THE NATURE OF GLIDING
“Variety is the spice of life”, a friend of mine once mentioned during a well deserved sunset beer after a day filled with surfing and skating. It didn’t hit me then, the essence these words encapsulated, but slowly it made more and more sense. Imagine a world where every day is the same — every meal is identical, every day is a routine, even every conversation is predictable — how dull would that be? When monotony takes over your existence, life gradually becomes a blank canvas, waiting to be painted with purpose and beauty. “The Nature of Gliding” is a stunning portrayal of the embodiment of these powerful words, brought to life through our esteemed team rider, longtime friend, and Hakuba-resident, Kazushige Fujita.
Born in Japan, Shige — as his friends call him — got introduced to the snow by his parents from a young age on. He started skiing when he was 9 years old, but just a few years later, snowboarding took over. As he puts it himself : ‘I remember vividly the moment I saw my friend’s older sister jumping in baggy clothing for the first time, that stuff was cool from the bottom of my heart, I was 14.’ Teenagers and their sense of belonging, we’ve all been there and we all love looking back on it. It didn’t take long before Shige indulged himself in the Japanese snowboard scene. There’s something particular about passionate people, how they dive head-first into new pursuits whenever they arise. Snowboarding took Shige to Canada and Alaska, where he often drove into the mountains with his snowmobile to find powder, a feeling he had only seen displayed in magazines before. But it wasn’t until he returned to Japan that Shige found surfing and skating. Introduced by a group of people who — in his own words — read the rhythm of nature and lived according to it, the road to chasing new waves started. Just as in snowboarding where the snow changes every day, in surfing, no two waves are ever the same, and in life, no two days are identical. This way of living teaches us one important lesson — to enjoy the moment, as we will never get it back.
Eventually life brought Shige back to Hakuba, a village blessed with snow in the Northern Alps of Japan, and we don’t blame him. With some of the best powder in the world, Tokyo a 3-hour train ride away and even some of Japan’s best waves not too far away for a weekend chasing swells, it’s the perfect playground. On top of that, the amicable, generous, and passionate energy of Japanese subcultures only adds to the allure of such a place, making it easy to call a place like Hakuba home. So we’re watching Shige happily from afar, surrounded by a tight community of fellow snowboarders, ocean lovers and creatives, with whom he spends his years riding waves, in all different forms.
‘The Nature of Gliding’ is an ode to embracing various things, the connection of man with nature and moving with the flow of life. It is a portrait of a humble, devoted human who is continuously pursuing new ways of living and riding. But above all, it is a story about being in tune with the rhythm of nature and listening to your own voice.
This masterpiece is shot by the talented
Enjoy.
Words by Jonas Schilders
Cinematography and stills by Jun Yamagishi
