Episode 53 - Masafumi Kajitani
Episode 53 with Masafumi Kajitani aka Ame-San, skateboarder, journalist, translator, co-founder and chief-editor of VHS Mag. Together we discussed him growing up in Japan, moving to Seattle, WA in the mid-80’s and picking up his first board over there, coming back to Osaka in 1990, watching the Japanese skate scene grow and evolve throughout the years, starting VHS Mag out of Tokyo in 2011, an online media to share what’s going on in the skateboarding world to Japanese skaters with no language barriers, and also get Japanese skaters out there to the world, the Tightbooth « Lenz 3 » masterpiece by Shinpei Ueno which came out a few months ago, his involvement with local wheel brand Strush, the perception of skateboarding in Japan before and after the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games… Intro (00:13) Getting started (01:25) First video/magazine (05:18) Moving back to Japan (07:51) Skate scene in Osaka in the early 90’s (10:55) Starting VHS Mag (15:02) Inspiration from other media (22:51) Evolution of the Japanese skate scene in the last 30 years (29:06) Tightbooth Lenz III masterpiece (32:46) Strush Wheels (35:27) 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo (39:14) Current projects (48:23) Most valuable lesson learned from skateboarding (50:04) Friends questions (51:53) Conclusion (01:13:53) For more information and resources: https://linktr.ee/beyondboards