In this episode we talk about:
- Arriving in Japan on a short trip more than 30 years ago for the snow, then realizing he never wanted to leave
- Falling in love with Japanese powder (and the value), spending years in the mountains, then eventually shifting fully to the coast
- Meeting his Japanese wife, settling in Tokyo, and needing an escape — which became weekends chasing surf with almost zero English-language info available at the time
- Building SurfingInJapan.com from notebooks and word-of-mouth in the only foreigner pub in Tokyo, then driving the country for 25+ years to map breaks, beaches, and places to stay
- Turning a pure hobby into the thing that now supports his lifestyle after three decades of consistent work
- The reality of “living the dream”: staying humble for years, then realizing people benefit when he talks openly about the long road and the possibility
- Lessons from growing up in a family of 13 kids — work is life, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and chase what you’re deeply passionate about so you never feel like you’re working a day in your life
- Why Japanese snow still stands out globally, and why the ocean life on the Chiba coast ended up being the better long-term fit
SurfingInJapan.com: https://www.surfinginjapan.com/
Splash Guest House: https://www.splashguesthouse.com/