administrator
12-04-2005, 03:26 AM
http://www.highrollaz.org/yasutokointerviewheading.jpg
I had the privilege of sitting down with the Yasutokos and talk to them about how they feel about rollerblading and where it’s going. The Yasutokos are the most dominant figures in action sports. It’s been over 3 years since anyone has beaten both of them in a contest. That means no one in the last 3 years has won a contest skating against them. Their sibling rivalry, family, and environment sounds like an ideal place to become the very best in the world. The Yasutoko brothers are also very friendly and humble people. I remember before I was pro Eito was one of the friendliest pros I had met. They love to roll and they love the sport. And they are doing all they can to help rollerblading get the respect it deserves.
Due to the language differences, Eito answered a lot of the questions and Takeshi added comments. I took the liberty to paraphrase in some places as well.
YASUTOKO BROTHERS INTERVIEW
What is your daily routine at home in Japan?
I live with my girl friend in Kobe, Japan . I will wake up around 9:00. I will spend 'til about 4:00 working at G Skates where I sign skaters in, fix ramps, teach skate school. Around 4:00-10:00 I will skate everyday except when it rains. I also have demos and I will help build the ramp for that. I’m sometimes a skater and sometimes skate park staff.
4:00-10:00 That’s a lot of skating! Your legs don’t get sore?
They do but I have a friend who is a doctor and he takes care of me with massage and acupuncture. It helps a lot. Acupuncture has a very long history in Japan and China. I trust it. We also do some exercises and jogging at the gym to help our skating.
What is the skate scene like at Good Skates?
Takeshi and I teach vert skate school so a lot of the kids there start out on vert. My parents teach flat land skate school. My sister helps out with the classes and skates vert and street for fun too.
We a have Good Skates team that has young kids, parents and older skaters too. Some of them will be trying to turn pro this year.
Are you world wide celebrities?
We are the most well known in America. People in America and Europe know about action sports much more than Japan. Random places in America and Europe people will ask for autographs or pictures but not so much in Japan but sometimes they will know about the Yasutoko brothers. It’s not always easy at the skate parks. Some times I feel pressure from the kids. They expect a lot and sometimes I just want to skate.
So how was high school? Did a lot of your classmates know about your career?
Yeah a lot of them know what we are doing and know about our careers.
Takeshi: A lot of my friends in Japan don’t skate and we don’t really talk about skating too much.
Do you watch street videos and what street pros do you like to watch?
Yes sometimes we will watch street videos.
Takeshi: Brian Aragon and Aaron Feinberg.
How has it been that you two have become the most dominant figures in Action Sports?
Well my parents were rollerskaters. They did roller disco demos. When we were very young he added a half pipe we would do demos on. When I was young my parents said it was okay if I didn’t become a pro skater but everything around me was skating. I felt some pressure because we didn’t really talk about school, or friends it was almost always skating. Skating was something I couldn’t get away from. I have always been around skating. My skates never came off.
The first pro we ever met was Ichi Komori who was a pro from Japan. We had heard of names like Chris Edwards but Ichi was the first pro we had skated with. We didn’t know about the skating world really except from him. He taught us a lot. Then In 1995 we went to California for the NISS and saw more of the skating world. After that, when I was 12 or 13 years old, I wanted to be World Champion like Chris Edwards.
What do you think is the next level of vert skating?
Takeshi: I would like to see more style added -- good style and smoother grinds.
More and more people are doing double flips. Maybe in a few years the triple flip will happen but I feel it is not fair that we would have to get that dangerous to become a big sport like BMX and skateboarding. I need to think why aren’t we?
I think it would also help to have more American vert skaters.
My sponsor LG brings big events in Asia countries and it’s getting better there but I’m still worried about the future.
Where do you want to be in the next 5 or 10 years?
Takeshi: I would like to start my own action sports clothing company.
I want to keep on pushing myself for the next 10 years. I really like events. I would like to make an event with biking, skateboarding, and in-line skating.
I would like to see in-line in the 2008 Olympic Games
I also feel like what can I do to make rollerblading bigger? Rollerblading is a small sport and I feel scared sometimes with X-Games gone. I feel pressure of what can we do to make it big. The tricks are already so hard and dangerous -- what do we need to do to get this sport the respect it deserves.
I had the privilege of sitting down with the Yasutokos and talk to them about how they feel about rollerblading and where it’s going. The Yasutokos are the most dominant figures in action sports. It’s been over 3 years since anyone has beaten both of them in a contest. That means no one in the last 3 years has won a contest skating against them. Their sibling rivalry, family, and environment sounds like an ideal place to become the very best in the world. The Yasutoko brothers are also very friendly and humble people. I remember before I was pro Eito was one of the friendliest pros I had met. They love to roll and they love the sport. And they are doing all they can to help rollerblading get the respect it deserves.
Due to the language differences, Eito answered a lot of the questions and Takeshi added comments. I took the liberty to paraphrase in some places as well.
YASUTOKO BROTHERS INTERVIEW
What is your daily routine at home in Japan?
I live with my girl friend in Kobe, Japan . I will wake up around 9:00. I will spend 'til about 4:00 working at G Skates where I sign skaters in, fix ramps, teach skate school. Around 4:00-10:00 I will skate everyday except when it rains. I also have demos and I will help build the ramp for that. I’m sometimes a skater and sometimes skate park staff.
4:00-10:00 That’s a lot of skating! Your legs don’t get sore?
They do but I have a friend who is a doctor and he takes care of me with massage and acupuncture. It helps a lot. Acupuncture has a very long history in Japan and China. I trust it. We also do some exercises and jogging at the gym to help our skating.
What is the skate scene like at Good Skates?
Takeshi and I teach vert skate school so a lot of the kids there start out on vert. My parents teach flat land skate school. My sister helps out with the classes and skates vert and street for fun too.
We a have Good Skates team that has young kids, parents and older skaters too. Some of them will be trying to turn pro this year.
Are you world wide celebrities?
We are the most well known in America. People in America and Europe know about action sports much more than Japan. Random places in America and Europe people will ask for autographs or pictures but not so much in Japan but sometimes they will know about the Yasutoko brothers. It’s not always easy at the skate parks. Some times I feel pressure from the kids. They expect a lot and sometimes I just want to skate.
So how was high school? Did a lot of your classmates know about your career?
Yeah a lot of them know what we are doing and know about our careers.
Takeshi: A lot of my friends in Japan don’t skate and we don’t really talk about skating too much.
Do you watch street videos and what street pros do you like to watch?
Yes sometimes we will watch street videos.
Takeshi: Brian Aragon and Aaron Feinberg.
How has it been that you two have become the most dominant figures in Action Sports?
Well my parents were rollerskaters. They did roller disco demos. When we were very young he added a half pipe we would do demos on. When I was young my parents said it was okay if I didn’t become a pro skater but everything around me was skating. I felt some pressure because we didn’t really talk about school, or friends it was almost always skating. Skating was something I couldn’t get away from. I have always been around skating. My skates never came off.
The first pro we ever met was Ichi Komori who was a pro from Japan. We had heard of names like Chris Edwards but Ichi was the first pro we had skated with. We didn’t know about the skating world really except from him. He taught us a lot. Then In 1995 we went to California for the NISS and saw more of the skating world. After that, when I was 12 or 13 years old, I wanted to be World Champion like Chris Edwards.
What do you think is the next level of vert skating?
Takeshi: I would like to see more style added -- good style and smoother grinds.
More and more people are doing double flips. Maybe in a few years the triple flip will happen but I feel it is not fair that we would have to get that dangerous to become a big sport like BMX and skateboarding. I need to think why aren’t we?
I think it would also help to have more American vert skaters.
My sponsor LG brings big events in Asia countries and it’s getting better there but I’m still worried about the future.
Where do you want to be in the next 5 or 10 years?
Takeshi: I would like to start my own action sports clothing company.
I want to keep on pushing myself for the next 10 years. I really like events. I would like to make an event with biking, skateboarding, and in-line skating.
I would like to see in-line in the 2008 Olympic Games
I also feel like what can I do to make rollerblading bigger? Rollerblading is a small sport and I feel scared sometimes with X-Games gone. I feel pressure of what can we do to make it big. The tricks are already so hard and dangerous -- what do we need to do to get this sport the respect it deserves.