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BEYOND THE ORDINARY

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

TOKYO GUIDE

THE RED BULLETIN TOKYO GUIDE 2021

#GIVING WINGS TO NEW SPORTS

New sports, new heroes and Tokyo’s best-kept secrets

BRING IT HOME

Kanoa Igarashi faces the biggest moment of his career

250ml

気分で えらべる翼。

※Purple Edition is only available in Japan.

EDITOR’S LETTER

AHEAD OF THE GAMES For 11,000 athletes, this summer could represent the pinnacle of their career. For 226 of those athletes, the stakes are arguably even higher. They are set to make history when their sports – surfing, skateboarding, freestyle BMX and sport climbing – will get the chance to shine on the world’s largest sporting stage for the very first time. In this magazine, we want to give you an insight into these new disciplines – where they come from, how they work and, most importantly, their heroes.

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE

JUSTIN JAY

“December is usually a hectic time for surfers because of the contests,” says the New Yorkbased photographer who shot Kanoa Igarashi for our cover feature at Hawaii’s North Shore.

“I was thrilled to be able to arrange a quiet afternoon with him. Surfing has a dedicated but relatively small audience, so I’m excited to see these amazing athletes perform on the world’s stage this summer.” Page 16

MIKE SUNDA

JUSTIN JAY(COVER)

American photographer Steven Lippman with Letícia Bufoni at Venice skatepark in Los Angeles, California. “It’s a magical place to shoot,” he says. “The light was great, the background was ocean and sky – and Letícia is a cool skateboader.”

From profiles of athletes such as surfer Kanoa Igarashi, who has the chance to make his family’s journey come full circle (page 16), to special insights about skateboarders including Sakura Yosozumi, who reveals her bag of gear (page 48), or our city guide that lists some of Tokyo’s most exciting hotspots (page 81), this magazine aims to prepare and equip you for a summer to remember. Enjoy…

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When offered the chance to interview Japanese climber Kai Harada, the Tokyo-based writer jumped at the chance.

Sunda felt inspired by Harada’s attitude during the past year: “Even more so than seeing his steadfast dedication throughout a period of such uncertainty, it was his adaptability and ability to find creative ways to train throughout lockdowns that left an impression.” Page 76

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CONTENTS

SURFING

16 Kanoa Igarashi

He’s been on an upward trajectory since an early age – now he wants success on the biggest stage

BMX

52 S aya Sakakibara

How her brother’s bike accident in 2020 made her more mindful and faster than ever for 2021

27 N eed to know

56 N eed to know

2 8 Carissa Moore

58 R im Nakamura

Learn all about the sport, from the key parts of various surf boards to the rules, format and scoring The four-time world champion talks about a self-discovery process that she’s hoping helps her to a medal

Learn all about the sport, from the two disciplines to the number of athletes, contest format and more The rising rider explains why motivation can go some way to making up for natural disadvantages

32 C aroline Marks

The youngest surfer ever to qualify for the women’s Championship tour details how she prepares for events

CLIMBING

66 S hauna Coxsey

SKATEBOARDING 36 L etícia Bufoni

How the Brazilian-born star became the most famous athlete ever to grace women’s skateboarding

43 N eed to know

Learn all about the sport, from the basic components of a board to the most gnarly obstacles and more

The world champion bouldering specialist explains how she’s had to become a student of her sport again

73 Need to know Learn all about the sport making its debut, from its three disciplines to the format and scoring criteria

76 Kai Harada

Get to grips with how he goes the extra mile to score more success, with training goals, fasting and more

One of the sport’s most promising heroes explains how origami makes her a better skateboarder

03 Editor’s note and contributors 06 Surfing – know your sport: From

Polynesian pioneers to rising stars

81 City guide: Where to watch the

action, find the best nightlife and seek out the most exclusive eateries

08 Skateboarding – know your sport:

96 Learn all about various editions of

10 BMX– know your sport: Palm Park and Schwinn via Nicole Kidman ay

97 Action highlight: B-Boy Shigekix

Who invented the Ollie anyway?

12 Climbing – know your sport: Who

The Red Bulletin around the world looks forward to competitive breaking making its debut in 2024

GETTY IMAGES, STEVEN LIPPMANN, ANDY GREEN, RICK GUEST

44 S akura Yosozumi

was scaling heights back in 1492?

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KNOW YOUR SPORT

SURFING

ORIGINS: The first recorded description of

surfing (or he’e nalu in Hawaiian) was by a lieutenant aboard James Cook’s first voyage which anchored in Tahiti in 1769. Surfing was a central part of ancient Polynesian culture and a popular pastime often used as part of warriors’ training.

FIRST COMPETITION: The first major surf

competition took place in 1928 in Corona del Mar. Swimming legend Duke Kahanamoku (the man credited with popularising surfing) considered the waves there to be the best on the California coast.

RYAN MILLER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

GAME CHANGER: The introduction of wetsuits in the 1950s made it possible to surf all year and practise in cold water for longer. This allowed for the development of new and more radical tricks.

POPULARITY: There are over 25 million surfers

around the world.

FUN FACT: Materials initially invented for use in

the Second World War – such as Styrofoam and fibreglass – revolutionised the construction of surfboards, making them lighter and more sturdy.

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Kanoa Igarashi is a rising star of the World Surf League Championship Tour and is representing Japan

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KNOW YOUR SPORT

SKATEBOARDING

ORIGIN: The first skateboards emerged in California in the early 1900s, when kids attached roller skate wheels to wooden boards and crates. Skateboarding as we know it today started in the 1940s, when surfers looked for an activity for when the waves were flat.

GAME CHANGER: Skateboard wheels used to be made of metal or clay. Polyurethane, a soft rubber-like plastic, was initially used in everything from protective clothing to paints but provided the ideal traction for riding on pavement in the early 1970s. Its introduction caused a rapid rise in the popularity of the sport.

FIRST TRICK: In 1978, a young skateboarder named

Alan ‘Ollie’ Gelfand executed a popping jump he called ‘the Ollie Air’ in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and thus invented the sport’s most important trick: The Ollie.

POPULARITY: It’s been estimated that there are around 85 million skateboarders worldwide.

FUN FACT: In the late 1990s, the US Marine Corps tested the use of ‘combat skateboards’ for detecting tripwires and sniper fire inside buildings and urban settings. The programme was called Urban Warrior.

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KEISUKE KATO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Sakura Yosozumi reached the top of the Women’s Park category of Global Skateboard Rankings in 2020 and represents Japan

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KNOW YOUR SPORT

BMX

ORIGINS: Around 1970, motocross was at the

height of its popularity and kids in Southern California were seeking to imitate their heroes by racing their modified wheelie bikes on dirt tracks.

FIRST COMPETITION: Ron Mackler, a park superintendent in Santa Monica, organised the first-ever registered BMX race at the request of a group of local kids. Mackler, today nicknamed the Grandfather of BMX in the USA, ran the Palm Park races from 1969 to 1984.

SUGURU SAITO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

GAME CHANGER: The Schwinn Sting-Ray was marketed as “the bike with the sports car look” when it was released in 1963. With its stronger springs and tyres, the bike quickly became the natural choice for early BMX. But some changes were due: the fenders and banana seat had to go.

POPULARITY: There are around 3.44 million BMX riders in the world.

FUN FACT: Nicole Kidman landed her first starring role in 1983 with the film BMX Bandits.

Her stunts in the movie were performed by an 18-year-old man who was wearing a wig because the production team couldn’t find a female stunt double that looked like her.

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Saya Sakakibara is a five-time BMX world champion who represents Australia

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KNOW YOUR SPORT

CLIMBING

ORIGIN: The earliest recorded climb was in 1492: Charles VIII, King of France, ordered his servant Antoine de Ville to climb Mont Aiguille, also known as Mount Inaccessible, a rock tower near Grenoble. De Ville succeeded by using a combination of ladders, ropes and other aids.

PIONEER: Walter Parry Haskett Smith became known as the father of climbing back in 1886, when he achieved the first ascent of Napes Needle, a pinnacle of Great Gable mountain in the UK.

SUGURU SAITO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

GAME CHANGER: In 1953, German firm Edelrid invented the Kernmantle rope, which revolutionised the sport by dramatically improving the prevention of falls. More reliable than its hemp-made predecessor, the Kernmantle had a protective, synthetic sheath over woven core, which made the rope lighter and more elastic.

POPULARITY: There are around 25 million people who undertake regular climbing activities in one form or another all over the world each year.

FUN FACT: Certain types of climbing can burn up to 900 calories per hour, making it one of the best sports for those who are looking to reduce fat.

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Kai Harada is a bouldering champion who represents Japan

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SURFING

MARK ALLEN MILLER

MEET THE HOPEFULS, LEARN THE BASICS, FIND THE HOTSPOTS

IN THIS SECTION

Why Kanoa Igarashi feels one with the ocean on page 16, Carissa Moore’s biggest year on page 28 and Caroline Marks reveals her training on page 32.

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THE FREE ONE For fast-rising pro surfer Kanoa Igarashi, home is where the waves are Words PETER FLAX Photography JUSTIN JAY THE RED BULLETIN

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K

anoa means freedom. It’s

a Hawaiian name that literally translates to The Free One, which is a fitting way to characterise the bare-footed 23-year-old watching waves roll onto Oahu’s North Shore. It’s the morning after a contest at the island’s Sunset Beach and Kanoa Igarashi is enjoying a rare rest day, lounging on the deck of an oceanfront house that has a panoramic view of the beach and the break. The ocean looks like an undulating patchwork of turquoise and white froth, and he’s sitting close enough to the water’s edge to hear the thrum of the surf, to smell and taste the salty mist.

Igarashi likes to talk about the physics and the metaphysics of the water. “I have a relationship with the ocean,” he says. “I spend four to six hours a day in the water. I feel like I get to go out there and play games with the

ocean. I have this spiritual connection, which might sound like ridiculous craziness to an outsider, but I really do.”

This isn’t the usual blather of a professional athlete, but the lean surfer with the beach-blond highlights has a candid side that hasn’t been washed away by his success. Igarashi has been foreshadowing and showcasing elite talent for more than a decade. His storyline – a lifelong march to the top of his sport – sounds like something out of the Tiger Woods or Serena Williams mould. Igarashi learned how to surf as a toddler, he signed sponsorship deals by the age of seven, won more scholastic surf contests than anyone else and secured his first pro contest victory when he was only 15.

This is a surfer who consistently ranks highly on the WSL’s Championship Tour, the biggest

league in his sport. When he attacks a wave, even the uninitiated can appreciate the extraordinary precision and improvisation of his movements.

The wave whisperer

Normally, successful athletes as brilliant as Igarashi are more reticent and less philosophical when talking about their ability.

“It’s like a pro tennis player is not going to talk about caressing the net, you know?” he explains.

“But when you’re in the ocean, you’re totally surrounded by it – you feel it inside your fingers.

The waves are crashing at you and it’s like this force of nature.

So it might sound pretty weird, but there are days where I get out of the water and I just tell the ocean how grateful I am to have it in my life.”

Igarashi spends large chunks of time feeling the love among

“I’ve been coming here since I pretty much started surfing,” says Igarashi of Oahu’s North Shore

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SURFING/KANOA IGARASHI

Igarashi finished the 2019 season ranked in sixth place overall

LEO FRANCIS/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

the waves of Oahu every year.

He surfs at Sunset Beach and legendary local breaks like Pipeline and Backdoor; he works out at a local gym and takes himself off on a long hike two or three times each week. And he always focuses his day around the ocean, of course. “The first thing I do when I wake up every morning is to go for a swim right in front of the house here,” he says, referring to the morning rituals which make up his daily routine. “I always just jump in and let the water go over me.

No matter what’s going on, as soon as my feet touch the water, I know I’m good.”

The island of Oahu is the perfect place to trace Igarashi’s journey to this point in his life.

If traffic is light, Sunset Beach is only an hour’s drive from the gleaming surfing community of THE RED BULLETIN

Waikiki, where Igarashi was given his first surfboard as a gift for his third birthday. The family, on holiday from Los Angeles, went into a surf shop and a neon-yellow board caught the youngster’s eye. “The board was US $720 – a lot of money for a family that was barely getting by on vacation,” he recalls. “I had no idea how much it cost but I loved yellow at the time.”

The first time

His parents said no at the shop but went back the next day and bought the board. That afternoon, Tsutomu Igarashi, a devoted surfer himself, took his three-year-old son and that neon-yellow board out on the predictably placid surf at Waikiki Beach. “It was like a beautiful crystal-blue swimming pool with tiny waves and I loved it,”

Igarashi says. “It was like the best place to learn surfing ever.”

Igarashi clearly feels at home on the waves in Oahu. But his upbringing was complicated. Just before he was born in 1997, his parents emigrated to the US state of California from Japan, so it’s not surprising that he has a strong Japanese identity and an intense connection to his family’s homeland. But he also has deep roots in Southern California, where he grew up. Igarashi was born in Santa Monica, and the Igarashi family ultimately ended up settling just across Los Angeles in the Orange County surf mecca of Huntington Beach.

On paper, Huntington could have been a difficult place for a Japanese-American kid in an immigrant family to grow up – after all, the community is roughly 80 per cent white – but 19

SURFING/KANOA IGARASHI

Igarashi surfing at the age of five – he’s been on an upward trajectory since he learned to surf when he was three

surfing gave the youngster a route to success. “Growing up in Huntington, I always stood out, because I was Japanese – I was different,” he says. “But surfing was the thing that put that racism aside and brought my world together. It definitely helped me fit in.”

Igarashi’s school in Huntington was close to the beach – close enough that his mother could pick him up after school with his wetsuit and board in the car, and he could be in the water five minutes later. “Surfing was like my playtime, my recess back then,” he says.

But before long, his playtime seemed to have serious potential.

He was featured on a local news show on TV when he was six.

Educated admirers began calling him “the next Kelly Slater,” referencing the legendary pro.

Sponsors came. Wins at local youth tournaments came. Flights to faraway places came.

By the time Igarashi was in high school, surfing was a way of life. He was travelling nine months a year and the pressure of balancing that with his schoolwork was getting rough.

His mother, who prioritised his 20

academic performance, wanted him to finish high school but Igarashi felt he was ready to join the Qualifying Series Tour, a pro circuit that is also the pathway to the World Surf League’s senior Championship Tour. When he was 17, he convinced his mother to let him take the his high-school equivalency exam. “That was crazy,” he says, recalling what happened after he passed. “I was 17. One minute I was travelling and surfing with friends and bang, the next minute I’m on tour. Suddenly I was on a roll, and it hasn’t stopped since then.”

Pipeline dreams

Igarashi says he’s come to the North Shore every year since he was nine, and you can trace his rise in competitive surfing over those years. “I’ve been coming here since I pretty much started surfing, and every year I come here I’m catching bigger waves,” he says. He caught a wave at Pipeline when he was nine; caught a “proper barrel” when he was 13; and paddled out for “bigger days” when he was 16.

If anything, his progression only accelerated from there. Just two years later, when he was 18,

Igarashi was back at Pipeline as a pro on the Championship Tour, and made the finals – beating his idol Kelly Slater in the semifinals along the way.

As Igarashi’s consistency and explosiveness improved, so did his ranking on the Championship Tour. In 2017, he finished as the world’s 17th-ranked surfer and the following year he concluded the season in 10th place overall.

2019 represented yet another breakthrough, as Igarashi finished the season in sixth place overall, notching his first Championship Tour event win along the way. (After five competitions of the new season, he’s ranked ninth.)

There’s a side to Igarashi that has a sharper edge than his lovethe-water philosophy. “I love that feeling of wanting to rip that guy’s head off,” he says. “I love that feeling of wanting to be better than my opponent that day. There’s this competitive side of me that’s like this animal that shines on contest days.”

Nestled somewhere in between his mentality as a trained killer and his emotional connection to the ocean lies a methodical athlete who’s THE RED BULLETIN

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realising that it will take more than simply natural talent and conspicuous energy to reach the top of his sport. “I feel like I’m maturing – I’m professionalising myself,” he says. “If I’m going to be completely honest, I probably put in 60 or 70 per cent effort last year. And in the years prior, I was probably putting in about 20 or 30 per cent. I think slowly I’m getting closer to giving it my all – I’m going to go all in.”

Turning pro

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GETTY IMAGES

To that end, Igarashi is focusing on lots of the granular details that will bump his effort ever closer to perfection. He’s working on getting more regular sleep. (“I normally get around seven hours, but I think eight is closer to optimal. I just spent a week sleeping nine hours and I didn’t really like it.”) Igarashi says that he’d eaten meat every day of his life until he recently underwent a two-week experiment with a vegan diet. (“It felt amazing and I woke up feeling sharper, but I had to come out of the water earlier every day because I felt so hungry.”) Through nutrition and weight training, he’s worked hard to bulk up a little. (“I just got over 170 pounds [77kg] for the first time and think that something around 173 would be ideal.”)

Igarashi has the maturity to understand that he can’t just flip a switch to become the ultimate professional who tackles every detail of his training perfectly.

“It’s going to be a gradual pace up,” he says. “But I’m committed to the little things that I think will make a huge difference.”

Now the biggest challenge of his career beckons.

This summer, all eyes in the surf world – and a larger audience that doesn’t usually watch the sport – will be on Tsurigasaki Beach in Chiba, Japan.

“Finally,” Igarashi says with relief, referring to the postponement. “My initial reaction? I was upset and confused,” he says. “But right after that, I started to see a lot of positives.” It gave Igarashi the opportunity to spend more time in Portugal, where he has a lot of THE RED BULLETIN

SURFING/SPORTS GUIDE

Tochigi Gunma Ibaraki Saitama

Tokyo Kanagawa 2

Chiba

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Find the best waves close to Tokyo

“I love going out into heats with no plan. You know, I just let it flow” THE RED BULLETIN

1 Chiba About two hours from Tokyo by car, the Chiba coastline offers many miles of surf spots. “It’s a big stretch of beach,” says Igarashi. “Saying you’re surfing Chiba is kind of like saying you’re surfing the North Shore.” One spot there that’s on Igarashi’s mind these days is Tsurigasaki Beach, the site of the big competition this year. ”It’s actually a very friendly wave to surf,” he says. “It’s a forgiving and basic wave. In the contest, the neutral wave will give everyone a level playing field and a chance to shine. And the break is really close to the beach.”

2 Shonan Located 60km southwest of Tokyo, Igarashi says this is one of the two best go-to surf spots near the city. “It’s all beach,” he says.

“Depending on the wind and the swell direction and stuff, it picks up more waves than Chiba.” Shonan is considered the birthplace of Japanese surfing; American soldiers stationed nearby in the 1960s introduced the sport to locals. Hardcore surfers flock to Shonan if a big Pacific typhoon drives swells into the reef breaks there, but many recreational surfers love the dependable small and clean waves. The area is full of quality surf shops, and not surprisingly the water is crowded on good surf days.

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”I feel like I’m maturing – I’m professionalising myself.

Like I’m going to go all in” friends and, more importantly, feels like he’s able to make the best improvements in his surfing.

“During this extra year, I have gotten stronger and faster, and become a better surfer. It was a step in the right direction to get closer to my goal of winning an Olympic gold medal.”

In October 2019, Igarashi was named in the Japanese team, but the die had been cast 18 months earlier, when he announced that he’d decided to become the first surfer to represent Japan on the Championship Tour. Those decisions attracted a lot of attention, sometimes for the wrong reasons. Some people speculated, incorrectly, that Igarashi was seeking an easy shortcut to the event; in the end, with his impressive year-ending Championship Tour ranking, Igarashi would have qualified for the US team anyway.

Family affair

When asked about deciding to represent Japan instead of the USA and all of the resulting controversy, Igarashi answers with certainty. “I love Huntington Beach – it’s always going to be home in my heart because I grew up there,” he says. “But if people ask me where I’m from, it gets more complicated. Representing Japan felt like a comfortable, solid decision. My blood is a 100 per cent Japanese. That’s something you don’t change.”

Family is obviously important to Igarashi, and he understands how much this opportunity means to his extended family, especially his grandparents – who have a calendar on which they are counting the days until the first day of his competition.

They’re among many of his relatives in Japan who get up in the middle of the night to watch him compete over the 24

internet, but who have never actually seen him surf in person.

“My grandma told me, ‘All I want to do is stay alive until the Olympics, and after that I don’t care if I die.’ I was like, ‘What?

Don’t say that.’ But she said, ‘I’ve gone through a lot in my life. I’ve done everything that I wanted to do. But once they were announced and you told me that you were going to be in it, that’s the last thing on my bucket list.

Then my life will be complete.’”

Igarashi admits that such talk, even if intended with humour, stirs a deep sense of national pride in him. “I feel privileged and honoured to just have them be so proud of me,” he says. “It makes me want to do my best.”

Outsiders might have trouble understanding how popular Igarashi is in Japan. He’s the focal point of a reality show that’s been on TV for years, he’s got some major sponsorship deals from outside the surfing realm, he’s the first Japanese surfer in the Championship Tour and he’s become a breakout star in a surfcrazy country where the sport is more popular per capita than it is in the US. After one big tournament result in 2018, Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe asked to meet with Igarashi and the surfer still has trouble getting his head around that high-profile encounter – on a skyscraper rooftop with helicopter blades thwacking, with bodyguards patting him down and the best wishes and expectations of a nation being delivered.

The heat is on

As much as he loves the fame that comes with his achievements, Igarashi knows how important it will be to make the most of his big opportunity this year.

There will never be another surf THE RED BULLETIN

Igarashi says he’s “committed to all the little things” to reach the top of his sport

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event in his life like this one.

Igarashi is the kind of guy for whom every break and every wave has meaning. But the break in Chiba isn’t like any other break. His father, Tsutomu, and his pals were the among the surfers who discovered that spot decades ago. “Yeah it’s true,” says Igarashi. “He and his friends discovered that wave. They climbed through fences and hiked through the grass to find it, and they called [it] the dojo [a Japanese term for a training facility], and it was their secret spot. It’s such a crazy full circle.”

When asked to assess the Chiba break, Igarashi smiles. “It’s definitely a wave that suits my surfing,” he says. “It’s technical and precise. It’s just in my blood, being Japanese, to be precise and technically sound. Every little

arm movement and movement will make a big difference, and there will be little room for error.

And the break is really close to the beach, close to the fans.

“I’ve always been kind of a show-off. I want people to be close. I want people to feel it.”

One with the water

Kanoa meaning freedom isn’t just the etymology of his name; it’s the story of how he lives his life.

When asked if he paddles out into competition visualising what he wants to accomplish, Igarashi shakes his head and it’s very clear that this isn’t the case at all.

“I love going into the ocean and going into heats with no plan,” he explains with a smile. “I take my heats and competitions these days as if they’re just another day of surfing with my friends

– I just go out there and everything’s just on the fly.”

Igarashi says he doesn’t have a conventional homeland like most people do. But he also says he has a real home: the water.

“People come up to me and tell me how they can just see that I naturally look like I’m really calm in the ocean,” he says.

“And it’s true. No doubt the truest form of myself is when I’m surfing in the water.”

The ascendant surfer whose name means The Free One stares out across the Pacific Ocean, where waves tumble towards the shore, and he ponders how he’s inhabited the word Kanoa. “I feel most free when I surf and I’ve felt this freedom since I was young,” he says with conviction. “Being in the ocean is where I feel free.”

“It’s a huge opportunity for surfers to showcase our sport on a different level,” says Igarashi

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S U R F I N G / E D U C AT I O N

THE RED BULLETIN’S GUIDE TO

SURFING

What you need to know about the competition in a nutshell

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DISCIPLINE

BOARD TYPES

SHORTBOARD

LONGBOARD Length: 2.5-3m Waves: All sizes

COMPETITION STRUCTURE: 3 initial rounds (2-8 heats each) bring the number of surfers down to 8. In 3 1-on-1 final rounds the winner is determined. 1 heat lasts 25-30 min.

COMPETITORS: 20 men 20 women

FUN BOARD Length: 2-2.5m Waves: 0.5m and up

Rules: A maximum of 25 waves per heat, with the 2 highest scoring waves determining the heat result One surfer only is allowed to ride a wave at any given time. The surfer who is closest to the peak has right of way

SHORTBOARD Length: 1.8-2m Waves: 1-2m

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FORMAT

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All athletes compete in one discipline, with one overall winner in each gender

FISH Length: 1.5-1.8m Waves: 1-2m

Criteria:

•Commitment and degree of difficulty •Innovative manoeuvres •Combination of manoeuvres •Variety of manoeuvres •Speed, power and flow

SCORING 5 judges use a 0-10 point scale to score the manoeuvres performed

ANATOMY OF A WAVE SPRAY

The misty spray of water the wave produces when it breaks

PARTS OF THE BOARD Nose

Tail Rocker

LIP

Core (foam)

TROUGH

Lowest region of the wave (opposite: crest)

Top part of the breaking wave that pitches from BARREL above the surfer Hollow part of the wave formed by the top travelling faster than CREST the bottom (also called Highest point of tube or curl) the wave

Fin Leash

Rail

FACE

The front part of a wave that has not broken yet

Deck Stinger (wood)

PAUL DUARTE

TRICKS AND MANOEUVRES: 1. SUPERMAN 2. AIR/AERIAL 3. RODEO FLIP 4. TUBE RIDE

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BACK ON BOARD FOR THE BIG TIME As four-time world champion surfer Carissa Moore has discovered, the quest for greatness sometimes begins with a journey to figure out who you really are Words JEN SEE Photography TREVOR PIKHART

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SURFING/CARISSA MOORE

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our days before Christmas of

2019, Carissa Moore made an announcement that shook the surfing world. Via Instagram, she explained in a video message that she’d decided to take a year off from the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour. “This is something that I have given a lot of thought,” said the pro surfer from Hawaii. The post came only three weeks after she won the championship for the fourth time.

Only five female surfers before her have ever achieved this feat. Being interviewed right after taking the trophy, she seemed overwhelmed and visibly touched. “This has not only been a year of work but three years of growing and learning,” she said. “It’s been a journey.”

Why would a top athlete who just scored what’s arguably the most important victory of their career decide to take a break?

Why not trying to sustain the momentum and enter the next season full of self-confidence?

It seemed that Moore had figured out that balance is the key to her long-term success. Balance that she planned to improve in a year of just being Carissa. “I have dedicated the last ten years of my life competing at the highest level and want to continue to do that well into my thirties,” she said in the Instagram video. “This break is a press-refresh so that I can come back to the tour happier and more excited than ever in 2021.”

This is the story of how Carissa Moore set out to find herself, and how she turned this past year into a personal victory.

First steps

Born in Honolulu, Moore learned to surf at Queen’s Waikiki Beach when she was four years old. Her father, Chris, who competed in open-water swimming, wanted to share his love for the ocean with his daughter, so he taught her to surf. Moore believes that her father wanted to strengthen the bond between them. “He wanted to find a way to keep me home,” THE RED BULLETIN

she says. “If I fell in love with the ocean, I wouldn’t move very far.”

It would be easy to assemble snapshots of an idyllic childhood.

She surfed in the clear waters of Waikiki next to the Diamondhead volcano, where people have surfed for centuries. Surfing history infused Moore’s childhood.

But the truth is it wasn’t always an idyllic childhood. When Moore was 10 years old, her parents got divorced. “I didn’t surf when I was with my mom,” she says. “Just on my dad’s days.” She bounced between her parents until her senior year in high school.

Surfing brought Moore closer to her dad, who drove her to the beach before and after school.

When she was about 12, surfing switched from being a fun afterschool activity to a competitive passion. “I remember having a conversation with my dad on a car ride home from the beach,” she says, recalling being asked how far she wanted to go with surfing. “I told him, ‘I want to be the best in the world.’ ” Moore was a precocious talent from the start. “We saw her as the next Kelly Slater when she was 12 years old,” says seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore. As a teenager, Moore travelled to contests around the world. By the time she’d turned 17, Moore had reached the Championship Tour, an elite selection of the top 17 female surfers. During her first year on the tour in 2010, Moore won two events and finished the season ranked third overall.

The following year Moore stormed to her first world title.

She opened the 2011 season with a win at Snapper Rocks, a righthand point break on Australia’s Gold Coast. By year’s end, she’d won three of the tour’s seven events. With her world title secured, Moore accepted wildcard invitations to compete with the men at Haleiwa and Sunset Beach on Oahu’s North Shore. She was the first woman to compete in a prestigious Triple Crown event.

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“Look at the surf industry at that point in time,” she says. “They were like, ‘Hey if you gain too much weight, you’re not going to have sponsors, and if your boobs are too big, your surfing is going to be off.’ ” Like many elite athletes, Moore is intensely selfcritical and demands perfection in a way that made it difficult to shut out all of the criticism.

Food became the one thing Moore felt she could control. She fell into an unhealthy cycle of overeating, starving herself and overtraining. “No one really understood why I was gaining weight, because I wasn’t really truthful about it,” she says. She’d binge on food, feel guilty and then try to deprive herself. Hurtful comments about her appearance followed her on the internet. No matter how beautifully she surfed, Moore feared that she couldn’t succeed if she wasn’t thin.

As she claimed her first world title, she struggled with her weight and eating disorders behind the scenes. “I was still working very hard,” she says. “But because people were judging a book by its cover, they didn’t see all that training behind the layers of fat that were there because of a lot of different things that nobody understood.” Though Moore says she was heavier than she’d ever been before (or has been since), she still won a world title.

Surfing magic

Moore, who won her fourth world championship in 2019, is hardly afraid to address her journey to get back on top and find herself

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Under pressure

As she rocketed up the rankings, Moore struggled to navigate life outside of surfing. The shape of her body changed very quickly – unpredictably, it seemed to her. She was trying to finish high school and enjoy a normal social life, but her competitive career took up an ever larger part of her life. She missed parties with her friends and her high school prom. While she loved surfing, she felt uneasy about its demands and uncertain about how to strike a healthy balance.

With the various stresses of her life and career escalating,

the relationship between Moore and her mother, Carol Moore, deteriorated. They were frequently at odds, and Carissa recalls feeling overwhelmed. “And just feeling like you want that acceptance from your mom and that love from your mom, but you guys are on two opposite ends of the spectrum,” she says.

Things felt out of control, and her changing body became the focal point of her anxiety. She felt a lot of pressure to excel in her sport and unmoored in her life out of the water, despite the support from her father. Surfing’s culture imposed its own set of pressures.

Time has helped Moore move past the stresses that drove her to obsess about her weight. She’s come to understand that her strong body gives her surfing its distinctive style. Thinking back to her first World Championship victory in 2011 gives Moore some perspective. “Hey, this body has won me several world titles,” says the 28-year-old with a laugh.

An unpredictable dynamism makes Moore’s surfing magic.

“She’s coiled up and then, when the right section comes, she’ll just open up her whole body, her whole strength and power,” says Gilmore. But Moore is also one of the few women who can consistently complete the aerials that now define high-performance surfing. While Kelly Slater’s THE RED BULLETIN

SURFING/CARISSA MOORE

“If you think too much about the future, you can get anxiety” vertical turns set his generation’s standard, younger surfers such as two-time world champion John John Florence have taken surfing to the air. Moore isn’t far behind.

“She’s willing to risk a good score on a wave, because she wants to do an air and prove to everyone that girls can do this as well,” says Gilmore. The same power that Moore harnesses for her big arcing carves launches her into the air, where she spins above the water.

Moore achieves her best results when waves are good and tactical gamesmanship is minimal. She isn’t a fan of safety surfing, the tactic of performing just well enough to win a heat. “Just doing the same stuff – I don’t want to do that,” says Moore. She often feels torn between her desire to land big manoeuvres and the need to win heats that add up to titles.

As Moore has pushed her own boundaries and expanded her repertoire of turns and airs, the sport has grown around her. The level of women’s surfing is far higher than when Moore’s career began, with the likes of Gilmore, two-time world champion Tyler Wright and Caroline Marks all performing well. “The rivalries aren’t just the two or three girls at the top,” says Gilmore.

Time for balance

“A lot of people look at pro surfing and it can seem glamorous, and it is in a lot of ways. But there is a lot of blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice that goes into it,” said Moore in an interview with The Lineup podcast in 2019. “It’s a lot, mentally and physically. These girls are competing at the highest level, they give their best every day.”

The constant level of stress and the constant pressure to compete led Moore to make a decision a year and a half ago at the surfing event in Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, a moment she considers the lowest point in her career.

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“I lost in the event, I was really unhappy with everything I was doing, and it was this turning point where I asked myself: What am I doing? This isn’t why I started surfing. Something’s got to change,” she remembers.

As a result, she promised herself to take a time out after the 2019 season. When it became clear in early 2020 that the rest of the world would join her in taking a break due to the pandemic, Moore tried to see the positives.

“It would have been really tough for me to watch the tour happen and not be a part of it,” she says.

“I knew that was going to be something I was going to struggle with. Not to have it happen allowed me to really just relax.”

In Moore’s case, that meant spending more time with her husband Luke Untermann, who she married in 2017, doing some skateboarding and bingewatching Peaky Blinders. But it was also a challenge for her to sit still. “I enjoyed my break, but I also came to a new appreciation for living the competitive lifestyle and being an athlete,” she says.

This time, though, her goal is to re-enter competition with a new mindset. She works with a mental coach, is quick to highlight the importance of mental health and sounds excited when she talks about strategies that she’s been practising recently. “I try to focus on being present,” she says. “If you think too much about the future, you can get anxiety. The stress can also come from the past, when you overthink things that have already happened. But the present, that’s what you can control, it’s when you should give everything that you have.”

This more holistic approach seems to work for her, and she scored second place at the first event of the 2021 WSL season in Hawaii. “There was expected nerves and a little bit of cobwebs,”

she says. “But the challenge of performing under pressure, I enjoy that.” The successful comeback has also boosted her confidence ahead of the big competition getting under way in Tokyo. “When I was a little girl, I never dreamed of competing in the Olympics. I’m just excited to be a part of the movement. To have my name tossed into the conversation is really special.”

Moore considers the past year one of the most important of her career, despite or perhaps because she didn’t compete in any mayor tournaments. It’s the mental work that’s made her a calmer, more mature and happier person, she says. It’s also equipped her for the next season and ones to come.

“I’d love to win another world title, sure. But more importantly, I would like to perform at a level that is timeless, and I want to continue to help the progression of women’s surfing,”she explains.

“Basically, I want this to be the start of my second chapter.”

After a struggle with eating disorders, Moore has found peace: “Hey, this body has won me several world titles”

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TRAIN LIKE A PRO Caroline Marks, 19, is the youngest surfer ever to qualify for the women’s Championship Tour. Here she reveals how she prepares for competition at the sport’s highest level.

To earn a high score from the judges, Marks must flow through a series of powerful turns, performing a quick dance across the face of the wave as churning water explodes behind her.

She uses her strong and compact body to spin her surf board into a tight arc, throwing her fins up through the wave’s crest and launching herself into the air.

So far, so good: In 2019, her second year on the World Surf League Championship tour, she finished in second place after fellow American Carissa Moore.

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SURFING/CAROLINE MARKS

GET GREAT AT PADDLING “I have to be in great paddling shape, and you can’t get that unless you surf a lot. If it’s flat, I find it’s super good to bring out a bigger board and go for a long paddle.

That helps me stay in paddle shape.”

S PE E D

M E NTAL FOC U S

“Ideally, I surf and do gym work each day – that’s where I work on balance and fitness. Let’s say I’m going to a long-point break like Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. I have to make the last turn as strong as the first turn.

It’s really hard to do, because my legs get tired. Sometimes, I have to surf four heats in a day, and I obviously can’t just stop. There’s a big agility ladder at my gym and I try to keep my feet going as fast as I can.

I want to keep my heart rate up as long as possible. It’s a lot of fast-twitch motions, too.”

“A lot of the most important work is done before the contest even starts, but I also don’t like to over-think things and I always try to keep it simple.

As a surfer, it’s hard to make a game plan, because you never know how the waves are going to be. I have to be on it even when I’m fatigued during a heat. At the gym, I stand on a balance ball on one leg. My trainer will throw a medicine ball to me and I have to catch it one-handed. He doesn’t tell me which side he’s throwing to – it’s super random.”

N UTR ITI O N

FLE XI B I LIT Y

“I just did some tests with Red Bull, because I want to learn more about what I should eat. If I eat something in the morning and I win, then I’ll eat that again.

Avocado toast is my go-to in the morning right now. I just do a piece of organic toast, avocado, salt and pepper and cherry tomatoes. I definitely bring snacks like trail mix and protein bars everywhere I go. I don’t have set things I have to have. If I really want avocado and turkey on a rice cake, I’ll have that.”

“I try to surf four hours a day minimum – it’s a really good work-out that makes you use your whole body constantly.

I stand really low on my board and I’m always using my legs.

They get tight, but fortunately rolling out [my muscles] with the foam roller helps. I’m still young and I don’t feel pain or anything, but I want to avoid that. Being flexible also makes my turns better. I stretch my whole body and use the roller just about everywhere.”

PAT NOLAN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, JONAS JUNGBLUT/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

JEN SEE

“I do tonnes of footwork to keep me fast”

“I pretty much eat whatever I want to eat”

American surfer Caroline Marks must be ready for anything each time she paddles out for a 30-minute contest heat

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“I have to be ready to go with the flow”

“I have to make sure to stretch every day”

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PERFECT WAVES AR E HAR D TO F I N D , NOT HARD TO R E ACH .

NIHON MI C HELI N T I RE CO. , LT D 日 本ミシュランタイヤ株 式 会 社 お客様 相 談 室 T EL. ����- ��- ����

WHAT AR E YOU BU I L D IN G F O R ?

SKATE BOARDING

MARK ALLEN MILLER

MEET THE HOPEFULS, LEARN THE BASICS, FIND THE HOTSPOTS

IN THIS SECTION

Why Letícia Bufoni is top of her game on page 36 and Sakura Yosozumi opens her bag of tricks on page 48.

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S K AT E B O A R D I N G / L E T Í C I A B U F O N I

GOING GNARLY

Letícia Bufoni is the most famous female skateboarder in the world, and Ryan Sheckler is a fan of the Brazilian.

This is her success story in 10 chapters Words JEN SEE Photography STEVEN LIPPMAN

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“I just want to be me – I don’t want to do what other people say,” says Letícia Bufoni

S K AT E B O A R D I N G / L E T Í C I A B U F O N I

1. Getting started

When she was growing up in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, Bufoni played in the streets with the boys from her local area. They spent their days playing soccer, skateboarding and riding bikes. “Everyone had a skateboard, and after two months I was begging my parents and my grandmother to buy me one,” she says. “That’s how everything got started.”

Bufoni was the only girl in the neighbourhood who liked to skate. Her father wanted her to play soccer with the other girls. “He didn’t want to see people calling me a tomboy or a lesbian anymore,” she says. Bufoni’s dad was so determined to stop her from skating that he cut her board in half. She cried for over a day. Then she scraped together parts from friends to put together a new board. “You know what? I love skateboarding, and I’m going to skate.”

2. Entering her first contest

Her first contest took place in São Paulo and included girls who were competing from all over Brazil. But her father didn’t want her to compete, so Bufoni almost didn’t get to go at all. A friend who had seen her skate and believed in her talent argued that she deserved a chance – he convinced Bufoni’s father to let her enter the competition.

“He never really saw me skating before that contest,” Bufoni says of her father. “When he took me to that contest, he saw that I had potential.”

From then on, her father willingly took her to all the contests and events that he could. “He started taking me to the skatepark every day, and he became my biggest supporter.”

Nike sponsored that first competition in São Paulo. At the time, she didn’t imagine the brand would become one of her sponsors.

3. Moving to Los Angeles

At the age of 14, Bufoni relocated to Los Angeles.

From her home country of Brazil, she viewed the Californian city as the centre of the skateboarding universe. “Everything happens in Los Angeles,” she explains. “You’re skating with the best pros and skating in the best skateparks.” Los Angeles

“I HAVE DREAMS ABOUT CONTESTS AND EVERY TIME I VISUALISE MY RUN, I GET SUPER NERVOUS” always featured in the skateboarding videos she obsessively watched and many of the sport’s most important and influential brands were based there.

“LA was always the dream city,” she says.

The city’s pull intensified with Bufoni’s success.

Her confidence in her talent grew, but when she looked around her home country, sponsorship opportunities seemed sparse. “I had no sponsors and it got to a moment where I was like, ‘Should I keep doing this or focus on school?’” Though her father continued to support her, Bufoni worried that her family’s financial resources would run out.

Bufoni’s ticket to LA came in 2007 with an invitation to compete at the X-Games. Her father travelled with her and paid their expenses. Once there, Bufoni knew she had to find a way to stay.

Her eighth-place finish in the X-Games street event hinted at her future promise, but she still needed to

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THE RED BULLETIN

Bufoni moved to Los Angeles when she was 14 and mostly fended for herself after that

“I have a skater’s eye for everything,” says Bufoni, who skates in school playgrounds when no one’s looking

S K AT E B O A R D I N G / L E T Í C I A B U F O N I convince her dad, who was reluctant to allow his young daughter to move so far from home. After weeks of cajoling, he relented. “You’re right, you should stay,” she recalls him saying.

With her family back home in Brazil, Bufoni acclimatised to her new surroundings. At first the English language confounded her. “It was really hard to learn it coming from Portuguese,” she says.

In what would become a familiar pattern, Bufoni persevered. She wanted to skate professionally and she believed she could make it in Los Angeles.

4. Breaking boundaries

As she began winning contests and seeking support from sponsors, she realised that skateboard brands simply didn’t sponsor women. She recalls a brand stringing her along for three years, and eventually walking away without offering her anything. Then it happened again with another brand. “At that point, I was like, ‘You know what? If these guys don’t want to support me, I’m going to make my own company,’” she says. Bufoni was all set to start her own skateboard company when Plan B offered her a sponsorship contract. The brand has sponsored some of the biggest names in men’s skateboarding and Bufoni is the first woman to ride for them.

Bufoni’s career stretches across something of a generational divide in women’s skateboarding.

For teenage girls coming into the sport today, there are fewer barriers. “It’s changed a lot,” says Bufoni, who’s now 28. “I remember back in the day, I was one of the few women who was getting a pay cheque. Now every company has more women on the team.” Her pioneering career has helped forge a path that didn’t necessarily exist before she kickflipped her way into the spotlight.

6. Rolling with the injuries

Bufoni has undergone four or five operations – she struggles to keep count. She’s broken five bones during the course of her career. At one competition in 2014, Bufoni fell on her final run as she was trying to jump from second into first place. While her family watched from Brazil, she suffered a concussion on live television. The risks don’t deter her, though. She does skydiving for fun because she enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes with fear, and she isn’t going to stop skateboarding any time soon.

“I’ve never had a moment that I was like, ‘I’m going to quit, I can’t do this anymore,’” she says.

“I always love skating so much that every time I get hurt, I just think about getting back to it right away.”

Bufoni became a skater way before the sport achieved global popularity

5. Skateboarding is not a crime – usually

Street skating has a specific geography all its own.

As she drives around LA, Bufoni is always looking for places to hone her craft. She says, “I have a skater’s eye for everything,” like metal handrails that are the perfect height and pitch for boardslides.

Any kind of school looks entirely different through the eyes of a skateboarder. “There’s no other place that you’re going to find school yards like you do in LA,” says Bufoni. “Every school here has perfect spots” – staircases to jump and picnic benches to tailslide. Designed as temporary classrooms, pale pink wooden bungalows are a feature at most schools in LA, and their access ramps make excellent launchpads for skaters’ tricks.

Many skateparks are often locked or located on private property. For pro street skaters, avoiding security is part of the job. “The other day we drove an hour to get to a spot, and the moment we got there, security came and kicked us out,” says Bufoni.

Sometimes she has to hit two or three spots before she can get her clips, which in LA can mean hours of driving. Typically security guards are mellow and just ask Bufoni and her crew to leave. “But sometimes they yell and get really mad,” she explains. Has she ever been arrested? “Thank God, no, but it could happen at any moment,” she says, laughing.

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S K AT E B O A R D I N G / L E T Í C I A B U F O N I

“I LOVE SKATING SO MUCH. EVERY TIME I GET HURT, I THINK ABOUT GETTING BACK TO IT RIGHT AWAY”

8. Dealing with fame

Bufoni’s Instagram feed depicts a glamorous LA scene that looks a long way from the gritty reality of regular street skating. She skates through the a fancy hotel, with its luxurious décor as her stage.

She takes part in photoshoots for her high-profile sponsors. And she goes to the beach to do some surfing before rolling out for a night on the town.

Bufoni manages her own social media accounts, and she says she posts a largely unfiltered stream of her day-to-day life. “I always wanted to do all my own social media, so people can see from my eyes and hear my own words,” she says. “I just want to be me – I don’t want to do what other people say.”

Just as she stubbornly resisted her parents’ efforts to end her love affair with skateboarding, Bufoni determinedly follows her own instincts as she creates her public profile.

She has 2.8 million followers on Instagram and her reach extends well beyond skateboarding. She’s no longer surprised when kids at the skatepark ask for a selfie. “People are there because they skate, so they know me,” she says. But she’s still not quite used to having people ask for a photo with her.

“Somebody coming up to you in an airport, they have no idea what skateboarding is,” she says.

Bufoni is accustomed to the attention her stardom commands but remains bewildered by it.

9. Explaining those tattoos

The tattoo along the length of her right hand reads: Trouble. She says it’s because she gets into trouble all the time. (A counterpoint: Her finger tattoos spell out Hope.) She also has tattoos of skulls, the number 13 (because she was born on April 13) and an aeroplane (because she’s constantly travelling).

An eagle, carrying a skateboard in its talons, covers her upper arm. “My dad has the same eagle,” she explains. “He got the tattoo just before I moved to LA, and it says, ‘Good Luck, Letícia.’”

10. Forging ahead

Bufoni has won 11 X-Games medals representing Brazil

7. Becoming gnarly

To understand what makes Bufoni stand out, listen to skateboarding legend Ryan Sheckler: “Letícia is gnarly,” says the three-time X-Games gold medalist.

“She’s really talented. I’m just a fan. If she wants to learn a trick, she’s going to learn that trick.

She’s also got style – that’s the thing that’s really appealing about her skateboarding. She looks really good on a skateboard. It’s fun to watch her skate. If she continues to go for it, the sky’s the limit.”

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With skateboarding stepping into the mainstream this year, Bufoni can’t escape a nagging sense that something’s being lost. “I feel like many kids now, they’re only thinking about being a professional skateboarder to make money and win – but when I started, it was like, ‘I skateboarded because skateboarding is awesome,’” she says, pointing out that she viewed it as a lifestyle rather than a sport.

She wanted to be out in the streets, skateboarding all day, exploring with her friends, getting kicked out of school playgrounds and car parks. She looked at skating and saw a way of life and a culture that she wanted to join – and to spend her life chasing.

That isn’t to say that she doesn’t like competing.

“Every time I compete, I compete to win,” Bufoni says. “A lot of people like competing and all, but they don’t really care – they just go to have fun.”

The chance to represent her country this year is beyond anything Bufoni has ever imagined.

“Every athlete, they dream to be in this event,” she says. “I just want to win the first medal.”

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S K AT E B O A R D I N G / E D U C AT I O N

THE RED BULLETIN’S GUIDE TO

SKATEBOARDING

What you need to know about the competition in a nutshell

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CATEGORIES PARK

COMPETITORS 40 men 40 women

FORMAT

20 athletes compete per category; two overall winners in each gender

STREET

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Park competitions take place on a hollowed-out course featuring a series of complicated curves – some resembling large dishes and dome-shaped bowls.

Rounds: 2 (prelims and finals) Prelims: 20 skaters (4 heats of 5 skaters) Finals: 8 skaters (from the combined ranking of the heats) Scoring: In each round, the skater’s best of three 45-second runs count as their final round score.

5 judges use a 0-100 point scale.

Criteria: Difficulty Quality of Execution Use of course

This competition is held on a straight ‘street-like’ course featuring stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls and slopes.

Rounds: 2 (prelims and finals) Prelims: 20 skaters (4 heats of 5 skaters) Finals: 8 skaters (from the combined ranking of the heats) Scoring: In each round, the skaters will perform two 45-second runs and five tricks.

5 judges use a 0-10 point scale.

Criteria: Difficulty Execution Use of Course Flow

• • •

• • • •

TRICKS

(CATEGORIES)

1. OLLIE 2. GRABS 3. FLIP TRICKS 4. SLIDES AND GRINDS 5. STALLS AND PLANTS

1

2

3

4

5

SKATEBOARD PARTS COMMON OBSTACLES Handrail, half pipe, quarter pipe, funbox

Skate deck (1)

Trucks (2)

Risers (2)

Hardware (8)

PAUL DUARTE

Bearings (8)

Wheels (4)

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NEW KID ON THE BLOCK A whole new generation of skateboarders is taking control.

They’re athletic, focused, disciplined – and love competition. Sakura Yosozumi is one of the sport’s brightest new heroes. Here she explains why bloody knees aren’t her thing and how origami makes her a better skater Words HISANORI KATO

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S K AT E B O A R D I N G / S A K U R A Y O S O Z U M I

S

kateboarders in the 1970s

were usually considered misfits.

This was especially the case in California, where the sport was invented, and where the Z-Boys crew (named after the Zephyr Surf Shop in Santa Monica) were notorious for their guerrilla approach to the sport. They would scour their neighbourhood looking for empty swimming pools to use as secret skateparks, sometimes even carrying pumps with them to drain the last drops of scummy water. Coinciding with the advent of punk music, which was a perfect match with new and aggressive style of skateboarding associated with the Z-Boys, this nascent and edgy subculture soon took the USA and the world by storm.

Today, skateboarding still has an aura of rebellion about it, even though it’s become established as a mainstream sport that features in the some of the world’s biggest events. In recent years, a new generation of skateboarders has sprung up, with its practitioners focused on the sport’s athletic and competitive nature instead of its old subcultural elements.

JASON HALAYKO/ RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Child prodigy

Sakura Yosozumi is an up-and-coming skateboarder from Wakayama, Japan

THE RED BULLETIN

One of the most promising stars coming out of skateboarding’s bold new era is Sakura Yosozumi.

She started her journey at the age of 11. After three years of honing her craft, she won the All Japan Ladies Skateboarding Championship, followed by victories in major international competitions, including the Vans Park Series, the X-Games and the Park Skateboarding World Championship.

For a 19-year-old, that’s quite an impressive inventory of achievements. So where does she get her love for crazy tricks and this steely determination to be the best skateboarder from, you

might wonder? The answer can be found in her childhood. At the moment when her older brother, who is 13 years older than her, picked up his skateboard.

Getting hooked

“We used to play together a lot, but once he got hooked on skateboarding, he didn’t have time for me anymore,” says Yosozumi with a grin. “I thought that if I get good at skating, he’d hang out with me again.”

Sure enough, her plan worked.

“Even when I was starting out, I could easily jump over a plastic bottle – that impressed my brother,” she says. “At first, I just wanted him to pay attention to me, but at some point, I just wanted to improve.” That’s when her passion for skateboarding went into overdrive. She began getting out of bed at 6am each day to practise before school.

After a year of hard training, Yosozumi was certain: she wanted to become a skateboard pro. But her dream didn’t fall on sympathetic ears initially because her parents – like most – weren’t fond of the idea.

The objection from her parents stemmed from the fact that Japan’s skateboarding scene is still very male-dominated. They felt like it was a too-dangerous hobby for her and that the daredevil image of the sport wouldn’t suit their little girl. As her parents didn’t want to simply prohibit her from skateboarding, they gave her challenges they thought were unachievable, such as executing a trick which involved jumping over a plastic bottle 50 times in a day. If she managed to complete their tasks, she was allowed to continue.

Yosozumi easily cleared every one of their challenges – and instead of discouraging her, they improved her technique.

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S K AT E B O A R D I N G / S A K U R A Y O S O Z U M I

Against all odds

Yosozumi’s parents watched with astonishment and gave in. If they couldn’t stop her skateboarding, they decided the best course of action was to give her their full backing. They wouldn’t do things by half-measures, either, and they hired a construction company to pour concrete over their garden to build their daughter her own skatepark.

But the Yosozumi family soon ran into obstacles in the form of financial difficulties. It’s easy to think that all you need to go skateboarding is the board, but that doesn’t help you achieve the status of a top athlete. A board can end up worn out after a few days of intense practice. Plus, there were the travelling costs.

As she outgrew the skatepark in her back garden, her mother drove her to a bigger park located in Osaka – a one-hour drive away from their home in Wakayama – almost every day. The costs associated with those journeys soon started to add up quite substantially, and the savings that the family set aside for skateboarding were quickly depleted. But against all odds, Yosozumi kept pushing forward.

She was invited to take part in a high-profile competition overseas and won. The prize money from that victory allowed her to attend another big tournament, so she gradually started getting sponsored by companies and was able to concentrate solely on competing.

Yosozumi enjoys the new freedom of having her very own skatepark (above) to prepare for the event this summer

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Next generation

Yosozumi is driven to take part in contests and improve her skills while avoiding injuries. This would be considered lame by skateboarders from the 1980s and ’90s, but she’s undeterred.

“Skateboard magazines sometimes show pictures of skaters covered in blood – that’s a part of the culture,” she says.

“People who think that’s cool are probably more ‘street’ than me, but I think it’s scary – I don’t want to get hurt. Also, I promised my parents that I would always wear [protective] gear. I just want to enter as many events as possible.”

As a result, Yosozumi doesn’t live the hedonistic life often seen

in skateboard videos. When she wants to take a break from her tough training schedule – a minimum of five hours of every day – instead of partying, she does origami. (“My grandmother taught me that origami is a way to keep my calm and in control of my mind.”) She also plays with her brother’s children, and sharing her skateboarding skills with the next generation is one of her goals outside of her career.

“One day I want to teach kids that age to skateboard,” she says.

“I want to see one of my future students reach the top as well.”

That ambition might have been accelerated by chance as a result of the pandemic. With skateparks THE RED BULLETIN

S K AT E B O A R D I N G / S P O R T S G U I D E In 2018, Yosozumi won a gold medal in the park event of the Asian Games in Indonesia

JASON HALAYKO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Get on your skateboard

closed, Yosozumi asked around and found a sake distillery that allowed her to turn a warehouse into a skatepark. With a range of ramps, it’s the ideal place to prepare for this year’s big event.

“Right now, I’m busy training,” she says. “But one day I’d love to use the space to hold skateboard workshops for kids if possible.”

This is the kind of positivity her parents wanted for their daughter, and it’s why they named her Sakura, which means cherry blossom in Japanese. “We wanted her to be [like] a cherry blossom that never wilts and is always is in bloom,” says her mother. With Yosozumi’s career on the up, that name seems like a wise choice.

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1. Bashi Burger Chance Kawaguchi Bashi Burger Chance Kawaguchi is where you’ll find Sakura when she’s in Tokyo. “It’s easier to concentrate and get a good session in at spots that I’m used to,” she says.

“That’s why I always come here when I’m in the Kanto. Not only does Bashi Burger have great facilities, you can also have delicious burgers during practice.

And Bashi, the owner, is the best! It’s like a dream spot for skaters and BMX riders!”

The location also offers classes once a month for both kids and adults to learn skateboarding and BMX riding.

Address: 332-0003 Saitama, Kawaguchi 5–15–14, Higashiryoke

2. Kugenuma Seaside Park Skate Park This is the largest skateboarding and BMX facility on the Kanto plain. The vast 15,000 square-metre space is equipped with a variety of sections, large and small, for all levels, from beginner right up to top street skater. In November of 2018, construction of the Kugenuma Combi Pool, one of the largest skate bowls in Japan, was completed.

Located basically on the Kugenuma coast, it is also a choice destination to get out and enjoy nature.

Address: 251-0037 Kanagawa, Fujisawa 4– 4–1, Kugenumakaigan

3. Komazawa Skate Park In the Komazawa Olympic Park in Setagaya Ward lies the Komazawa Skate Park.

It consists of ramps, kickers, benches and manny pads, Here’s the best thing: It’s free to use. And because it’s close to the Shibuya and Harajuku fashion areas, it’s a gathering spot for some of Tokyo’s most interesting street skaters. It’s also a place where you can see members of the new generation of skateboarders doing their thing.

Address: 154-0013 Tokyo, Setagaya City, 1–1 Komazawakoen

Tochigi Gunma Ibaraki Saitama 1

Tokyo

3

Kanagawa 2

Chiba

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A. Pads Vital gear Yosozumi always wears while skating, a nonnegotiable promise made to her parents.

A

B. Mouthguard “I’ve been using this since my dentist told me that I can exert more power with it.

Also, it is my lucky colour – pink.”

C C&F. Tools “I always carry these with me because I need them to assemble a deck.”

D. Wax This is used on the deck and trucks for grinding and sliding on rails and boxes.

“Rubbing this on the parts allows me to slide smoother with less frictional resistance. I’ve used it a lot, so it’s hard to tell what it is, but when I bought it was a cute bear shape.”

E. Keychain “I’ve been teaching girls younger than me how to skateboard lately. One of those girls gave me this keychain as a gift, and she even wrote my name on it.”

D

E B

F

What’s in Sakura Yosozumi’s bag when she goes to work?

FLIPPING GEAR 48

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S K AT E B O A R D I N G / S A K U R A Y O S O Z U M I

L

G

K G. Glove Worn during warm-ups and when assembling a deck for safety. “I like for the gloves to have holes in the fingertips so I can do more detailed work.”

H. Contact lenses “Parks near the sea have strong winds that make my contacts come out, so I always carry one-day type back-ups with me.”

H M

I. Adhesive bandages “When you do grab tricks [where your hands touch the board], sometimes your hand gets cut, so I always carry some bandages in my pocket with me.”

I

J

J. Compress K. Skatepark ticket L. Tape

N

THE RED BULLETIN

YUSUKE KASHIWAZAKI

M. Hair band N. Stickers “I carry stickers from my sponsors to put on my deck in case one comes off while performing a trick.”

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BMX

MARK ALLEN MILLER

MEET THE HOPEFULS, LEARN THE BASICS, FIND THE HOTSPOTS

IN THIS SECTION

Saya Sakakibara faces her big challenge alone on page 52 and Rim Nakamura lives up to his name on page 58.

THE RED BULLETIN

51

B M X / S AYA S A K A K I B A R A

CHASING SAYA

The going had to get tough for 21-year-old BMX superstar Saya Sakakibara to really get going. Here’s how her brother’s bike accident made her more mindful – and faster than ever Words BEN SMITHURST

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THE RED BULLETIN

I

n January, 2020, BMX racer Saya Sakakibara was at a BMX track near her home in Helensburgh – 40km south of Sydney, Australia – with her brother, Kai. When we met up with the siblings there for an interview and photoshoot, they were among the top 10 BMX racers in the world and brimming with excitement in anticipation of the months ahead. The top goal, of course, was winning a medal in Tokyo.

But two months later the circumstances changed drastically. All events were postponed or cancelled and Kai, at 23, was fighting for his life after a sickening mid-race crash ruined his chances of riding his bike competitively – and, perhaps, ever again.

Not for the faint hearted

ANDY GREEN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

“BMX racing is a contact sport,” said Saya on that hot day in 2020 before tragedy hit. “It gets violent. Eight riders, everyone’s trying to win. It’s carnage.” Her brother added: “It does feel like a fight, especially in the first two-and-a-half seconds – it’s a battle to get to that bottom of the hill and in front of the person next to you.”

BMX racing: it’s not for the faint hearted. Pro BMX events are held on Motocross-style tracks, 300m-400m in length, over berms and whoops and jumps. Each race begins with the field jostling for position down an eight-metre entry ramp into their first jump, a 10-metre gap. Tangles are common: handlebars, elbows, knees. Launching skywards at 55kph, one rider’s pedal interlocked with an adjacent bike’s frame, results in spectacular crashes. Races are 30-second adrenaline hits. Mayhem is unavoidable; THE RED BULLETIN

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B M X / S AYA S A K A K I B A R A

Saya Sakakibara’s brother Kai crashed his BMX last year and suffered serious injuries

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it’s part of the sport’s thrill.

“But I think that’s the beauty of BMX,” said Saya. “There’s a lot of unknowns.”

BMX racing has been an official event since 2008, but Freestyle BMX will make its debut in Tokyo. “Introducing Freestyle into the Olympics is not a mistake at all,” said Saya, “but I feel like, if you have more knowledge of BMX, racing is still cooler.”

Born to a Japanese mother and British father, the

Sakakibaras have always been about as different as two siblings could be, even if they’re both pro athletes.

From the start, Saya was an overachiever. But Kai – older, fastidious and obsessive – was a committed over-analyser.

Sibling symbiosis

Saya and Kai’s relationship had its tensions. As in most sports, graduating to the elite division is a baptism of fire.

Three years Saya’s senior, Kai

reached the professional ranks before his sister. His was a typical story of rookie shock: clambering onto to the main stage only to be pole-axed by the big boys.

He was slowly learning to compete on the big stage.

Elite-level rookie success seemed impossible at the time for Saya. “It wasn’t for me,” she said. But even though she was still a rookie at the time, Saya managed to claim Junior Elite BMX Supercross podium THE RED BULLETIN

“I HAVE DREAMS ABOUT CONTESTS. AND EVERY TIME I VISUALIZE MY RUN, I GET SUPER NERVOUS.” was just like, why does she train half as much as me, but is so good?” he said.

Kai had talent and a monster work ethic. Saya had incandescent talent, but a tendency to rest on her laurels. With the big event looming, though, they realised that they’d only be able to succeed if they figured out how to get the best out of each other. For example, Kai would introduce Saya to new routines, such as consuming protein powder supplements after training, while she would calm him down during contests when he felt tense.

Saya took Kai’s advice to heart. She trained and trained. She visualised and diarised. Slowly, things started to come together in 2019, and her performance level improved and became steadier with each event.

literally. No coach, no teammates and, most crucially, no brother. When events called off, she decided to knuckle down. “Before,” she says now, “I was very much piggybacking off Kai. Just plodding along, doing what I needed to do. All these years I’ve grown up having an older brother and now it feels like those roles have changed and I don’t have that person to rely on anymore. I struggled with that – sometimes I still do.”

More ready than ever

By necessity, says Saya, she’s “kind of inherited Kai’s more intense characteristics” – being more independent and more self-driven, and keeping

herself accountable for every aspect of her training schedule and her personal life. “Kai was motivating us as well as motivating himself,” she says.

“But now I need to own it.”

It was tough year for the athlete and blanking out her brother’s accident during training has proven understandably difficult.

“I was worried about what would happen when I had my next crash,” she says.

But that hasn’t happened yet.

And for now, Saya considers herself ready to take on the challenge of representing Australia this summer – more ready than ever. “What I can say,” she says, ominously, “is that I’m definitely faster now than I was last year.”

ANDY GREEN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

On her own

places at her two World Cup appearances, finishing with four podiums in her first year.

And she missed only two finals. Amazingly, in the final event of her rookie year, Saya scored first place. “I wouldn’t really say I was coasting, but I definitely didn’t expect it,” she said. “I definitely wasn’t, you know, going after it.”

According to Saya, her big brother was frustrated, irritated and even a little rude about Saya’s early success. “It THE RED BULLETIN

Then disaster struck. On a windy February 2020 day at a World Cup event in Bathurst, Australia, Kai went down heavily, his bike folding beneath him. Saya – who was awaiting her own race – saw him fall. A year after Kai’s crash, the recollection remains raw for Saya. “I knew it was bad,” she tells us over the phone. “I knew straightaway.”

After his crash, Kai was airlifted to an intensive care unit in Canberra with critical head injuries. He didn’t leave that hospital for two months.

Kai’s recovery – what Saya calls his “new normal” – is painstaking. Re-learning to use his limbs, being able to speak and dealing with alienlooking equipment.

All through the pandemic, Saya trained alone – often 55

B M X / E D U C AT I O N

THE RED BULLETIN’S GUIDE TO

BMX

What you need to know about the competition in a nutshell

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CATEGORIES

COMPETITORS

PARK

RACE

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Riders perform tricks over ramps and transitions.

Participants: 18 (9 men; 9 women) Competition structure: 2 runs per rider 1 minute per run Scoring: 5 judges use a 0-99 point scale to score both runs (the average of the score from both runs decides each rider’s final score) Criteria: Style Height Variety of tricks Creativity Originality

The goal is to cross the finish line before anyone else. Tricks aren’t taken into account and speed is the only factor that matters.

Participants: 48 (24 men; 24 women) Race time: Around 40 seconds Competition structure: Quarter-finals: 24 athletes (4 heats of 6 riders) Semi-finals: 16 athletes (2 heats of 8 riders) Finals: 8 athletes

• •

33 men 33 women

FORMAT 18/48 athletes

• • • • •

compete in each category; two overall winners from each gender

BMX RACING CLOTHING AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT Helmet: Full-face, with padding and mouthguard Clothing: Gloves, long-sleeve jersey, long trousers Footwear: Closed-toe shoes

• • •

THE TRACK Overall length: 370 m (men); 350 m (women) Start ramp: 8m high First straight 8-10m wide Rest of the track: No thinner than 5m wide at any point

THE FLAGS: Green flag: The course is not obstructed and racing can begin Yellow flag: The course is obstructed, competitors should be held at the gate Red flag: All competitors must stop racing instantly and return to the start to await further instructions

TRICKS (PARK)

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PAUL DUARTE

1. TAILWHIP 2. BACKFLIP 3. TOBOGGAN 4. BARSPIN 5. DOUBLE PEG 5

THE RED BULLETIN

RISING HIGH

Kyoto might not be the epicentre of BMX culture, but that hasn’t kept Rim Nakamura from chasing his dream. Here, the rising rider explains how his name shaped his career and why motivation can make up for natural disadvantages Words MIKE SUNDA

SUGURU SAITO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

BMX/RIM NAKAMURA

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BMX/RIM NAKAMURA

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early two decades ago, Rim Nakamura’s father picked out two kanji characters [Chinese characters used in Japanese writing] for his son’s first name that reflected his own long-standing passion for all things BMX: “wheel” and “dream”. It’s these two characters that comprise the name Rim, and, as the 19-year-old Japanese rising star goes from strength to strength, lighting up competitions throughout the world with his incredible combinations of tricks, there could not be a more textbook example of nominative determinism in action.

Not only that, but as he prepares for the big competition in his home country, in the year that freestyle BMX makes its big debut, it’s also remarkably prescient that the first character in Nakamura’s first name has another meaning that would seem to suggest that fate is in his favour when it comes to this summer’s most anticipated sporting event: “ring”.

“I get asked this a lot recently,” explains his father, Casa Nakamura. “I never thought about all of that when I gave him the characters for his name.

But I do think I did a good job in choosing them!”

Like father, like son

It’s fair to say that Nakamura senior deserves to give himself a pat on the back, even if he’d probably point out that his son’s accomplishments have resulted from a combination of absolute talent and sheer hard work, rather than merely that fortuitous name. But his father has been an ever-present pivotal figure in Nakamura’s life, and integral to his son’s interest in all things BMX. An institution in their hometown of Kyoto, Casa built a skatepark for local university students by hand, and the BMX shop that he still runs to this day continues to be a beacon for all the riders in the neighbourhood’s BMX community. It was in this niche that Nakamura was raised.

“I’ve been BMXing since I was three years old – it’s something I’ve been doing my whole life,” he explains. “From as far back as I can remember, I would be in my dad’s shop with my friends, where we’d watch BMX DVDs and hang out. Even when

”THERE’S SOMETHING ‘COOL’ ABOUT BMX, IT’S ALL ABOUT CHALLENGING YOURSELF“ 60

JASON HALAYKO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

BMX/RIM NAKAMURA

I was still in school, it was a completely separate world to my school life. BMX was my world.”

It’s rare to hear stories comparable to Nakamura’s. The culture surrounding BMX in Japan remains one that exists firmly outside of the mainstream, and its community is a tight-knit one, attracting fervent enthusiasts rather than fairweather riders. “If the environment here was better, then the level [among local riders] would naturally be higher,” Nakamura suggests. “There isn’t much infrastructure around, so even if you buy a BMX, there aren’t enough places to practise, and that doesn’t help the scene’s growth. I hear a lot about places like California and the Gold Coast in Australia, where the environment for BMX is great and the level is really high as a result.”

But inclusion in the big events is helping the sport attract a broader audience. The second annual Ark League, an international competition in Samukawa, Kanagawa, comprising flatland BMX,

skateboarding and breakdance competitions, attracted an audience of 25,000 people over three days in 2019, and recent public demonstrations of flatland BMX in prominent areas like Shibuya’s Stream Square will only help raise awareness.

Innocence and experience

Nakamura, however, has had a head start, inheriting his father’s love for BMX, and then also finding himself inspired by big-name international riders that would occasionally pass through Japan.

“Dennis Enarson has long been a favourite of mine,” Nakamura says. “I saw him live in the flesh when I was younger, when he came to Kyoto, to our local skatepark. Watching him, you get the feeling like there’s absolutely nothing that he isn’t able to do. He can do everything. That’s something I aspire to, also.”

Nakamura speaks with such youthful exuberance and single-minded passion about the sport of BMX that it’s easy to think of him as someone taking his

HOW TO BECOME SUPERMAN The Superman is one of the most iconic air tricks in any freestyle BMX rider’s repertoire, but it’s also a trick that requires serious panache to pull off. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

3

As you’re jumping, at the peak of your elevation, kick your legs out backwards.

1 As you go up the lip, pull up and back hard enough that you’ll get extra air than normal.

4

As you snap your elbows and knees, bring your bike back down.

5 Go straight back to your pedals.

RIM NAKAMURA’S ADVICE: “The most important thing about the Superman trick is you really want to look like Superman. It’s a simple trick on paper, but if there’s any bend at all in your arms or legs, it doesn’t look cool, so you need to make sure you’re completely straight!”

PAUL DUARTE

2

Push your arms forward horizontally, forming a straight line.

BMX/SPORTS GUIDE 2

first steps into the competitive arena, but his attitude belies the wealth of experience that he already has under his belt.

Despite his young age, he’s already registered major victories at domestic tournaments such as the All Japan Championships in 2016, and the prestige of an X Games gold medal only narrowly evaded him at Minneapolis 2019, when he came second in BMX Park. “My main goal has always been to win at the X Games, and that’s something that I’m striving towards constantly,” he says. “It’s just a case of training, being disciplined, and utilising the experience that I’m constantly building up.”

Kita 1

Nerima

GARTH MILAN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Taito

Sumida Edogawa

Shinjuku

Suginami

Chiyoda Shibuya

Chuo

Koto

Minato

3

Setagaya Meguro Shinagawa

Ota

The BMX spots where Rim rides 1. Murasaki Park Tokyo Murasaki Park is one of Rim’s favourite BMX spots in Tokyo, and home to a strong local community that often congregates there.

Located in an area called Kita-Senju, the outdoor skatepark boasts a larger repertoire of street and transition obstacles than most, and lays claim to a four-metre vert ramp that’s much bigger than other ramps in the city’s other parks.

There’s also a section for inline, with spines, jump ramps and banks that are lined up, park style, making this one of the city’s best locations for beginners and advanced BMX riders alike.

Address: 120-0024 Tokyo, Senjusekiyacho, 19−1 Amazing Square

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Bunkyo

Nakano

Katsushikaiku

Arakawa

Toshima

Pushing the very limit

While eagerly training to achieve another big goal – a medal this summer – he suffered a tough setback: In September, he broke a bone in his left heel while filming a BMX video. “As soon as I hit the ground, I knew I broke my heel, and I was like, holy crap,” he says. After the surgery, he found himself on crutches with his foot in a brace. Only months before the Games, this could be a spirit-crushing outlook. But Nakamura found a way to use the unfortunate situation to his advantage. “I’ve never been a gym guy before, but due to the accident, I had to refocus, put all my effort to work on my physical fitness properly,” he says. “It was a great way to realise the importance of physical training. I feel very confident now.”

BMX in Japan might not yet compete with the sport’s traditional heartlands abroad, but it’s this kind of indestructible positive attitude that sets Nakamura apart from many of his international peers. His motivations even transcend the material side of the sport. “Of course, there’s something inherently ‘cool’ about BMX, but more than that, it’s about challenging yourself to do things that you wouldn’t think you’re able to do,” says Nakamura.

“It’s about finding the satisfaction of accomplishing things that you’ve been practising for so long and pushing yourself to the very limit.”

Adachi

Itabashi

2. Trinity B3 Skate Park Easily accessible from some of Tokyo’s biggest transit hubs like Ikebukuro and Shinjuku, Trinity B3 is an all-weather indoor skate park in Itabashi that caters to practitioners of all types of action sports, and across all levels.

They also have a school with instructors for both street and flatland styles of BMX, making this a great spot for young budding riders.

Address: 174-0041 Tokyo, Itabashi, Funado 4–12–20

3. Setagaya Skate Park Whereas the majority of public parks in Tokyo are notorious for their ubiquity of signs that decry ‘no ball games’, ‘no skateboarding’, and, essentially, no fun, Setagaya park is both delightfully idiosyncratic and also still conveniently located in the west of the city. It’s home to a mini steam train that loops around the park grounds (a favourite for small children), a DIY playground for older kids and a skatepark that has a flatrail, a manny pad and lots of curb to grind on, making this a great option for a quick ride at weekends.

Address: 154-0001 Tokyo, Setagaya, Ikejiri 1–5–27

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COMMITTED. There’s only one way to reach the top. You try and try again. There’s always failure. You learn from your past mistakes. Train some more. Gain experience. Then you try harder. Fail and fall again. You take a beating. Get hurt. And keep coming back. But in the end, when you pull past the point of no return, steady your breath, and stare down what’s between you and success, you know what you have to do. Commit. We know what it takes. At Black Diamond, we’re committed to catching the falls along the way.

BD Athlete Adam Ondra, Hachioji, Japan

Lukas Biba

CLIMBING MEET THE HOPEFULS, LEARN THE BASICS, FIND THE HOTSPOTS

MARK ALLEN MILLER

IN THIS SECTION

Shauna Coxsey reveals how injuries make her stronger on page 66 and Kai Harada explains why setting himself new challenges helps him achieve his goals on page 76.

THE RED BULLETIN

65

CLIMBING/SHAUNA COXSEY

THE ONLY WAY IS UP Shauna Coxey’s bouldering skills have made her the UK’s most successful competition climber. Now she faces a new challenge: This summer, Coxey and her peers will compete in three disciplines, two of which she has no high-level experience in. This is the story of a world champion that had to become a student again. Words MATT BLAKE Photography RICK GUEST

Gripping stuff: Coxsey has her eye on the gold medal

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CLIMBING/SHAUNA COXSEY

“IT’S ONLY 20 PER CENT ABOUT STRENGTH” 68

hauna Coxsey has no respect for gravity. The most successful competitive climber in British history has spent her entire life flouting the Earth’s planetary pull. Right now, she’s dangling breezily from an overhanging wedge of artificial rock at a bouldering cavern in Plymouth, Devon. Yet Coxsey seems as relaxed as a bat at bedtime.

She hoiks her right foot onto a fluorescent pink handhold above her head, sways her body right, then left to gain momentum – setting her long, blonde ponytail swinging like a pendulum – and launches herself into the air with a dynamic move that appears to be another breach of natural law.

Then, using just three fingers on her right hand, she catches herself on a hold the size of a hot cross bun. Climbers call this a ‘dyno’, but to mere mortals she might as well be flying.

The 28-year-old from Runcorn, Cheshire, is the best female climber there is right now.

Or, more accurately, the best female boulderer. Bouldering is a climbing discipline that involves the gymnastic negotiation of short routes, or ‘problems’, close to the ground and without a rope. This demanding sport THE RED BULLETIN

requires climbers to think quickly in competition to plot a route to the top of a wall, against the clock – and Coxsey excels at it.

In June 2017, she won the Women’s Bouldering title at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup for the second year in a row.

Then, in 2019, she won two bronze medals at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Hachioji, Japan, in bouldering and the combined event. She’s also the third woman ever to scale a V14-difficulty rock face.

Oh, and she has an MBE for services to the sport.

THE RED BULLETIN

Three is the magic number

But, surprisingly for someone at the forefront of a professional sport, when in August 2016 it was announced that climbing would make its debut this summer, Coxsey knew that she would have to become a student again for what will be, without doubt, the toughest test of her career so far. The catch is: athletes must compete in three separate climbing disciplines – lead, speed and bouldering – and Coxsey has almost no top-level experience in two of them. “It’s like asking Usain Bolt to run a marathon, then do an egg-and-spoon race,” she

laughs. “They’re not just different disciplines, they’re completely different sports.”

Unlike bouldering, lead climbing requires competitors to tether themselves to a 15m wall for safety as they climb as high as they can. Competitive lead-climbing events were first established in the mid-’80s in Italy and were staged on real rock, but in their modern form they take place on towering, eye-catching structures. Then there’s speed climbing, which is not only the oldest of the disciplines – its competitive origins date back to 1940s Russia – but also the most explosive as climbers scurry up 15m-high walls in under eight seconds.

The triathlon format has proved controversial; purists have branded it a gimmick that ridicules the art of each specialist discipline. But, after a lot of thought, Coxsey has accepted the challenge. “In a lot of ways it makes sense,” she says. “It will showcase our sport. And I never imagined in my wildest dreams that climbing would be an Olympic sport. It’s such a young sport. This is like someone going, ‘Oh, you can go to Mars if you want.’ It feels that unlikely.”

Coxsey decided to approach the task with characteristic gusto.

“I can’t think of one person who stands out in all three disciplines. But I’ve always been a person who, if I’m motivated to do something, is willing to give 110 per cent.”

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Coxsey has been climbing since the age of four

CLIMBING/SHAUNA COXSEY

“IT’S ALMOST LIKE PLAYING CHESS AGAINST THE WALL”

Finding her forte

Coxsey has always been this way when it comes to her sport.

“Asking me what I love about climbing is like asking someone why they like walking or breathing,” she shrugs. Her obsession began at the age of four. “She was sat on my knee, watching TV,” recalls her dad Mike, an IT consultant. “And a film about [French freeclimber] Catherine Destivelle came on.

Shauna looked up at me and said, ‘Daddy, can I do that?’ I said, ‘I don’t see why not.’” And so it began. “It became a thing we did on a Sunday,” recalls Mike.

“She’d come over and we’d spend all day climbing. She wanted to learn. She never tired of it. Not once.” They would spend the next decade driving across the UK, to and from competitions. As bouldering became more widely recognised as a distinct climbing discipline thanks to YouTube videos and specialist blogs, Coxsey was part of an explosion in popularity of this accessible, equipment-light sport. By the time she was 19, it was clear she had a rare ability to overcome its mental and physical tests, and she decided to spend her gap year seeing if she could make it as a pro. Nine years on, Coxsey still hasn’t made it to university. As well as advancing her own skills, she’s furthered her sport by founding the Women’s Climbing Symposium, an annual event aimed at inspiring more women to take up the sport that now attracts hundreds of female climbers each year.

Winning is about mind and body

So what makes Coxsey better than all those other dedicated climbers? “A lot of people think climbing is about upper body strength, but you don’t need to do a pull-up to climb a wall,” she says, before effortlessly performing a pull-up to prove her point. “Bouldering is only 20 per cent about strength. To win, you have to be in control of your mind even more than your body.

It’s about working out routes before you climb, like a puzzle.”

This, it seems, is one of the things that sets Coxsey apart from other climbers. “What makes Shauna the best isn’t her strength,” says her trainer and long-term friend Leah Crane. “It’s an understanding of the climb before she does it. It’s about route reading, finger strength and coordination. And it’s the ability to bring them out first go – not third go and not fifth go – that’s leaving everyone else behind.”

When Coxsey looks at a boulder, she doesn’t see a boulder but a Rubik’s Cube – unfurled and made of plywood and resin. And her ability to quickly solve these mental conundrums translates into physical grace: she doesn’t so much climb a wall as dance across it, swinging, twisting, thrusting and gliding. “When I’m on a wall, I’m not thinking about what I need to do because I’ve already worked it out,” she says. “It’s almost like playing chess against the wall. You’re always thinking two or three moves ahead.”

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CLIMBING/SHAUNA COXSEY

At 163cm tall, Coxsey is petite but strong, and her muscular grip and agility are key to her success

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There are few people who could be described as having athletic fingers, but Coxsey is one of them.

They’re key to her success, as well Coxsey knows from trying to get by without one of them. In January 2018, she snapped the tendon inside her right ring finger almost clean in half. “I was climbing outdoors and I went to go for a move and it went bang!

Actually, it was more of a pop; a really loud, satisfying pop.

Everyone heard it go. It turned out to be a rupture of my A2 pulley tendon.”

There aren’t many sports in which a pulled finger would be more disruptive. But Coxsey finds new possibilities in such setbacks.

“Injuries are always a blessing in disguise,” she says. “They give you an opportunity to work on something you wouldn’t otherwise have time for.”

That injury forced her to work on “glute strength, leg strength, explosivity”. That, and climbing one-handed. “Not being able to climb makes me want to climb even more,” she says. Over the years, the world champion has had plenty of practice at resisting

that urge. She’s broken her leg, dislocated shoulders, had a litany of muscle tears up and down her arms, damaged cartilage in her knees and ruptured fingers.

“If you can stay positive, you can make use of the time and come back stronger,” Coxsey says.

“I never want to come back and just be as good as I was – I want to come back better. And now I am.”

Learning and improving

Like many people, Coxsey saw her optimism tested in 2020.

When COVID-19 struck, events were called off and most climbing centres in the UK were closed.

On top of that, she and her fiancé, fellow climber Ned Feehally, had to postpone their wedding. “I am good at focusing on what I can control and accepting what I can’t,” she says. “For sure it hasn’t been easy during the pandemic, but I have been focusing on what I can train at home. Physically I am way fitter on the wall than I have ever been and that’s entirely down to my coaching team being so innovative and passionate.”

Although her training routine has changed in a lot of ways, her goals haven’t changed at all. “The focus still remains for me and my team to ensure that my body is as resilient as possible and that I feel healthy, fit, strong and, most importantly, happy [competing] across all three disciplines,” she explains.

A victory this year would be the pinnacle of a climbing career that already contains some extraordinary accomplishments, but Coxsey isn’t counting. So what is it about her approach that brings her so much success?

“The Games still feel so surreal to me and there is a lot of pressure,” she says. “But I just want to be the best possible climber I can be.

Learning and improving are all that motivate me.”

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HAIR AND MAKE-UP: KATIE BEVERIDGE USING CLINIQUE

Injuries are a blessing

C L I M B I N G / E D U C AT I O N

THE RED BULLETIN’S GUIDE TO

SPORT CLIMBING

What you need to know about the competition in a nutshell

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DISCIPLINES

FORMAT Athletes compete in

SPEED CLIMBING

COMPETITORS 20 men 20 women

BOULDERING

EQUIPMENT

WHAT IS IT ABOUT? Climb as many problems as possible in the least possible moves Wall height: 4m Rope: No Time restriction: Four minutes for each problem Skills needed: Power, flexibility, dynamic, technical

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

all three disciplines, one overall winner in each gender

SCORING Calculated by taking the multiplication of the climbers’ rankings in each climbing discipline, with the best score being the lowest one

Qualification round: 20 athletes Final round: 8 athletes

Two competitors; fastest to the top wins Wall height: 15m with 5-degree overhang Rope: Yes Time restriction: N/A. The current world record is 5.48s Skills needed: Athleticism, explosive power

Shoes

Harness

Belay device

Quickdraws

Rope

Chalk bag

SHOW THE ROPES

LEAD CLIMBING

LENGTH

Ropes range from 30-80m in length; a length of 60m is considered standard.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT? Climb as high as possible in the time limit Wall height: 15m with at least a 7m overhang Rope: Yes Time restriction: Six minutes Skills needed: Power, endurance

THICKNESS

Generally speaking, a thinner rope is lighter.

The diameter ranges from heavy-duty ropes (10-11mm) to standard (9.5-10mm) and skinny (8-9.5mm) being the weakest type.

COILING

Beginners use the butterfly coil to avoid twists; advanced climbers prefer the mountaineer’s coil.

HOLDS

1. PINCH 2. UNDERCLING 3. CRIMP 4. JUG 5. SLOPER 6. POCKET

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1 A hold you need to ‘pinch’ with the whole hand, requiring a lot of strength.

2 The hold’s grabby bit faces downwards, so bicep strength is beneficial.

3 A small and shallow hold that can only be held by the finger tips.

4 Shaped like a cupboard handle; only the fingers can fit inside.

5 A hold with no obvious gripping point, held using the friction of your hand.

6 Holds with an opening, grip with three or less fingers.

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BEYOND THE WALL Kai Harada has gone to great lengths to earn his reputation as one of Japan’s best young climbers, from setting himself mammoth challenges in the gym to fasting for two weeks – get to know him here Words MIKE SUNDA

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CLIMBING/KAI HARADA

S SUGURU SAITO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

hould you ever feel like you could do with a jaw drop, watch one of Kai Harada’s climbing videos.

There’s this particular one from the 2019 World Championship’s Men Finals in Hachioji, Japan, where Harada hangs in the overhanging wall, contemplates for a moment, looks up and then, with an energetic outburst, lunges onto a small hold one metre up and then pulls his body up with only two fingers. Gravity?

Absent, apparently. Even the commentator is flabbergasted: “Ohhh! I do not know how he held onto that,” he shouts.

“Breathtaking stuff from

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Kai Harada, you can see world champion calibre here.”

A year before that, the then 19-year-old Harada unexpectedly won the Bouldering Climbing World Championships 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria, beating title contenders like Adam Ondra and Tomoa Narasaki. For Harada, who’s admired by his peers for his quick moves and calmness during competitions, this victory marked the first first peak of a journey that started when he was ten years old in his home of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Now Harada is intent on establishing his name among the pantheon of climbing’s top stars.

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the red bulletin: How did you first get into climbing? kai harada: When I was young, I always loved playing outdoors, and I just loved sports in general.

It was actually by chance that I got into climbing at ten years old, when I went to a climbing gym near my house. I thought I’d just try it out, but from the first day I was hooked – I stayed there the whole day and that was it.

What did you enjoy about it?

It was just simply the thrill of climbing up something tall. It doesn’t take much more than that when you’re a kid.

my age at the climbing gym I went to – just guys in their twenties and thirties, but they were all welcoming and really supportive.

What was the climbing scene like back then?

It wasn’t popular at all back then – my friends had no idea what climbing even was. There basically weren’t any other kids

Why did you decide to start your own YouTube climbing channel? Was it to give back to the community?

The main thing was just that I wanted more people to know about climbing. I couldn’t find any other climbers making videos on YouTube, and I thought it could be useful for people getting into the sport. There’s more than just the competitive aspect, though – there’s also the beauty of the outdoors, along with all

“It’s going to be very special to compete at home” 78

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SUGURU SAITO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

CLIMBING/KAI HARADA

CLIMBING/SPORTS GUIDE

of those other amazing aspects that draw people to climbing too; they’re all important to share.

When did you realise that climbing could become more than just a hobby for you?

It’s actually only very recently that I started to think about dedicating myself and my future to the sport of climbing. I’ve been participating in competitions since I was in high school, but even then, I hadn’t thought about it as a career – that’s a decision that’s come about recently.

Taking any sport from hobby to pro level obviously requires an incredible amount of focus and training. How have you kept yourself motivated?

Since the very beginning it’s always been as simple as just setting myself challenges in the climbing gyms and then trying to overcome as many of them as possible. If it’s set up as a route in a gym, then I figure that it should be doable, so I always approach it from that perspective and then I get really annoyed if I’m not able to complete it. And then

that becomes the fun part in itself – figuring out what I need to do to overcome that challenge, and then the next one, and the one after that. It’s never-ending!

Speaking of taking on new challenges, is it true you undertook a two-week-long fast. What was that about?

It was actually my first time trying it, and it was not so much me doing it specifically for climbing-related reasons; rather, it was more of a holistic approach to making sure that my body was detoxed and to make sure that I’m physically in peak condition to then step up my training.

Tochigi Gunma Ibaraki Saitama

Is this something that athletes typicially do a lot in the climbing community?

I haven’t really heard of anyone else in my peer group doing similar – I think I’m the first!

How are you feeling about the big event ahead?

It’s going to be very special to compete at home, but I don’t feel any extra pressure in terms of expectations with it being here.

Tokyo Kanagawa

Chiba

Climb like Kai 1. B-PUMP Ogikubo Situated out west in the quiet confines of Ogikubo, B-Pump is one of the most wellknown climbing gyms in Tokyo, offering something for both beginners and seasoned climbers alike. “I like B-Pump because you can do everything there,” explains Harada.

“Whether it’s the size of the walls, or the breadth of inclines that you’re looking for, B-Pump has it all, which makes it somewhere I often go to train.”

Address: 167-0043 Tokyo, Suginami City, Kamiogi 1−10−12, Ogikubo Toa, 3F

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1 2

2. Rocky Climbing & Fitness Gym Of all Tokyo’s 23 wards, Shinjuku could be the one that least promotes a healthy lifestyle, given its reputation for nightlife.

But it’s also home to one of Tokyo’s largest climbing gyms, Rocky Climbing & Fitness Gym, which spreads over 500 square metres. Harada trains there frequently: “I just practised there today – it has relatively large walls and lots of inclines, which makes it great for the more punishing, physical aspects of training.”

Address: 162-0066 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, 14-6 Ichigayadaimachi, B1 79

GUIDE

TOKYO’S FINEST RESTAURANTS, (SPORTS) BARS AND NIGHT CLUBS

IN THIS SECTION

GETTY IMAGES

How to start your night on page 82, where to watch the action on page 90 and what to do for a big night out on page 92.

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EAT&D RIN K From intimate gig venues to fancy eateries and stunning rooftop bars, Tokyo has got it all.

C É L A V I T O K YO Even though Cé La Vi Tokyo opened quite recently (December 2019), it feels like a throwback to the sort of nightlife institutions that thrived during the city’s economic bubble in its hedonistic heyday of the late 1980s. With a smart-casual dress code, a panoramic cityscape view and a sophisticated mixology lounge, Cé La Vi Tokyo brings back an air of extravagance that was largely absent during the country’s so-called ‘lost decade’ that took place following the 82

Japanese asset price bubble’s collapse in late 1991 and early 1992. Try the bar’s signature cocktail, Nagomi, which uses generous amounts of top-quality matcha (green tea) powder from one of its spiritual homes, the hilly terrains of Uji in Kyoto, or their bao burgers, which feature premium ingredients like softshell crab and Japanese wagyu beef.

Tokyo’s branch of Singapore’s popular rooftop bar covers the the building’s 17th and 18th floor and offers stunning views of the Shibuya skyline

Address 150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Dogenzaka 1−2−3, Tokyu Plaza Shibuya 17F/18F Website celavitokyo.com

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E AT & D R I N K

A Z U M AYA Wander up the gentle slope of Dogenzaka, Shibuya’s main road for nightlife, and at the top, just off to the right-hand side, you’ll find O-East, a sizeable live music venue. Although known for attracting head-banging rockers to its frequent punk shows, these days you’ll also see a more unassuming crowd wearing stylish plain-black T-shirts and jeans. That’s because tucked inside O-East is Azumaya, a techno-oriented club space that’s at the forefront of a new wave of Tokyo’s music bars. The focus here is firmly on local DJs: from techno mainstays like Wata Igarashi to younger crews such as CYK, everyone gets a turn here. On top of all that, there are licensed sake sommeliers working behind the bar who will happily recommend bottles that aren’t listed on the menu.

Address 150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Dogenzaka 2−14−8, TSUTAYA O-EAST 2F Website azumaya.jp

LIVING ROOM CAFE Unless the founders of Living Room Cafe are living in a radically different world to the rest of us, its title is quite the misnomer.

Boasting a huge 1,200 square metres of floorspace and 300 seats, this live music venue in Shibuya is bigger than most Tokyoite’s apartments, let alone their living rooms. But the whole thing makes for a fantastically comfortable and convenient option for whenever you’re in the neighbourhood and fancy sitting down for a concert. The venue is split into six different sections, so ask to be seated in the Patio, which offers the best view of the stage, and from which you can expect to hear classically trained pianists and jazz ensembles in the vein of a classy hotel bar.

Built on the concept of artists inviting their friends into their apartment, Living Room Café is a unique gem, even at a place that is rich with live music venues like Shibuya

Address 150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Dogenzaka 2−29−5, Shibuya Prime 5F Website livingroomcafe.jp

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E AT & D R I N K

NISHIAZABU IMADOKI

TRIP BAR Since opening in October 2019, Trip Bar in Nishiazabu has claimed to be Tokyo’s first ever VDJ Bar and Lounge, which refers to a DJ that mixes tracks with a combination of both live visuals and audio. The former are displayed across seven different oversized screens throughout the bar, making this a multisensory experience even before you engage your taste buds – no wonder the menu skews towards attention-grabbing dishes, like a delightfully rich caviar and sea urchin tagliatelle, as well as a premium katsu sandwich made with the highest-quality Hida beef, from cattle raised in Gifu Prefecture.

Address 106-0031 Tokyo, Minato City, Nishiazabu 1−14−17, WAVE Nishiazabu 1-2F Website nishiazabu-tripbar.com

Imadoki is an example of an izakaya, a Japanese establishment that’s halfway between a restaurant and bar, where you’ll typically go with a group of friends and while away an evening by sharing numerous small plates of food and even more numerous rounds of drinks. This particular izakaya is swankier than most, located in central Tokyo’s Nishiazabu, one of the posher parts of town. The top-quality sashimi and wagyu beef on the menu is befitting of the location, but Imadoki’s surprising speciality is actually motsu-nabe, a hotpot filled with a variety of offal and tripe cooked in a style that originates from Hakata, Fukuoka, which is on the northern shore of Kyushu.

Address 106-0031 Tokyo, Minato City, Nishiazabu 2−25−19, BARBIZON28 1F Website imadoki.jp

MEZZO With its glitzy, golden sign and its location right in the ‘middle’ of Roppongi (from which it derives its Italian name of mezzo), this relatively new addition to the area’s bar scene is impossible to miss. Despite its upscale branding, the ambience on the ground floor is welcoming and unusually wholesome, with a fresh fruit buffet (to go with your fresh-fruit cocktails) available on weekdays. The upstairs is another story entirely, ramping up the exclusivity with a VIP members-only section that requires an exclusive PIN code to enter. Book ahead and reserve a table if that’s more the atmosphere you’re looking for – just make sure you have a notepad on hand to jot down your PIN code, which you’ll receive when you make the booking.

Go to Mezzo in Roppongi for exclusivity and fresh fruit; and don’t miss the venue’s exclusive bar upstairs that requires a PIN code to get in

Address 106-0032 Tokyo, Minato City, Roppongi 5−1−7, Roppongi Street Building 1F/2F Website mezzo.tokyo

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P L U S T O K YO Much like some of the obscure, exclusive bottles hidden away at the back of his bar, Japanese mixologist Shuzo Nagumo is a rare breed indeed.

Both an ideas man and an intensely driven entrepreneur who brings those ideas to life, Nagumo is learning that the success he’s found doing the latter has radically impacted his day-to-day routine.

“I used to spend hours every day dreaming up new cocktail creations,” says Nagumo. “Whereas now I can barely find time between running the business.”

It seems that Nagumo’s imagination is the thing that initially propelled him to stardom in the global bar scene, where he became known for cocktails that were brimming both with technical expertise and whimsical creativity.

In particular, it was his adventurous attempt to take the essence of savoury 86

foods and dishes, and turn them into cocktails – from a foie-gras-infused vodka martini to a Tom Yum Goonginspired mojito – that captured hearts and gluttonous palates alike.

“Because I have to be so efficient with all of my ideation, I’ve really gone from experimenting with all kinds of different ingredients behind the bar to then conceptualising the drinks in my mind, and making notes like crazy,” he says, referring to various examples on his smartphone, including a cacao-based cocktail that represents one of Nagumo’s latest brainwaves.

After working his way up from being a trainee bartender at Nobu London to reaching the top of his game and becoming a respected mixologist, Nagumo is currently responsible for six different bars across Tokyo, the business aspect of which now occupies much of his time. Each of these bars has their own identity, expressed by a specific

With crazy concotions like foie-gras-infused cocktails and cool concepts with a focus on sustainability, Shuzo Nagumo is a bona-fide innovator in Japan’s quirky bar scene

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E AT & D R I N K

”I used to spend hours every day dreaming up new cocktail creations” thematic direction: from Mixology Salon, in Ginza, which incorporates fresh green tea powder sourced directly from tea shops in the Japanese hinterlands in its signature cocktails, to PlusTokyo, which has a menu that uses the domestic staples of Shochu (typically distilled from rice, barley or sweet potatoes) and Awamori, an indigenous Okinawan beverage distilled from rice.

“These are Japanese products that are historically significant, but most people now only consume the cheap bottles, or order drinks like a lemon sour, where they’re mixed with fruit juice,” says Nagumo. “I want my customers to understand that there are all sorts of high-quality Shochu and Awamori, which informed the theme behind this bar.”

To that extent, Nagumo frequently travels all around Japan, visiting local distilleries and educating their staff about the sort of products they should be aiming to make, both for bartenders such as him, and to keep up to date with current consumer trends.

With the opening of several more bars in the very near future, Nagumo is also managing to turn his attention to something that his industry is grappling with all around the world: sustainability.

“Whether it’s the bottles that the beverages themselves are packaged in or the use of certain ingredients, all kinds of bars around the world are far from being sustainable or environmentally friendly, and it’s a real challenge to turn that around,” he explains.

With his newest venture, Nagumo translates this philosophy into action: at memento mori (Latin for ‘remember that you must die’), his focus lays on pairing the use of fresh herbs and locally grown botanicals with avoiding packaging and material that isn’t recycleable – an innovative approach that once again affirms Nagumo’s role as a visionary of the Tokyo bar scene.

B OTA N I CA L WING A recipe by Shuzo Nagumo 40ml NEMA (non-alcoholic gin) 5ml Lemon juice 5ml Fresh ginger juice 120ml Red Bull Moderate amount of mint leaves or mint purée (to taste) Pour the ingredients in the above order into a glass with ice, gently mix together, and then garnish with the herbs in a bouquet.

This tastes like a nonalcoholic version of the Garden Buck cocktail.

Type of glass: Tumbler Type of ice: Crushed

Address 104-0061 Tokyo, Ginza 1−8−19, Kirarito Ginza 12F/RF Website plustyo.com THE RED BULLETIN

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UORIKI SHIBUYAYOKOCH0 The Shibuya Yokocho, or Shibu-Yoko for short, is a long stretch of drinking establishments and eateries that runs adjacent to the recently developed Miyashita Park shopping complex, and arguably rivals any yokocho in Tokyo for sheer selection and variety. Whether it’s regional ingredients flown in from deepest Hokkaido or Okinawan specialities true to the island’s food culture, you can run the gamut of Japanese cuisine in the hundred-or-so metres that comprise Shibu-Yoko. If you don’t want to move even a little, then just sit yourself down at Uoriki and let them 88

bring you a selection of fresh fish that will cover the length and breadth of the country. They receive the freshest supplies directly from all across Japan, from fugu (blowfish) from Yamaguchi and oysters from Hiroshima, through to a delicious soup stewed from monkfish caught in Kuji, making for a dining experience that will undoubtedly include some rarities to delight even the most well-travelled connoisseurs.

Uoriki is every fish lover’s dream come true, serving delicacies from all over the country

Address 150-0001 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Jingumae 6−20−10, South 1F Rayard Miyashita Park Website mitsui-shopping-park.com/urban/miyashita/ store/1568925.html

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NIKUMARUEN N I K U YO KO C H O From the giant ‘niku’ (‘meat’) kanji character that makes up the restaurant’s logo to the way that it describes itself as a ‘theme park for meat’, Nikumaruen is truly a carnivorous affair that eschews subtlety in every aspect of its being. Any first-time visitor should try the shimofuri-don – a dish truly representative of the restaurant’s philosophy, comprising a rice bowl topped with hearty amounts of raw mincemeat and garnished with a raw egg yolk. Follow this up with some of their giant-sized cuts of fried chicken, which are served with wasabi-infused mayonnaise, and wash it all down with anything that takes your fancy under the establishment’s reasonably priced all-you-can-drink policy. You can find Nikumaruen, unsurprisingly, bang in the middle of Shibuya’s niku-yokocho (‘meat street’) – where else could it be?

Address 150-0042 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Udagawacho 13−8, 2F/3F Website nikuyokocho.jp/shop/shop-maruen/

NIKUSUSHI S H I B U YA DOGENZAKA As the restaurant’s moniker suggests, Nikusushi is an izakaya-style eatery that serves the finest cuts of raw meat in the style of sushi. Wagyu beef is very much the name of the game for the most part – renowned around the world for its exquisite marbling, it’s impossible not to be struck by the sheer aesthetic beauty of the cuts of meat when they’re served raw, and the taste is even better. That’s not to say that there isn’t more to the menu: just as a sushi chef would serve up the freshest fish based on seasonality, the Nikusushi chefs are always updating their specials – last summer, their recommendation was a hearty plate of raw horse-meat to keep the body full of nutrients.

The chefs at Nikusushi use a unique cooking method called “vacuum lowtemperature cooking” for their meaty sushi dishes

Address 150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Dogenzaka 1−11−2, 1/2/3F Website nikusushi.ne.jp/shoplist/dougenzaka THE RED BULLETIN

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WATCH

Soccer, screens and drinks. The holy trinity of sports bars is alive and well in Tokyo with British and American pubs If you want to enjoy watching football, rugby and baseball games with likeminded sport fans, look no further than British-style pub, Hub 82, which has around 110 stores in Japan

Get your fill of Americana at Hooters at several locations in Tokyo and watch a litany of sports at Dazn Circle in Shibuya or 99 Sports Bar in Minato City

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WAT C H

TA S U I C H I HUB+82 S H I B U YA PA R C O BRANCH In a city where you could drink at a different bar every night and still never run out of options, it might seem strange that one of the most well-known and well-loved institutions is actually a chain of faux-British pubs called Hub. But there’s something inherently appealing about Hub’s kitschy take on British pub culture, both when it replicates it accurately (a range of perfectly poured pints) and also when it throws a cultural curveball, such as offering deep-fried spaghetti as one of its go-to beer snacks.

And if you go often enough, you might even find yourself eligible for Hub’s coveted gold card, which is surely the coolest loyalty club in town.

Address 150-8377 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Udagawacho 15−1, Shibuya PARCO B1F Website pub-hub.com FURTHER BRANCH: HUB SHIBUYA CENTER-GAI BRANCH Address: 150-0042 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Udagawacho 22−2 SHIBUYA NISHIMURA SOUHONTEN BLDG. B1F

A long-standing Shibuya staple, Tasuichi is a no-frills drinking establishment that has retained its patch of prime real estate on Center-Gai – the pedestrian shopping street that starts directly opposite the famous Shibuya Crossing – even as other shops have come and gone around it. The selection of drinks is fairly rudimentary, but considering a glass of nama-biiru (the Japanese phrase for ordering whatever draft beer happens to be on tap) is ridiculously cheap, and live sports shown on a number of TVs dotted around the room, it’s no surprise that this standing-only bar is almost always packed full to the brim, skewing particularly towards expats happy to embrace its deliberately rowdy nature.

Address 150-0042 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Udagawacho 33-14 Website tasuichi.co.jp

HOOTERS GINZA Although Hooters is known all over the world for scantily clad female staff, its Tokyo branches are far from raunchy when you compare them to the litany of strip bars scattered throughout the city. Instead, they offer a fun slice of Americana that extends to the food menu, which authentically replicates that of the chain’s motherland.

And given the paltry number of chains offering American classics in Tokyo, when someone here says they want to go to Hooters just for the wings, they might actually be telling the truth.

Address 104-0061 Tokyo, Chuo City, Ginza 8−5, GINZA NINE 1-2F Website hooters.co.jp

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PARTY

Find out about Asia’s largest disco ball, Justin Bieber’s favourite after-show hang-out and Tokyo’s most luxurious VIP rooms

WOMB Rising to fame after being featured prominently in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning film, Babel, Shibuya nightclub Womb opened in 2000, and two decades later still remains a lynchpin of the capital’s club culture. As well as attracting big-name international DJs every weekend, Womb boasts an additional three floors, with 92

a genre policy spanning everything from tech-house to drum-and-bass, and is even home to Asia’s largest disco ball, hanging over the centre of its main room.

Address 150-0044 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Maruyamacho 2-16

Each night of the week has a different theme, that’s the motto of Tokyo’s longest running night club which ranked 47th on DJ Mag’s worlds best clubs of 2019 list.

Website www.womb.co.jp

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PA R T Y

NISHIAZABU A-LIFE A-Life is a Roppongi staple, never far from the top of the list when party-goers are planning a night out in this part of town. Its size and the variety of dancefloors and chill-out spaces – ranging from the eight hundred-capacity main room to more intimate nooks and crannies spread across its three floors – make it the perfect choice for people who want to socialise as well as dance, and the bartenders are famously friendly.

And with a special offer on weeknights (except for Fridays), where entry before 11pm is just ¥1,000, and comes with three drink tickets, it’s also an exceptionally economical option.

Address 106-0031 Tokyo, Minato City, Nishiazabu 1−7−2, ECONACH NISHI-AZABU Bldg.

Website e-alife.net

PA R A D I S E LOUNGE At an imposing 229-metres-tall, the recently completed Shibuya Scramble Square is the highest building in the ward, towering over the nearby Scramble Crossing and offering panoramic views of the whole of Tokyo from its outdoors observation deck. Also on the 46th floor, along with the observation deck, is the Paradise Lounge – a relaxed music bar that unsurprisingly offers views that are simply unparalleled. The styling might scream out ’50s diner, but one look at the 12-inch vinyls displayed on the wall – spanning Flying Lotus and Jamie XX – and you can rest reassured that the music selection is more contemporary.

Conceptualised by famed British industrial designer Tom Dixon, Paradise Lounge serves stunning views and tunes alike

Address 150-0002 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Shibuya 2−24−12, Shibuya Scramble Square 46F Website paradiseloungetokyo.com

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PA R T Y

1 OAK Decked out in gold and silver from the floor to the ceiling, and with a huge Roy Nachum painging hanging above the DJ booth, 1 OAK is aimed firmly towards big-spenders, with an emphasis on the VIP-table experience. The music policy is straightforward hip-hop with a splash of EDM, just like at 1 OAK’s legendary flagship venue in New York. The sound system is top notch: The loudspeakers

by Germany’s iconic hi-fi company d&b audiotechnik guarantee that you not only hear the bass sound on the dancefloor, but that you feel it in your guts.

Address 106-0045 Tokyo, Minato City, Azabujuban 1−4−5 Website 1oaktokyo.com

HARLEM Sandwiched between a number of love hotels (which offer double rooms for short periods of time) in Shibuya’s infamous back streets across from Dogenzaka, Harlem is a veritable institution of this trendy neighborhood’s club scene. As its name suggests, Harlem nods to the US hip-hop scene with its music policy, and depending on the night you might hear anything from chart-topping anthems and retro throwbacks to the latest tracks coming out of the contemporary Japanese rap scene. Resident DJs Hazime and Watarai take to the decks on Saturday nights, making their night a safe bet both for track selection and overall vibes, while on other nights you might also come across scantily clad dancers, or even live skateboarding showcases.

Address 150-0044 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Maruyamacho 2−4, Dr. Jeekahn’s 2F/3F Website harlem.co.jp

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With two dancefloors, three bar areas and one restaurant, V2 caters to the revellers’ various moods and desires

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PA R T Y

J OYS O U N D S H I B U YA MINAMIGUCHI Karaoke is Japan’s favourite pastime, and what better way to hang out with friends than by spending hours cooped in a booth together, downing drinks and belting out your favourite songs?

You can replenish drinks without leaving the room, and it’s not uncommon for a one-hour evening session to end up in a raucous all-nighter, with everyone stumbling bleary-eyed into the morning light having collectively screamed out the chorus to Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life for the third time that night.

This branch of Joysound has decorated many of its ninth-floor rooms with visuals referencing the legendary animated series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, on the walls, so even if you’re flying solo, you can still serenade protagonist Shinji and his sidekicks all night long.

Address 150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Dogenzaka 1−3−1, Shibuya Ekimae Kaikan 9F Website shop.joysound.com/shop/joysoundshibuyaminamiguchi

V2

WA R P S H I N J U K U

V2 Tokyo is a typically flashy offering

by Roppongi standards, with an ostentatious interior, premium VIP experience and EDM blaring from the speakers most nights. It has a sizeable 1,000-person capacity, and you might even find yourself rubbing shoulders with the likes of Justin Bieber and members of One Direction, who have been known to hang out here after playing their Japan shows. Outside of its core club offering, V2 Tokyo also cooks up innovative molecular cuisine at its restaurant in the evenings, and it even hosts a DJ school that gives its students a chance to play not only at V2 Tokyo, but also at sister venues such as Mezzo Tokyo.

Despite the area being one of the most heavily frequented parts of Tokyo, and littered with more bars than you could ever hope to drink at, Shinjuku has never been a destination known for clubbing.

Warp looks set to put a change to that, with a sprawling underground space that eclipses the majority of nightclubs in Roppongi or Shibuya for size alone. Its other selling point is the unusually early opening time of 7pm every night of the week, so you can clock off from work and be dancing to techno, house or drum and bass mere minutes later.

Address 106-0032 Tokyo, Minato City, Roppongi 7−13−7

Address 160-0021 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Kabukicho 1−21−1 Website warp-shinjuku.jp

Website v2tokyo.com

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THE RED BULLETIN

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ACTION HIGHLIGHT

He got game LITTLE SHAO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

When it was announced last December that competitive breaking will make its debut as a new sport in 2024, its practitioners all over the world swooned in excitement. Just a week earlier, one B-Boy in particular proved that he will be a force to be reckoned with: Shigekix. The 18-year-old from Japan became the youngest ever B-Boy to win Red Bull BC One, the world’s biggest one-on-one breaking contest.

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紫のレッ 紫のレッ ド ドブ

魅惑的な、 魅惑的な、 魔

ブル、 ブル、 新登場。 新登場。

魔法の翼。 、魔法の翼。

※Purple ※Edition Purple Edition is only is available only available in Japan. in Japan.