I firmly believe this to be true. Amidst all of the negative press concerning Japan with the earthquake, tsunami, constant aftershocks and most recently the meltdown of the Daiichi Fukushima Nuclear Plant there are some positives to be seen.
Prologue....if you will
I see a lot of skaters not only in the Tokyo area, but also on my business trips around Japan. Even though skating is a small part of our industry as a whole, I feel that skateboarding can be seen as the "gateway" sport (drug) to the action sports industry.
In the past, Japan has had small, what I will dub, 'interest bubbles' driven purely by mass appeal and hype and superficial understanding, but I think the small core of Japanese riders who rode it out planted the seed well.
I am fairly confident that skateboarding is not only "here to stay", but to grow and foster a positive image and interest *not only* for itself but for our industry as a whole. I am totally stoked on this!!
☆ NEW RIDER ☆
Index Ink Japan is stoked on bringing Dice-K (Daisuke) Nakaura to the forefront and throwing him on our flow team. Judging by some of his recent activities this 15yr old is going to turn heads in a few years!
I recently talked with him on the phone only to find out that he *just* came back from America. Not only that, but he lived there for about 10yrs. He got into skateboarding while in the states and having come back to Japan recently has been tearing it up his hometown of Nagoya!
This past weekend he and our other rider "UP" were at the "JOINTS CUSTOM BIKE SHOW 2011" where they did some shredding and put on a demo or two for the folks taking in some classic American iron!
For now, check out the pics and stay tuned for an updated bio on Dice-K and some new shop info!!
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