Japan's skateboarding scene is expected to be more exciting than ever in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. HOUYHNHNM's has started a series of articles featuring two of the scene's leading figures, Senichiro Ozawa, editor-in-chief of the skateboarding magazine "Sb," and Taro Hirano, a leading skateboarding photographer. As an introduction to the series, we will talk about how the two met, how they got into skate culture, and what they think about the domestic scene.
In the 1990s, as editor-in-chief of "WHEEL magazine," the first skateboarding magazine in Japan, he energetically covered skate culture in the United States, and in 2001, published "Sb SkateboardJournal. Since then, he has been writing not only about street culture but also about various aspects of domestic and international media while publishing regularly. His new trilogy of panda photogravure books, "HELLO PANDA," "PANDA MENTAL," and "HELLO PANDA CAKE," are now on sale.
(Right) Taro Hirano / Photographer
He studied photography as a contemporary art form at Musashino Art University. Later, he worked as an assistant at Kodansha and was involved in the launch of "WHEEL magazine" and "Sb," a skateboarding magazine, where he served as photo editor. Since then, he has been active in advertising, CD jackets, and fashion and culture magazines. His major works include the photo books "POOL", "Los Angeles Car Club", and "The Kings".
I thought there was a very physical guy on the front line, and it was Sen-chan.
This is the first time you and Mr. Ozawa and Mr. Hirano have had such a dialogue in the media?
Senichiro Ozawa ("Ozawa")Not a dialogue, but in the form of a visual appearance, we have actually had one in the past. WHEEL magazine" that we used to make. note 1 magazine, and in it, "Skateboarding Fables. *2 When I did a project called .
I once made up a fictional story about skateboarding that never happened, and the two of us appeared together on the door page when we went to shoot an illustration tied to the story.
1 A skateboarding magazine first published in Japan in the late 1990s, at a time when street skating was thriving. It became a milestone in the history of Japanese skate magazines in terms of various elements such as texture, size, innovative planning, and structure.
. 2 A major feature in the latter half of WHEEL magazine. . It was planned to preserve the basic concept of skateboarding = freedom in skate culture without using the word "freedom" in the magazine. The feature was a no-concept photogravure that Taro wanted to photograph, synchronized with a short story written by Ozawa, which was completely fictionalized.
Taro Hirano ("Hirano")There it is. I remember. We shot it at my house, I think.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)Yes, yes.
plain. I've missed you. That's right, Abe-san, all the way to Sendai. *3 . and then we would go and take pictures, right?
3 Real name , Keisuke Abe. A skateboarder from Sendai, Japan. He has been active at the forefront of skating since the 1990s with his down-to-earth and powerful skating style. He is a skater who perfectly fits in with manly skate words such as "concrete wave," "pool coating," and "natural R." He is a skater who has been active at the forefront of skating since the 1990s with his down-to-earth and strong skate style.
kozawa (Clausena lansium). those were the days when you could go to the countryside to photograph just one skater. It was a good time.
plainMal also at the time of "Sb. *4 . I ran out of money for transportation home, so I asked Maru about it. I ran out of money for transportation home, so I asked Maru for advice and he told me that the late-night bus there was inexpensive.
When we finally got there, we were told that it was a suspicious-looking Southeast Asian late-night bus and that it would take about eight hours to get to Tokyo (laughs). (Laughs.) But it was 3,800 yen for two adults. (Laughs) But it was ridiculously cheap, so I decided to take the bus.
. 4 Real name, Shintaro Maruyama. . Owner of the Sendai skate store "BRIDGE" and a professional skater. From his youth to the present, both in Japan and abroad, he has always attracted attention for his words and actions related to skateboarding and his every move he makes.
kozawa (Clausena lansium). And when we finally got on the train, it was cramped, flying, rocking, and no breaks, so it was terrible (laughs).
plainWe were having dinner with Maru and some other local skaters until just before boarding time, and we were the last to get on the bus. There were no seats available, so we had to sit together in a small space in the back, but I couldn't take it anymore and sat down on the step near the driver. When he warned me, I pretended to be sick (laughs).
kozawa (Clausena lansium). it saved my life, though. The driver was not happy about it until the very end (laughs).
Sounds like fun (laughs). By the way, when did you two meet?
kozawa (Clausena lansium)I was in college, so I was 19 years old.
plainI went to an integrated school in Wako since kindergarten, so I played with the same friends throughout elementary, junior high, and high school, and then I went to Musashino Art University, but my friend from Wako and Sen-chan became good friends at the university, and naturally we started playing together. At first, we didn't skate or anything, but we played soccer together on a grass soccer team called "Bassetta.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)Oh yeah . I grew up in a rural area where skating culture was almost non-existent, so I was the type of person who was always sweating out sports. I went to a prestigious soccer school in high school, so all I did was play soccer.
plainThen, during a practice game or something, I thought there was a very physical guy on the front line, and it was Sen-chan (laughs).
kozawa (Clausena lansium). I have always been good at all physical sports. We started playing soccer together in "bassetta," and we were particular about our uniforms and so on.
plain. in uniforms that paid homage to that Colombia.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)Taro has always been the type of player who looks good at No. 7, a No. 7-like player. He didn't explode in grass baseball either, but he was the type of player who averaged 40% batting average and kept a consistent record. I still remember his results in the sports newspaper I used to make, because they are all still there (laughs).
plainYou made something like that (laughs). You used to give them to your friends and relations , as inserts in the "WHEEL magazine".
kozawa (Clausena lansium). There are still some Taro teases there that I cannot write about here. If readers who know Taro were to see them, they would be surprised to find that they are so far removed from the so-called public image of Taro.
plainLike the Fat Ball Pendulum Battering Method (laughs). (laughs) . If it were baseball, Sen-chan would strike out or hit a home run. In soccer, he would turn the ball over on a post play and shoot. Anyway, he was a physical type of player, wasn't he?
When our skate fever was accelerating, the skate decks we bought at that time were all Gonz decks.
I can kind of see the relationship between the two of you from the stories you told me at the time. . At first, they were just ordinary friends. What was the catalyst for this?
kozawa (Clausena lansium)After I graduated from college, I started working part-time as an editor without finding a job. I was in charge of black-and-white pages in the editorial department of a fashion magazine I was working for at the time.
plain. I was working as a studio assistant at Kodansha at the time, I think. I was learning the techniques of photography for magazines there.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)Oh, yes. Around that time, a mutual friend of mine and Taro's was a gonz named Kaku. *5 I have a friend who likes Gonz, and he and Taro were collecting Gonz skate decks at the time, and Gonz was just about to move from Paris to San Francisco! It was right when Gonz was moving from Paris to San Francisco.
We heard the news that Real was releasing a skate deck. That's when our skate fever really took off. And the skate decks I bought at that time were also Gonz decks.
*5 Real name , Mark Gonzalez. Legendary skater and professional skater, also known as an artist. When you ask pro skaters, "Who is your idol? he is one of the "skater's skaters" (skaters' skaters) who are usually ranked in the list. . He has established a way of showing and playing on the street with his unique ideas and expressions.
plain. After that, we would skate together a little bit at Kinuta Park and other places.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)Then we first started working together with, I believe, Glenn E. Friedman. *6 was visiting Japan, and I think we were there to cover the event. The place was Space Edge in Shibuya, I think. *7 I think it was.
. 6 A photographer who documented the Dogtown skate scene in the late 70s, when the pool took to the streets. He also documented the hardcore and hippie-hop scene, including Ian McKay, BAD BRAINS, and RUN DMC, and his photo book "FUCK YOU HEROS" is very famous.
7 A gallery and rental space in Shibuya, Shibuya, Tokyo, where big names in skate culture always held solo exhibitions and photo shows when they came to Japan in the 1990s. In addition to the exhibition space, mini ramps were set up on the premises, making it an oasis for skaters.
plainI remember. At that time, there was only one day set aside for interviews, and among the distinguished staff of the magazine and its staff, we, who were still new to the company, somehow felt like we were mixed in.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)My friend Yang *8 to translate and so on, and you were doing it all by yourself. Then there were the passheads note 9 (supplementary information) . We also worked together when Gonz came to Japan, and we gradually connected skate culture to each other's work.
. 8 Real name, Yo Soeda. A skater and musician who worked as a writer and interviewer for "WHEEL magazine," he has been a member of O.A.C. and BREAKfAST, and currently plays drums for STRUGGLE FOR PRIDE. By the way, his position in the grass soccer team "Bassetta" is right back.
9 A prodigy in the world of illustration, he has created skateboarding-related artwork for metal, punk, and hardcore bands such as METALLICA, Misfits, and COCOBAT. His works with skull motifs are now synonymous with him.
plainHuh? Did you already take pictures of Gonz back then? I don't remember at all (laughs).
kozawa (Clausena lansium). I was taking pictures. I sent Yo and Taro to the birthday party, with my fingers in my mouth, since I was not yet fluent in English. I remember it vividly because it was the beginning of making a zine with Gonz and the others.
That was a long time ago, when skate culture in Japan was not as active as it is today. Did Ozawa-san and Hirano-san start "WHEEL magazine" together from there?
plainWe didn't exactly start the magazine, but the president of Media House, the company that ran WHEEL magazine at the time, and the mother of a friend of mine were acquaintances, and when she heard that a magazine specializing in skating was going to be launched, I started helping out with the first issue.
. at that time, there were no skating magazines around. Devilman Nishioka to be exact.*10 . There used to be "OLLIE", which was made by Mr. . . And sometimes, "FINE" would cover skate culture in its black-and-white pages. By the way, wasn't Sen-chan around when the first issue of "WHEEL magazine" was published?
. 10 A legendary skater and photographer who has been at the forefront of skateboarding, documenting and working since the early days of skateboarding, not only in Japan but also worldwide. The little press magazine "Cyborg," which he published in his later years, has not faded away.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)You're still not here at #0.
plainI see . But I also wanted to take pictures of skaters, but there were not many people who could edit "WHEEL magazine" and the environment was not at all conducive to editing.
But I was young at the time, and that passion alone was enough for me to go out on my own to San Francisco to photograph skaters and make pages on my own.
I think we were the first in Japan to make such a bold page design, using a full page of photos of international skaters riding without cutting off the edges.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)Oh, yes. As I recall, Ryutaro was on the cover of the first issue. *11 . was, wasn't it?
11 , real name Ryutaro Fujii. . Also known as Ryujin by skaters and friends, he is a professional skater from downtown Tokyo. With his outstanding character and skating sense, he is one of the icons of the Tokyo street scene. He has graced the covers of various magazines including "WHEEL magazine.
plainThen, when I went to Fukuoka on a business trip for a project for the next issue, I was photographing local skaters and they complained to me, saying, "Why do they bring in a guy who is not a skater and doesn't even know how to skate like that?
. It was to a person in the media house that I was going with. That incident made me realize that in order to further promote WHEEL magazine, we need a skater in the editorial department, or a young and vibrant editor who loves skate culture as much as I do.
So I invited Sen-chan to join me.
Because being a know-it-all is the worst kind of cool.
kozawa (Clausena lansium). At that time, there were not many people who could produce a magazine dedicated to skateboarding. . So I was the editor who was young, raring to go, and had a light physical appearance.
I wasn't a true skater myself, but I was eager to explore skate culture in my own way more than ever before. Moreover, at the time, "WHEEL magazine" had just been launched and was not recognized by skaters at all, so it was all the more important.
It was commonplace for me to be turned away at the door and told that I would not accept an interview because I was "tacky. I was so frustrated that I decided to make a cool magazine. From then on, I spent my days voraciously absorbing anything I didn't know. It's like anything else, it's not cool to be a know-it-all.
plainSo we were shooting skaters who had been active up to that point, of course, but we also focused on discovering new talent.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)But the person who said "I won't accept it because it's lame" at the time actually gave me the opportunity to start "Sb" later on. Well, let's talk about that when we talk about "Sb" again.
And I still vividly remember Keith Hufnagel. *12 . When the "Skateboarder" came to Japan, we were approached by the PR company at the time to cover the event, but we were the last in line to cover the event. Although we had just joined the magazine with a bang, it was a skateboarding magazine, but our priority was lower than that of the general magazines.
When it was our turn, the only spots left were those that had already been photographed, and Taro and I decided not to shoot them because they wouldn't make the page. But as it turned out, that event fueled our fighting spirit. We vowed to make a cool page so that someday, when international skaters come to Japan, they will say, "I want Ozawa & Taro to be the first to take a picture of me.
12 Keith Hufnagel / With his high Ollie and cool skating style, Keith Hufnagel is a beloved professional skater in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and any other area in his home country of the United States. At the same time, he is the founder of the skate brand "HUF," which is also very popular in Japan.
plainHow cool can you make a photo look , or a photo in a magazine is always a virgin spot. *13 . or that it has to be from a
. 13 The act and location of turning an illlegal street object or ledge into a skate section. It is important to be the first skater to make a trick there and record it before anyone else.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)Until then, it was fish-eye to take pictures of skaters' tricks. *14 . but when it came to portraits, you went to the trouble of changing lenses.
Years later, John Humphreys *15 and Jamie Thomas. *16 When something came to Japan, I was told, "If it's Sb, I'll take the shot.
. 14 Fisheye lenses, also known as fish-eye lenses, are used in many skate videos in the 1990s. Compared to long lenses, fish-eye lenses are easier to communicate with riders and more suitable for capturing powerful images. Many skate videos in the 90's used fish-eye lenses, and even today, such famous models as the "VX-1000" are still very popular.
15 At the time, he was a staff photographer for the U.S. magazine "Transworld Skateboarding" , and later did a lot of advertising photography. In the Photo Annual issue (a special photogravure issue) published once a year by Transworld Skateboarding, his photographs of Pete Thompson and Atiba Jefferson were outstanding.
. 16 The original American West Coast skater specializing in hammer tricks, he is the man behind the classic "MISLED YOUTH" and the man responsible for making the skate brand "ZERO" a big company in the 90s. In the 90's, he was the skater who could make even a crying child shut up.
The first edition of Hirano's first work, "POOL," and two back issues of "Sb," an issue that is particularly dear to both of them.
Atiba Jefferson is a Los Angeles-based skateboard photographer who says they both love skateboarding. This page contains a rare shot he took in Canada in the 90s during a "Skateboarding Day" event ("Sb vol. 16"). ("Sb vol.16")
Rare portrait cut of the late Hiroshi Otaki, founder of T-19 and a legend in the Japanese skate scene. ("Sb vol.14")
After all, we are completely outsiders in the skate scene.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)The most attractive thing about being involved in skate culture is that the results of one's efforts are rewarded. Of course, there must be equality in that if you fail, you will be severely criticized. And it's not a matter of a scheduled harmony, but a sense of drama.
plainWhen I was working with Sen-chan on "WHEEL magazine" and "Sb," I felt that it was largely due to the fact that her unique character was well received by skaters. As I mentioned earlier, skaters are very serious about the involvement of non-skaters.
However, I have a habit of recognizing people who are doing interesting things even if they are not skaters. Sen-chan was exactly that type.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)I guess so. I don't really feel it myself, though. Also, shooting skating inevitably involves injury and pain, so I guess I'm always conscious of having respect. I've always been conscious of that. . That's why I want the photos to be big and beautiful.
It is true that I often joke around so much that my character comes first, but that is the only thing I take seriously, and I take it seriously.
plain. After all, we were completely outsiders in the skate scene. Until then, there was a slightly exclusive aspect to our work, as if skaters and those who knew skating could take pictures among themselves and just put them in the black-and-white pages of general magazines. People who didn't know what they were doing were left out.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)I wanted to change the trend of not being accepted just because you don't have a deep connection with the heavyweights of the scene. Skate culture is a culture that was founded on rebellion and antithesis.
I believe that the existence of an emerging force like us was absolutely necessary. That hasn't changed, though. . That is why I wanted to change it with Taro.
plainMm-hm. Not only for skaters, but also for people who don't know skating, skating culture is interesting! I wanted to make skating culture interesting, not only for skaters, but also for people who don't know anything about skating. In that sense, I feel that the quality of skating culture at that time was still not up to par with that of other countries.
Skating, which has potential not only as a form of photography but also as an art form, had not yet been fully sublimated into the culture.
kozawa (Clausena lansium). yes, I know. No , but I could talk about it a whole lot more, but I'd run out of scale.
plainThis time it's just an introduction (laughs).
kozawa (Clausena lansium)But I think it would be great if we could invite guests who love skating to each show, centering on the two of us uncles, and have the kind of four-way conversations that we usually have.
plainFrom there, we will rethink what skate culture is in our own way, and our goal is to deliver that to the audience and to the people who read this article.
kozawa (Clausena lansium)There are many off-the-record stories from the "Sb" days, but I'll save those for the next outro.
plainUntil then, I'll have to keep working hard on this project.
HOUYHNHNM SKATEBOARD CLUB
Various cultural events will be launched under the name "VACANT CULTURE CLUB" in the first floor space of the Harajuku gallery "VACANT," which is scheduled to be renovated this summer. As part of this initiative, we will hold hands-on lecture events on the themes of HOUYHNHNM's and skate culture. The main hosts will be "Sb" editor-in-chief Chiichiro Ozawa and photographer Taro Hirano, and the events will be held once a month in a round-table discussion format, with a different theme and guests each time, and with the participation of general participants (auditing students). . In addition, workshops will be held on an irregular basis where event participants and visitors can actually experience the event. Stay tuned.
HSC VOL.1 "Skateboard and Shop
Date: Saturday, July 28, 2018
15:00-16:30 Lecture Event
17:00-20:00 Stall event
Place: VACANT 2F (3-20-13 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
. HOUYHNHNM SKATEBOARD CLUB vol.2 and onward will be held in the space on the 1st floor.
