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Last week Chad Nelsen, Environmental Director at the Surfrider Foundation headed off to the Surfrider Foundation International Conference that was hosted by Surfrider Japan (http://www.surfrider.jp/en/).

Konnichiwa Matuse-

I was fortunate to travel to Japan last week to gather with Surfrider Foundation activists from around the world for our annual international conference. We met up in Tokyo and then headed for the coast. After a sobering tour of the heavily armored coastline of the Oboso peninsula, where many first rate surf spots have been lost, we ended up in Komagawa – the birth place of surfing in Japan. In Kamogawa some of the elder statesmen & women of this surf scene shared a photo (seen above) of the first surfers to visit Japan after things settled down following World War II. This photo shows the first crew of Americans who introduced surfing to Japan. It is from the early 1950’s.

We got some fun waves in Kamogawa’s peaky beach breaks. The water was 78° and after a brief rain storm the winds were offshore. My Last Dino jacket with the shark and “no finning” definitely raised some eyebrows in the lineup – but I wore it proudly. The surf scene was vibrant and stoked with surfers of all ages sharing the water. The picture above shows me after an AM surf session with Matt McClain, Surfrider Foundation’s Director of Marketing and Communications.

Surfrider Foundation affiliates from Japan, Australia, Europe, Argentina, Canada, and the US gathered to share best practices, exchange ideas and talk about how we can better work together to protect the world’s oceans, waves and beaches. The conference focused primarily of shoreline armoring (http://beachapedia.org/Shoreline_Structures), the threat of single use plastics (http://www.riseaboveplastics.org) and youth education.

Thanks to the leadership of Surfrider Foundation Japan, the global affiliates came together to jointly sign a statement supporting efforts to develop a global strategy to protect biodiversity by the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity being held in Nagoya, Japan. (http://www.cbd.int/cop10/)

Between all the hard work, we were treated to amazing Japanese hospitality, which included more sushi, asahi and saki than you could ever wish for. A great time was had by all and Matuse can rest assured that the Surfrider Foundation affiliates around the world are keeping up the good fight to protect our coasts and oceans and the critters, big and small, who live there.

Chad-O

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Big ups to Alex’s latest collection, “Summer 4.” To learn more about her handiwork, click here: http://thepleat.com/2010/10/designer-profile-alexandra-cassaniti/

Surfing China 2010 from Glenn Brumage / Wabsono on Vimeo.