In Japan, skaters are still considered a minority
and many people think we're weird.
But throughout the past couple years,
we have been getting acknowledged by the world.
Our trademark is our uniqueness.
Through our creativity we created our own
brand of skate culture.
My name is Taiichiro Nakamura.
On the skating scene I'm known as "Chopper".
I got into skateboarding when my brother,
who is three years younger than me, picked it up.
One day I borrowed his deck,
and from there the rest is history.
I'm self-employed, which I guess means I
skate for a living.
Mainly I make t-shirts and other gear by hand.
The Osaka Daggers is a team now,
but it used to be more of an adjective
for describing a new subculture or counter-culture.
It was a small community for
those of us sharing the same values,
that sort of came into being naturally.
We're all pretty open minded and
our trademark is our uniqueness.
Through our creativity we
created our own brand of skate culture.
This is Triangle Park in America-mura.
I met Chopper during
a contest thrown by AJSA.
After that I started coming down to Osaka.
The first time I skated here
in this park was when I was 15 or 16.
So that was like 28 years ago.
So this has been my main spot for 25 years.
Normally we skate here at night.
I'd like to show you some of
our other favourite spots in the area.
The ground in this park is all dirt, not concrete.
Most skaters can't skate without concrete.
We wanted to do something different, though.
We wanted to do something crazy on the dirt.
We were a bunch of dumbasses when you think about it.
-Watch out! -That's really dangerous!
- Fifth time's the charm. - This is pretty dodgy.
Don't try this at home, kids!
We call this spot "Raji-ban".
That's short for "radical bank".
Most skaters don't like using rough,
bumpy surfaces like this,
but we thought it looked like a cool spot to try things.
We used to come here a lot.
One time I showed some pros from overseas this spot.
When I told them this was one of our home spots,
they were like,
"Wow, this would be ultra awesome if you put cement over.
"Super smooth."
But I told them we liked it jagged.
Being tough to skate on meant we might pull off
even cooler tricks here.
They were like, "Oh huh, I guess,"
and didn't really seem to get it.
That's part of The Osaka Daggers' style.
Japanese skating has been and is still
influenced by American style.
In Japan, skaters are still considered a minority
and many people think we're weird.
But throughout the past couple years,
we have been getting acknowledged by the world.
We are definitely going into the right direction.
I think we are finally getting close to the world's level.
Recently, people think we are cool
because we have new ideas and do stuff nobody else does.
In the past, Japanese skaters were just trying to
imitate the guys from the US.
But now it's almost the other way round.
Kids over there see our skate videos and try to imitate us.
Maybe at some point in the future
one of these kids from the US will become a top pro skater,
and they will tell the world,
"I got my inspiration from the Osaka Daggers".
I think this is not too far fetched at all.
This store and workshop is the Osaka Daggers headquarters.
Back there we have our screen-printing gear
and other machines.
Today, Junpei is back there doing some DIY stuff.
I made all of these myself by screen-print.
This shop's brand name used to be "Whatever".
Back in the days, we weren't focusing on skaters.
Instead, we focused on punk.
This is a present from my friend, Haroshi.
This is also from Haroshi.
I met Haroshi 10 years ago.
Now he has become a world famous artist.
It's kind of funny,
his art inspires my skate style
and my skating inspires his artwork.
I'm Haroshi.
I'm an artist from Tokyo.
I started skating
when I saw a friend from another school doing it
and thought it was cool.
This is my studio. Let me show you around.
I'm making this for a street art museum
that's opening in Berlin.
Eventually there'll be a skateboard down here,
but it's not done yet.
I am making this ramp for a fair in Basel, Switzerland.
I put a lot of detailed grooves in the skateboards.
I made it so they would bend
and I could reshape them into a ramp.
I collect skateboards from all over Japan
each time I do a project.
This is my stock of extra decks.
I'll go through and find the ones with colours or patterns I
need for the project.
I used to make jewellery.
I wanted to make accessories with wood.
But it costs a lot to buy good wood.
While thinking of that, I
realised that I had a lot of skateboards at my house.
So I started making accessories with skateboards.
Before I knew it, people were calling me an artist.
I think the skateboard itself
really is like a work of art.
Skaters are all very much like artists to me.
Skating isn't just a sport.
There are no rules and you can do whatever you want.
It's another part of the culture
built upon skateboarding.
Like a trick.
It's just like an ollie or a flip.
I see the way I sculpt from skateboards
as being just like those tricks.
You come across guys like Chopper every so often.
Guy's into some big trouble.
Some skaters are like creators.
They'll make a new trick,
and then everyone else imitates it.
So someone does an ollie, and then everyone copies it.
People see something in a video and then do it themselves.
Sometimes you get guys like them
who find new ways of doing things.
The uniqueness about Japan's skate scene has been
heavily influenced by Chopper and his style.
Thanks to him, the scene here has become something special.
We have a lot of different members
in the Osaka Daggers now.
Let me introduce to
one of the most important members of the Osaka Daggers.
I'm Takeshi Ota, aka "DAL".
I met Chopper when I was 18 years old.
I want to share how fun skating is with others,
and increase the number of people who skate.
That's why I run this school here.
Forward! Yes, move your foot forward.
That's right.
Just because you made it the first try doesn't mean
you will succeed the next time. OK!
Move your foot a bit further back.
This is our beginners class for young kids.
These are the kids who have passed on
from there and picked up some skills.
You guys are better than the beginners class, right?
Show us what you can do.
Now push up here!
Skating still doesn't have much history here in Japan,
so I think the Olympics are great
if they'll help us increase the number of skaters.
Thanks to the Olympics
we are seeing more skaters than ever.
Don't you think we have to make sure that
these kids also get to know the cultural aspect about skating
and not only the sport aspect?
It'd be cool if we could find a way to mix the two
and make skating into something even more amazing.
When I was young, skating was a counter-culture.
We were basically against everything.
Skating seems to naturally draw people
with that type of personality.
I want younger generations to think more "DIY"
and develop their own opinions.
I want them to realise that it's OK
to have your own skate style
and not just do what everyone else does.
I knew that skateboarding would make it into the Olympics.
There are a lot of young kids
who specifically train for the Olympics these days.
These kids have an aim to work towards something,
which we didn't have.
But I don't want these kids to forget that
skateboarding is also a scene
with its own fashion, music, and art.
The skate scene will remain a hub of creativity and culture.
Things are changing for the better here,
with the Olympics being part of it.
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