Domo Arigato Japan

Karate, geishas, yakuza, samurai, Godzilla, manga, ninja, sushi, Nintendo, cherry blossoms – one or two things are known about the Land of the Rising Sun. Then again, most people don’t know enough to realize that yoga, feng shui, kimchi, or kung fu would be kind of odd in that list. Through a western point of view, a lot of it remains unclear and blurry. In addition, the island country has isolated itself for a long time, minding its own business. Even in skateboarding, Japan has always been doing its own thing and has developed a very special and unique culture. We got together with the Berlin-based Tjark Thielker and Valeri Rosomako plus Harrison Hafner from San Francisco in autumn to explore this unfamiliar world, and a lot of the things we encountered were different than we expected. This is the clip we filmed there with Katsuhiro Abe behind the lens. Read the article in our Japan issue.