Japan

In early September I visited Hokkaido, in far Northern Japan. I went with my friend Keigo, who is my wetsuit sponsor in Japan and my wife Teasha. We figured it would be a good time to explore the area as it's just after summer tourist season and well before the winter cold takes over. It's also during peak typhoon season, which, as far as we could tell, would be our best chance at getting surf. Joining us was Daniel Thomson from Lennox Head, Newport Beach log rider Jared Mell, freelance photographer Brian Nevins (who I've traveled with on surf trips to Iceland and The Great Lakes,) and filmmaker Dana Morris, who's hoping to put together the finishing touches on his new flick, Beneath the Surface. They were all first time visitors to Japan and equally curious about what Hokkaido had to offer.

While we were in Hokkaido, we were lucky to score a typhoon swell. The best wave we found was short, but very hollow. It definitely got the heart pounding. I broke my board early in the session with no backup while Daniel goes on to have a field day getting one backside barrel after another. He says it's one of the best surfs he's had in a long time. The locals tell us that we are very lucky because while we have been in Hokkaido we've seen its best surf of the entire year.