Tomari: Wall Paintings

The surf was huge and out of control and so Brian and I decided to go shoot pictures in a small fishing town called Tomari. It's really really small, but there is something special about this town and you know what? I'm really not sure what it is. I've always been attracted to the simple beauty of the town's layout....on a hill over looking the ocean with one major road that stitches the town together. It's simple. Everyday you wake up, the red sun rises over the crystal ocean and when the night comes, the sun sets behind the mountain of forest. It's nature that surrounds you and you can witness a glimpse of her beauty right here in this town called Tomari.

Down at the fishing port, the waves are blocked off from crashing into the resting boats. The smell of salty ocean and fish remind me of when I used to go fishing on the Oregon coast with my dad. How the times have changed, but because we are able to remember so much... things feel like they remain the same. Trapped in our memory. There is this cement wall that stretches about 40 meters long and on it are pictures drawn in by Japanese fishermen and their children. Enduring the pleasant and harsh sides of nature, these pictures will also stand the test of time. Here are some of the memories of Tomari.

Winter is over...

Yesterday was pleasantly warm. The sun blessed its rays on the Aomori surfers as the spring breeze touched the land of the blue forest for yet another day. "Takeshi, today's so warm huh?"
He looked over to me with a wrinkle above his left eye and said, "Yes, but the ocean is freezing and I'm getting cold!". He was right. The ocean was icey but the temperature was indeed pleasant. As I sat in the ocean waiting for a wave to come, it dawned on me that the winter was near its end in Aomori.

The mountains still have snow, but the snow is no where near the same. The trees are no longer dressed in its' beautiful white coat. The air is once again invisible upon every exhale. I've packed away my fleece driving gloves that saved my hands from freezing as I drove my car from place to place. It's not easy living in winter wonderland. There are many things you must do to overcome the blizzard cold temperatures. But by enduring and overcoming the extreme cold, you are rewarded with the silent pleasantries of winter. No other season makes you prepare for it like winter.

"Whooo Tom, Tom its coming!!" I looked ahead and saw a wave that entered just off the tetrapods and paddled my way towards it. The wave was quite small and didn't have a lot of power so every stoke matters. I dug deep to move myself in position to catch the waist high wave and once I felt my board locked in, I pressed down firmly with my hands and popped up and took the mini drop. I worked the wave the best I could and eventually fell off my board doing a backside top turn.

"Damn, that sucked. I need to 'ganbaru' more," I thought to myself. "I'm not gonna get any better if I don't 'ganbaru'". This thought quickly shifted my mind back to my winter thoughts. My body was on autopilot while my mind was drifting. Since it was my last winter, I made a goal to go out and capture the best winter photos I could so that when I leave, I wouldn't have regrets like..."I shoulda, I wish I woulda....." I wanted to try and capture Aomori's winter beauty in all its glory. I was challenging myself to produce images that I could be proud of for the rest of my life and be able to show people where I lived for what would be 5 years. This journey wasn't easy. I carried my camera gear everywhere I went and constantly had 'ideas' running around in my head. I discovered that the most potential, 'fantastic photos', really depends on timing. Timing is so important to photography. Being there at the right time really is what makes photos stand out. It's that extra effort you put in that end up rewarding you like no normal photo can.

If you are unaware, I'm quite hard on myself and I always believe that I could do better. I wonder if there will be a day where I'm content with my own performance. I don't think I will ever be. I hope you enjoy my 07-08 winter photos because these are the best I can produce at this stage in my life. I hope to get a lot better.

Hello: I'm hung!

"Sir, if you're free I would like to have a word with you."
Mumbles from across the room, "ffmmm baahmm, yes."
I approached the Education Superintendent with my hands holding 3 picture frames.
"Bahahhum taahee this?"
I replied with, "This?? Well these are pictures I took and I wanted to give the Community Center and the Town of Tohoku a present."
"Bummzihe de really?"

I opened the first picture and the Super intendent was shocked. He asked if I really took them. He didn't seem to want to believe that this was my photography. I didn't understand much of what the Superintendent said, but I could sense he really liked the photos. After showing him the 2nd and 3rd photo, he had smile from ear to ear. This really made my day because I wasn't sure how people would respond to me hanging my photos at the Center.

When I did hang them up the Superintendent came out and said that I should have name plaques made to state where I took it and by who. Hahaha, I laughed and agreed with him that it would be a cool idea. Maybe thats the next step....Anyways, I have four A4 photos now at my workplace to showcase the beauty of Aomori.

Aji park revisited.

Before I spent 2 full seasons at Hakkoda, I cruised around Aomori and Iwate prefecture hitting up the parks and groomers and that was fun for me. It was challenging to hit boxes, rails, hand rails, kickers, rainbows, halfpipes.....anything that had to do with freestyle snowboarding. This season, I haven't had the drive to practice this anymore and I just thought it was because riding Hakkoda every weekend was wearing me out. I didn't have enough energy to hit nighters and on top of that photography was started to eat away my free time.

I found myself again at Ajigasawa on Sunday, the 6th of April....but I was really in the mood for all out park riding. I took it easy and played spectator for the most part. Everyone had their own style and looked really happy doing whatever they were practicing, but for me something was lacking. Drive, motivation, interest....call it what you will but I was basically a zombie with a board stuck to my feet. Maybe I was having an off day...maybe I've grown out of it? Hah! Brian would say that I'm just getting old.

What it really comes down to is that freestyle snowboarding is risky and potentially dangerous. You could hurt yourself far more easily doing a simple freestyle trick then freeriding. Being injured before, I learned my lesson and I want to protect what I hold most dear to me at this time of the season. Surfing!! Right now, the snow is crap, the snow season is about over and surfing is on the horizon. If I got hurt now, that would scrap my last surf season in Japan. I wasn't about to take that kind of risk just for spring park riding...which doesn't really mean that much to me.

So instead of practicing hard in the park, I was looking forward to the drive home. It's not often I'm over in Hirosaki to capture the beautiful mountain sunset. Beautiful Iwaki San!

Poppin' the cherry...

Haha, the title is not what it seems.....Today I celebrated my 1st framed photo. Yah that's it. Nothing exciting. It was a picture I took over by Rokkasho and it's a picture I'm really stoked on. I was lucky. It was just one of those pictures where everything worked out perfectly and I just happen to be at the right place at the right time...with my camera of course. Since I have my own printer, I do my own prints and I printed it on my printer's largest size, A4 and it looked amazing. The next step was to find a frame at Kitamura Camera. Once I inserted the picture in the frame...I was so happy and stoked on how it turned out.

It is hanging in my office building where I work also known as the Tohoku Town Community Center. I'm debating on whether or not I want to hang more up....I think I just might and see what happens.

March 29th: Iwate Night Snowboarding Jam Session

Saturday...the weekend has come and the bad new is.........no waves! So what does this mean? Another weekend at the mountains, but this weekend turned into something really cool and definitely on my "awesome" and "different" kind of weekend adventure.

I got a phone call from one of my snowboard buddies (now also a surfing hommie as well) and he invited me to go adventure down to Iwate prefecture with him and his buddies for a little snow jam session. Since I haven't seen him for a while and Hakkoda spring snow isn't that much fun, I figured doing something new could be what i needed. The event didn't start until 4:20pm so I slept in, gathered my things and headed off to meet Kenichi in Hirosaki around noon. Once everyone arrived, we made our way to Shizukuishi ski grounds which is about a 2.5 hour trip from Hirosaki.

The car ride was goofy and fun, but a little cramped because fitting 5 people and all their snow gear can take up a lot of wasted space. When we finally arrived we changed into our gear and immediately got down to business. After an hour of session'in the box, car jib, and barrels...the night lights came on and the event was in full affect. There was a local DJ playing old school cuts, food and of course beer. The event ended with a raffle and everyone came home with something. The grand prize was a 156cm GRAY snowboard. I really would have loved that! We decided to leave about 11pm and returned to Kenichi's house around 1:30am and it was time for bed.

March 9th, 2008: Moya Hills SBX Competition

The next weekend after Hyakuzawa was the Moya Hills SBX Championship. Back to back race weekends this year and all my friends from Hakkoda entered the race so it was so much fun. This included riders like Brian Y., Mitsuru, Eiko, Kazuo, Ichiko, Takachan, Hiishi, and myself.

Again thanks goes out to Abe-san for putting in hard work and creating a course that was fun and chill. There were two sets of waves.... right at the beginning and right at the end. It seemed that the last 8 wave set took a lot of people out. Fortunately for me, I didn't have any problems with the course. I had problems with my wax. Yah story of my life. In a previous race I won race wax as a raffle prize and thought I would just save money this year and not spend $40 on the proper temp wax for just 1 race (it was +8C that day). I used -4C to 0C wax and figured I could brush it up really well and get by. Hell its just wax right? Wrong..... I learned that no matter how fast of a rider you are, if you're on a slow board you're not going to win...PERIOD! So I ended up Top16 or better known as the quarter finals. Brian did awesome and made the Top8. Mitsuru did the best out of all of us and he was all drunk! He made the finals but slipped up in the beginning and never could catch the pack... 4th place. I really thought he was going to win. Kazuo and Hiishi were eliminated before the quarter finals which shocked me. Kazuo is soooo quick and so talented.

For the ladies, 1st place was Mika Sensei, 2nd was Ichiko!, 3rd was Takachan, and 4th was Eiko. In the end, the Hakkoda riders all did very well but none of us were able to win it! Hehe, but winning isn't everything and since this will be my last boarder X race...definitely good times and good memories.

March 2nd, 2008: SBX Hyakuzawa Championship

This year, the Hyakuzawa SBX Championships fell on March 2nd of 2008. I was looking forward to this event because last year I tied for 1st place because of some photo finish b.s. Really it wasn't a photo finish because the guy crashed out and never crossed the finish line. I was less than a meter away and saw it with my own eyes (great view of the crash!). Yah, that's another tainted story I'd like to wash out of my memory and just remember that I did well that race. Sorry, whining over.

The course this year was fun. Very tight and very challenging. Abe san, the course creator, made a wave section that consisted of 11 whoops in a row amidst a mild turn. It was kinda fly or die. You either went through it conservatively or go ballz out and risk ejecting yourself off course. Definitely a leg workout.

Eiko and Takachan did very well this year. I thought Eiko had it in the bag but ended up taking 2nd place. She's soooooo fast. Takachan took 3rd. She is just as fast and its a good thing they are best friends otherwise it would be an intense rivalry. As for me, I made it to the semi-finals which is basically the top 8. Last year's course suited me better I think but oh well...not a big deal. Wax was not the right temperature and I had no start wax.....but still a lot of fun.

The car ride home with Eiko and Takachan was hilarious. We didn't talk about the race at all, but about trimmed muffs and pubez. Yah..hilarious.

February 9th, 2008: Hiking Hakkoda

Living in Aomori and having Hakkoda in our backyard is a wonderful blessing. Before coming to Japan, I knew absolutely nothing about northern Japan's snow condition and when I arrived I knew I landed in heaven. POWDER HEAVEN!

This year's highlight has to be the hike up Takada Odake. The weather was pristine, the snow was fantastic, and the time...just perfect. All of us, Nao, Eiko, Mitsuru, Brian, and I were so stoked when we arrived at the destination and got our packs ready in the morning. There's not many days of blue skies in winter and when there is there is no better way to spend a day at the mountain. We arrived about 8:30am and sorted our gear and made our first steps about 9:00am.

This was my first time hiking and I kept thinking, "Man am I really doing this? This is sooooo cool." In my backpack I had my nothing but my camera, my snowboard jacket, and 2 onigiris. I was wearing a fleece jacket, but during the hike I got so hot I decided to take it off and wrap it around my board. I hiked the entire duration in my long sleeve undershirt and t-shirt.

After a long hot and sweaty 3 hour hike, we finally reached our destination. Magical!! It was a moment I will never forget for as long as I live. Until that day, I've never seen the top of a snow covered mountain without riding a chairlift or gondola.....something man made invented to cheat nature and make life easier on us humans. This day, I fully understood what it meant to "earn your turns." The ride down felt like it lasted maybe mere 30 seconds. I was haulin' ballz!!! It was the fastest I've ever gone on a snowboard. Faster than any of the boarder x event I've been in. The adrenaline rushes to your head and all you can think about is going fast and making HUUUUUGE turns!

Dec. 22nd 2007, Wedding in Hirosaki

This was my very first wedding where two of my snowboarder friends would tie the knot. Of course, that meant a lot of snowboarding hommies getting together and having an all day 'n night fiesta! Crazy fun!!

Ichiko and Kazuo make a wonderful couple. I've known them for almost 4 years, but more exclusively in the past 2 years because of Hakkoda. Previous seasons, I went to ski resorts like Appi, Okunakayama, and local favorite Yakeyama (can't beat 15 dollar lift tickets). Anyways, these two are sooooo fun to snowboard with. Kazuo always keeps the mood fresh, light, and funny with his crazy hilarious antics and Ichiko is probably one of the coolest girls I know. Both are fabulous, warm hearted souls and I love hangin' out with them.

To Kazuo and Ichiko.........love love love!
Best wishes..

better choices, better life....

I returned home from work around 4:30pm on Thursday, October 26th. I kicked off my shoes, set my backpack in it's familiar corner and proceeded to open the door to my living room. I remember thinking to myself, "Damn, I need to tidy up the place a bit." My futon floor bed wasn't put away and yesterday's clothes had yet to find the hamper. I walked over to my computer, sat in my computer stool, and turned on the silver box. I got up and poured myself some 'mixed fruit' juice from the kitchen and returned to my chair. Suddenly, before I could sit down and get comfortable, my doorbell rang.
"Who in the.......could this be?" I rarely have visitors so I was thinking it was either a solicitor or the post man. When I opened my front door I was burdened by surprise. There were 3 children and 1 short lady about late 30's all bundled up in proper winter jumpers.
"Uhm, can I help you?" sounding a bit confused.
She had a warm smile that was very sincere.
"Yes, are you Thomas?"
"Yah, I'm Thomas," I replied. Though, shortly after I said that I felt like I might have just confessed to an unknown crime.
Her smile got bigger, "I'm Mariko Sensei and I teach at the ECC in Tenmabayashi. We are having a children's Halloween party and was wondering if you would like to come." She held out her hand that gripped a piece of paper with a bright orange pumpkin on it.
"Oh wow? Really?" I was a bit more shocked than enthusiastic. I received the invitation and quickly glanced at it....Saturday......11:30am to 1:30pm......Tenmabayashii ECC building. On the backside was a map that had instructions on how to get to the place from my house. FROM MY HOUSE?! The tidbit of info I had gathered all accumulated into a bad recipe of.... "Saturday? Damn I wanna surf." My second reaction was, "Wait, how did she know where I lived?" Adding fuel to the flame, I was feeling a bit uncomfortable because the kids she brought were my 1st grade students. They were so excited to see me as I gave them a number of hi-5's. They were yelling out, "Please come, please come!!" What was I to do? How could I say no? In spite of their cute faces I didn't want to commit on such short notice and so I responded with, "Well I'm not sure if I will be free. I will call you tomorrow evening if I can attend." Given the situation I thought that was an acceptable reply. I mean who invites someone to a Halloween party with 2 days notice? Halloween just doesn't pop up like a random household cold. Although, I have to hand it to her, bringing the kids along really was an effective strategy...dirty but effective. This lady was clearly thinking because she knew I wouldn't be able to decline in front of the kids. I thanked her and said goodbye to children and slid my door shut. I returned to my computer stool, sat down and sipped my juice feeling a bit like I was man-handled....toyed to be exact.
I returned to my juice and screen to check the weather report for the following Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather report showed strong onshores that day. Honestly, I wasn't stoked to surf in junk and therefore I decided to accept the invitation to the Halloween party. Also, I was looking forward to the party because I did know a lot of the ECC students that were going to attend the function. And of course it would be a great photo op as well. I called Mariko Sensei to tell her I would attend, but she was out and instead I left a message. I slept well with the decision I made. I was excited to see my cute kids all dressed up in Halloween gear.

When I woke up at 8am I did my morning routine, but like any good surfer would, I checked the surf report one last time. This was the worst decision I could have made because it tore me apart. Ignorance would have been bliss. The weather report showed perfect offshore winds with swell coming in from the east!! OMG!! I was about to die. I took the phone from the charger and searched for Mariko Sensei's phone number. I pressed the "on" button and looked at the numbers and miraculously, I stopped myself. I turned the paper over again and looked at the map. There was a star that marked my house and an X that marked the party location. Was I really about to come up with some phony excuse so I could go surf? Looking at what I was about to do, I felt like I did not deserve that star. I took in a deep breath and when I exhaled I killed all my aspirations for surfing that day. I grabbed my camera and proceeded to the X. Extreme!!

As I pulled up the few kids that were outside came running up to my car with smiles cheek cheek. I put on my costume which consisted of an afro wig, a skeleton mask I made during one of my elementary school lessons, and lastly a cape. As I entered the building I saw all the kids dressed up in various costumes having fun. At that moment, I knew I made the right decision. If I could have this day back I would do exactly the same thing. Celebrating Halloween with some of my elementary school kids comes once year. While I love surfing, waves will always come another day.

黒石祭り - Kuroishi Festival

demons
Originally uploaded by notegra

This the first time in 4 years that I was able to attend the Kuroishi Festival. For those who are unfamiliar, Kuroishi literally means "black stone". Kuroishi is what I would call a medium sized town for Aomori prefecture with 38,733 people and sits beneath the Hakkoda mountain and borders Hirosaki City.

From Tohoku Town, it took a little over 2 hours by car if the desired route is to pass through the mountains which I found extremely invigorating. The F1 like hairpins caused my tires to whine like dying dogs and the roller coaster terrain could rumble the strongest stomachs. On a few occasions, the steep incline even caused me to down shift to 1st as the engine repeatedly cried out, "ping". I kept imagining to myself, "If only I had a faster car with rock hard suspension, this would be so much fun!" It's not everyday that you get to drive in these elements. It felt like I had been shaken in a bottle.

Upon descending from the mountain top, everything up till this point felt like a struggle and finally as I tipped the scale, in came the rewards. I eased my grip, relaxed, descended, and looked at the world around me. It always amazes me how green Aomori gets. I recall my first impression arriving in Aomori as being so damn green! Everything felt like it has added doses of life to it. The trees blew in the wind with extra swagger. The wild brush even bush'ier. The flowers more vibrant in color. I never have felt the world so alive. It was beautiful.

I was meeting up with a friend whom I met snowboarding that lived in Kuroishi. He said he hasn't been to the festival in a while and wouldn't mind going with me. Kenichi and I have always gotten along since day 1 and it was nice to see him in his home environment for a change. He took us where all the floats were gathering and as we approached closer, the drums could easily be heard. Arriving at our destination, the crowd was also gathering. The countless footsteps launched a small dust cloud to fill the area as we proceeded to cut across the showroom floor full of colorful floats. The excitement was there. You could feel everyone's anticipation for the show to begin. I observed the scenery and noticed the different array of Japanese festival art. Kuroishi had a uniqueness to it because of its' size. Smaller in scale, one would automatically assume it was far below the level of Aomori's Nebuta. However, the size created an intimacy that was in some ways more appealing. I was literally right there next to the paraders and dancers that passed along with each float. The lights lit the faces of babies and young ones observing from the sidewalk that reflected a magical glow. It was in its' very own way, beautiful.

Adventures in Aomori City.

When work finished at 4pm, I had a small chat with Yumez on msn after I got home and suddenly got the itch to go shoot photos in Aomori city. When I told her my plan, she responded with, "What? You're going to go all the way to Aomori to shoot pics?"

From where I live, Aomori city is only a stone throw away which equates to about an hour by car. The driving never has bothered me, but it was the fact that it was almost a blistering 30C!! Plus, my car is equipped with the latest Japanese aircon technology!! Only problem is that it's dated from 1994. Things like that will never hold me back. I grabbed my gear and set off hoping to catch the sunset.

A slight breeze blew as I stepped out of my car. My first stop was Asamushi. I was able to get there just in time to catch a few sunsets pictures and take in the beauty that surrounded me. As the evening set, people were slowly gathering their things and packing up for home. I was doing the exact opposite. I grabbed tripod and set off for a few night shots.

It never amazes me that people will always STARE at you if you have a camera. I often try and put myself in their shoes and think, "My what's this fine lad doing? Is he creating magical images? Wow, what nice flip-flops this amateur photographer has! OMG, what a spectacular lens he's got on his camera, I'm jealous!" Thoughts like these, well....they allow me to take photos without being embarrassed. At first it was hard shoot sometimes when people you don't know were wondering what the hell you're doing and look at you as if you're crazy for shooting pics of the weirdest things. I changed the way I thought and now it really doesn't bother me and I go on my way and shoot whatever I can. No one is holding you back but yourself....let it go and you will be free.

After I finished at Asamushi, I continued to the heart of Aomori. I got in my car and headed down town. I didn't have an idea of what I was going to shoot, but wanted to explore my options. I observed the train station and watched the life in motion. 8pm was surprisingly busy for Aomori and then I thought it must have been because of "Obon". The youth about tonight. I saw cars doing rounds in front of the train station trying to find a bit of something to do. I had my fill and decided it was time to go home. This was a nice little practice run to fill my head with ideas. The drive back was quick.