Watching Yuma Takei skate is like watching a wistful breeze blow through a field of grass.
Sometimes it gusts heavy, sometimes it gusts gently, but always it charts its own path and always it is a beautiful thing to see. The Kawasaki Boy himself is a marvel of the craft of skateboarding, climbing walls and banks the way the wind might defy gravity’s incessant pull, and popping further off of a nose slide than anyone I have ever seen in skating. In the new Pass~Port video, You’re a Stranger Here But Once, Yuma Takei shares an elegant part with newcomer Kento Namekawa, and so we met up with Takei in the town for which he is widely known - Kawasaki, Japan - for a bit of a chat a mere four beers and a carton of sake deep at the local bar: the electrical box outside the 7-eleven. Special thanks to Kelly Ishihara and Aya Sato for the translation assist.
What are the best skate trucks?
Fuck. Gotta be Ventures.
How long did it take for you to realize that?
I think I used five trucks; Ace, Indy, Thunder, Pig - I tried everything but Ventures are the best. 100%.
Are you a freak about that shit? Do you have madness?
Yeah.
You measure wheelbases and shit?
Yeah, Kelly taught me about how different wheelbases and set ups are good for different tricks.
Can you even tell the difference?
Kelly Ishihara: Basically he’s the test dummy for different shit.
How has it been skating and filming in Australia? How does it compare to Japan?
Australia is better, nobody cares about skateboarding so there’s less kick outs. We filmed it for about five months. I did a long like two week camping trip around March, and then Trent let me know that we were filming a video and asked if we could film some clips.
You’re sharing a part with the new kid, right?
Yeah. When I met him the first time, he’s a teenager so he was so shy, he didn’t say hi to me, but now we are all good.
What kind of stuff do you try to skate the most? What’s your favorite kind of thing?
Banks, walls - I can’t really skate stairs, I’m so heavy. I mean, I can skate stairs, but I don’t like to jump down big stuff.
Sure, but you do a certain kind of huck. You are forceful in your skating, even if it isn’t impact. Why do you think that is?
Why? It’s more fun this way. My dad gave it to me. DNA.
How’s it working with Trent and Pass~Port? Do you guys hang?
Yeah, everyone’s great. Super fun to hang out, love to talk shit. Good guys.
Who’s your least favorite guy on Pass~Port?
I love them all equally.
Do you cook?
Yeah, sometimes.
What do you cook?
Egg rolls. Not like deep fried egg rolls. Tamagoyaki. Hmm. I don’t know how to say this in English. Chicken chest… Chicken breast! Good protein.
I hear you’re a gym guy now?
Yeah I go like once a week.
You look good. How much do you bench?
Hm… maybe one hundred kilos? A little over a hundred?
Damn fool that’s heavy.
Yeah I go to crossfit, helps with skating.
What was the most challenging clip to get for this video?
I think probably this nollie flip into a bank when we were on a camping trip. I broke my ankle doing the same trick while filming for a Carhartt WIP video, so doing the same trick into a bank was challenging for me.
Alright last question: if you could be sponsored by anything, what would it be?
Ah man. Hm… Maybe… I would choose an izakaya? BBQ Izakaya? Oh wait, no. I know. Rice. Rice sponsor. I am Japanese, bro.
