- What made you start skateboarding?
"I heard my friends were doing it and I thought it sounded fun. But that was when I was in elementary school, so people who were already good at it were the big kids in middle school. So I remember being bullied by them.
But now I'm best friends with those guys too. That's the beauty of skateboarding: you get to be friends with people outside school who are older and you begin to bond. That's the fun thing about skateboarding."
- What emotion do you put in to your photos?
"Well I always try to make the skaters look as awesome as they can. For one photo, there are 30 to 40 pictures doing the exact same thing but not as cool. So in that sense, this one photo is the one perfect moment out of 30 or 40 others. My job is to capture that moment. I want to keep on trying."
- Out of many skaters you have worked with, is there someone who absolutely changed your life?
"Always. Every single photo has that kind of drama. Every photo shoot I want to bring my best and make this photograph the best work that I've ever done. So that's what I do. This photo book, it's not like it changed my life, but it certainly marked an important chapter of my life. So every skater has affected me in different levels. Every day. That's another beauty of skateboarding. Keep fresh."
- What is Tokyo to you?
"Tokyo's streets have these terrible surfaces and the security is really strict. But there are so many fun skateboarding spots, so that's what Tokyo is to me. It is a great great place to skateboard so I hope people abroad would see my photobook and come visit Japan."
（2013/10/25 Harajuku）
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