The Japanese Whitewater Stand Up Scene
Well that’s why we think it’s cool, because there is one! And this group of guys is keeping the whitewater stand up paddling scene alive and well while the rest of the stand up paddling community concentrates on racing and surfing. Over the last few months the whitewater side of the sport has shrunk back into the shadows a little, after the invention of the inflatable boards which made whitewater stand up paddling possible, interest died down and attention quickly turned to the more race orientated inflatable shapes used in the one design competitions. All the while companies like Starboard continued to make the super wide designs with funny looking fins that allows these looneys to hurl themselves down a rocky river while trying to balance on a board.
Spearheading the push is a little shop called S&M (which stands for Sun and Moon, there’s a story about it on their website) which is right in the middle of Osaka, Japan. They sell an interesting variety of things, like the Starboard whitewater boards, kayaks, hammocks and of course they’re a coffee shop as well, just to add something different to the mix. But back to the paddling!
To see what they’re up to, follow their facebook page for the best stuff, but there’s a group of them that travel around to the many whitewater paddling locations in Japan and have an absolute blast together. With their inflatable boards they can fly down some of the gnarliest rivers without worry, and then they simply just deflate them, roll the board up and put it in the back of their little cars to get home. Ok, they do have roof racks too, not everyone likes pumping up these inflatable SUPs every time.
For more information or to see what everybody is up to, check out the Japanese River SUP Association here, now we know about it, we’ll bring you all the action from up north as it happens.
crib point, VIC
