responsible in building the roster of featured riders in the game and coordinating all assets from their sponsors with Konami. On the part of KCEO (Konami’s Osaka Office), Lisa, Chad Fernandez, Chris Senn and I were scheduled to spend two days in Osaka with Konami’s development team and one afternoon in Tokyo before returning back to the States. This itinerary didn’t leave much opportunity to skate unfound terrain in which we were seeking to discover.
During our first full day in Osaka we spent long hours at KCEO with the development team fine-tuning the play levels and functional elements of the video game. Language translation on the part of both Konami’s Aki Saito and Yoshi Aoyogi was crucial as Chris and Chad conveyed their input and criticism to the preliminary versions of the game. With their involvement, each of the game’s characters were refined and the play levels were tweaked towards the final rounds of development. Each of the Japanese team carefully paid attention to Chris and Chad’s suggestions with the translated words from Yoshi. It was clearly obvious to us the meticulous effort and hours of dedication that each member devoted to this project.

Later that night we were treated to a generous dinner in the company of the entire KCEO skate development team with Yoshi and Aki delivering speeches to the group. Words of gratitude and respect were directed towards us and were soon drowned by loud cheers and flowing cups of beer and saki throughout the room. Before long, everything became blurred and we found ourselves at a posh Karaoke joint with more saki and beer at our disposal. Chad began to belt out intoxicated renditions of G and R’s “Sweet Child of Mine”. Lisa countered with a great effort of “Like a Virgin.” Meanwhile, Chris searched the playlist for any thing close to the Rollins Band and last I remember, I was singing “She’s a Lady” by Tom Jones. Man, it’s times like those in which you’d rather not mention, but there’s no sense in burying the truth. Besides, the pictures and video footage of the evening’s events don’t lie. For the record, Karaoke originated in Japan and its meaning is “empty Orchestra”. Go figure. We made our way back to Lisa’s room at the hotel to raid her mini bar and then it was lights out—or more like, pass out stupid-drunken-tourist style.

The next morning brought on a grip of hunger to quell the previous evening’s debauchery. We quenched it downstairs at the hotel’s bountiful breakfast buffet. Still, both Chad and Chris were expected to do a little skate demo for the development team at a nearby skate spot in the coming hour. They both felt like shit and looked it too. They were hurting for sure.

We showed up for the previously planned skate demo and greeted the KCEO group that had gathered. They appeared well rested and poised with an assortment of cameras. You could see the eagerness in their eyes to witness Chad and Chris hammer out some stunts at the spot with ledges and curbs. To put it bluntly, the boys did their best to skate despite the state in which they were in. Everyone cheered the boys for their efforts and gathered for numerous group photos before we departed the scene. Following the demo, Lisa took off to the airport as she had arranged her return flight from Osaka to San Francisco that afternoon. We spent the remainder of the afternoon sightseeing downtown in various shopping districts with record stores, boutiques and restaurants.

With our work completed in Osaka, we were off to Tokyo for a day and a half via the Bullet train. Aki accompanied us for the trip as he lives in Tokyo and was returning home for the weekend. Three hundred miles blurred by in two short hours as we interacted with a jolly Japanese businessman seated next to us. Chad taught him how to say “Wassup,” “Damn, dude” and “It’s all good.” Damn, my side still aches at the thought of his sweaty smiling round face and the words that came from his mouth. It was fun for all of us indeed. Once in Tokyo, Aki set us up in a sweet hotel in the Roppongi district and left us on our own for the next 36 hours. Ready to hit the town and feeling hungry, we opted for an Italian restaurant in the heart of the district’s bustling nightclub scene. The food was good, but you have to bear in mind that cigarettes are everywhere and you have to get used to your clothes smelling like burnt cabbage after a night of dining or going out for a few beers.

The following morning we woke early and made our way around the city by means of its complex web of subway lines and stations. Our first stop was in Shibuya, the bustling heart of Tokyo— consumerism central. Massive Jumbotron screens hang from slick stainless steel buildings like a scene out of Bladerunner. On the streets below, high fashion clothing, cell phones and cigarettes are the status quo as we find ourselves wandering around in a sea of humanity.

Our mission for the day was to locate several of the prime skatespots which we knew existed within the city limits. Our primary obstacle was the ominous language barrier that plagues Westerners in Japan. We found our way to Stormy, which is Tokyo’s largest skateboard retailer in hopes of securing information on skate spots from the locals. No such luck. The teenagers who worked behind the counters had no English skills and it was obvious that they really didn’t skate either. Back on the streets, Chad encountered a few kids with skateboards and managed to get our intentions across to them. “Shinjuku” was the operative word we managed to garner from them. So it was back to the subway system for us and onward to Shinjuku station.

A few train transfers later, we found ourselves skating through a modernized commercial district ripe with marble ledges, numerous gaps and unknobbed rails of various shapes and sizes. We couldn’t believe the terrain that we stumbled upon, but due to the abundance of pedestrians throughout the area and a few security guard encounters, we opted to return later that evening to skate and shoot some photographs. So we made our way back to the hotel to swim and relax by the pool. Later in the afternoon we visited Akihabara, known as Tokyo’s “Electric Town” where we checked out the latest electronic gear and bought a few items not available back home.

We took the last trains back out to Shinjuku around midnight with our sights set on a few spots to skate and shoot at. The streets and surrounding buildings were barren for the most part. Only an occasional passerby glanced in our direction as we skated at several spots. As I began to shoot images of them at one particular railing, we noticed the unmistaken sound of skateboards rolling towards us from a distance. It was a pack of Japanese skaters—about a dozen of them. They quickly convened and sat down on their boards to watch both Chad and Chris skate on their urban terrain. None of them said a word. They just carefully studied our session and clapped after Chad and Chris broke off trick after trick. The scene unfolded like a surreal skate demo in the still of the night minus the autograph seekers and free product takers. Film was exposed, energy was burned, the Japanese kids were stoked and a cab ride to our hotel was beckoned. It was a good night forever to remember.

Morning came quickly as the sun peered through the hotel room blinds. We met up with Aki for breakfast, shared some good moments of the trip and thanked him for his hospitality. We then boarded a shuttle for the airport and the flight home went just as planned— with plenty of time to sleep and dream about a return trip to the land of enchantment.