Skateboarding is at a massive moment in its history, hanging in the air, for its biggest trick ever. That trick is skateboarding’s Olympics debut, in Japan.
The Global Skate Scene
Skateboarding is huge today, and a global pandemic hasn’t tripped that surge up. Turns out, many people are using the extra time at home to get into skateboarding, riding out the Apocalypse in driveways, local parks, or on their own backyard ramps. While manufacturing and shipping issues have made getting skateboard parts more difficult, the sport is alive and growing.
And skateboarding is a sport, at least as far as the Olympics are concerned. The is-it-a-sport-or-not-a-sport argument is a thing, but if the International Olympic Committee is happy to call it a sport and set it up to debut in Japan, then let’s roll with it.
Skateboarding’s new golden age might be now, and it’s not just the promise of the Olympics that’s taking it there. Skateboarding as a global phenomenon is riding YouTube and TikTok on the way to massive airs. It has never been this easy to find free advice on skateboarding. Exhibit A: just search “how to ollie” on YouTube.
This online surge has led to a huge growth in the number of female skaters. Brett Novak — the man who turned skateboarding videos into an art form — predicted in his 2019 TED talk that we can expect to see amazing tricks from the ladies. Brett points to social media platforms, which are connecting women who might have otherwise felt intimidated by the boys, for encouraging this growth.
The Japanese Skateboarding Scene
Brett’s an important guy to mention because he brings our first Japanese skater into the spotlight. Meet Isamu Yamamoto, a world freestyle champion.
Although Isamu isn’t skating in the Olympics, since freestyle isn’t an Olympic event, his victory at the World Freestyle Round-Up Skateboarding Championships in Canada, at 14 years old, is proof of the raw potential coming out of Japan.
Then there’s Mr. Miyagi. And no, this isn’t the Karate Kid. Gou “Dorabon” Miyagi is a ninja on a skateboard, and yes, I’m going there. Just check him out, those moves are killer.
Gou’s friends cite the manga Skateboard Rocky as one of his major motivations for getting into skateboarding. Dorabon isn’t a likely Olympian either, but we’re just scratching the surface of Japan’s talent. Add to this even more names, like Sota Tomikawa and Shin Sanbongi and you’ll have enough to keep you trawling through YouTube’s skateboarding video archives for decades.
It’s not just the Japanese boys that are ripping either. Yumeka Oda, who’s around 14 now, proves again that Japanese schoolgirls are not to be underestimated, even in real life.
Yumeka ripped up the course at the Tampa Pro Women’s Open in 2020, despite having to run up the transitions because her small frame couldn’t carry her all the way up.
Japanese Women Ripping it Up
Japanese skaters we’re likely to see skating for the gold include Kokona Hiraki, Yuto Horigome, Kisa Nakamura, Sakura Yosozumi, Misugu Okamoto, Mami Tezuka, and Ayumu Hirano. It’s telling that most of those names are women skaters. Even Sky Brown, who’ll represent Britain on her board, was born in Japan.
Here’s Sakura Yosozumi, Sky Brown, and Misugu Okamoto grabbing the top three spots at the Dew Tour in Des Moines, which happened on the 23rd of May.
It’s not easy out riding the Americans. Skateboarding was born in California, which is full of skateparks and talented mentors ready to mold young skaters into professional athletes. I can’t remember seeing a skateboarder in Japan, or a skatepark. But that’s changing quickly, and public acceptance of skateboarders in Japan is shifting. This might be why we’re seeing so many young skaters coming up, with ages ranging between 12 and 20.
The point? Japanese women have a lot of talent.
Anime Boards and Dagger Lords
Skateboarding is about way more than the pro riders, the brands they ride for, or the Olympic lineup, and that’s true wherever plywood pushers flirt with gravity.
The Osaka Daggers might seem like the punk version of the Yakuza, but really they’re an innovative skate crew with a passion for the creativity and individualism that’s at skateboarding’s core. Skateboard pro, Madars Apse, and the Red Bull Media House did a great feature on the Daggers that’ll blow your mind, whether you ride or not. For me, the Daggers are proof, like Dorabon, that Japanese skateboarding can thrive, even without links to the pervasive Californian skate scene.
Then there are love letters to skateboarding in manga and anime form, like Hajime Tojitsuki’s SK8ER’s (not yet available in English) and Sk8 the Infinity.
So? Have I convinced you yet that skateboarding in Japan is a phenomenon you need to get excited about? If not, I’ve got one more ace up my sleeve: skateboarding maids.
Maid to Skate 24 pic.twitter.com/EjkZBQHSVf
— すずしろ (@suzushiro333) May 8, 2021
Suzushiro illustrates wholesome maids skateboarding. It’s the combo we didn’t know we needed, like chilis and chocolate. Suzushiro is doing an amazing thing here with the Maid to Skate series because her poses are locked in and believable. And you know that if maids are involved, then Japanese skateboarding must be important.
It’s interesting to follow the trends in popular culture here. The Daggers might all be guys, and a lot of anime and manga might be about boys, but the girls are getting in on the action now, proving that skateboarding’s meant for everybody.
United States of Disruption
Who’ll be representing Japan at the Olympics isn’t officially decided yet. Qualifications end on the 29th of June, after a disastrous year of canceled and suspended qualifying events.
As hosts, Japan is guaranteed one girl and guy in the contest, which will take place at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo. Check it out in the tweet below. There will be Japanese skaters in the Olympics, and home advantage in the street and park events, which are on the cards for the Olympics, could make this a pivotal moment in Japanese skateboarding history.
It’s hard to explore a skate scene and the faces that make up that scene without being in it. It happens on the streets, at the skatepark, and at secret skate spots, with wheels screeching on concrete. Skateboarding doesn’t live and breathe on the Internet, but the new level of interconnectivity that’s risen in response to the global pandemic has helped it thrive, and Olympic dreams are just pushing it to new heights.
My money’s on the Japanese girls, for the gold.
https://twitter.com/sk8_fujitv/status/1393028980765122568
