November 2024, 11. "COWDAY STREET 23" was held at Kita-Mido (Hongan-ji Tsumura Betsuin) on Midosuji in Osaka. It's just a 4-minute train ride from Umeda Station!First part] we delivered a report on the tournament, but in the second part we will take a look back at "COWDAY STREET 2024" based on the voices of riders, judges, photographers, and key people involved in the event.
Photo: itachan (COWDAY STREET 2024)
"In one word, it was fantastic. It's the first time that an event has been held in the heart of Osaka, and at a temple at that. In other countries, they might do it on handrails in a castle. It may still be difficult to use actual rails or ledges in Japan, but I think it's a stepping stone... there's no doubt that this event will lead to the next step.
Still, I think the items we chose this time were the best for making the event a show. They brought out the riders' various tricks and styles. Also, we were able to watch the event from all around the special stage, and the production was great, so I think it was really exciting.
Since riders with world-class skills and style, including (Zeb) Powell, were participating, I wanted to impress with some impressive riding. I'm glad it worked out well!
Ryo Aizawa (Invited Rider, Men's Best Rider)
"I was happy that Luke (Winkelmann) chose me for the best trick (CAB270 on boardslide regular off). It was the trick I was aiming for from the beginning! During the event I was concentrating on my own riding and hardly watched the other riders' riding, but Aizawa Ryo was amazing. Also, I was attracted to the event because people who don't usually snowboard could see my riding. DO's live performance was great too!"
Kaito Ichinose (General Participant, Men's Best Trick)
"It was a very energetic event. I was always in high spirits and it was a lot of fun. The style of the Japanese riders was very clean and cool, and they were doing very original tricks. It was pretty dope. I was happy to be able to skate with such great riders and be a part of the event."
Zeb Powell (Invited rider)
"It'd been a while since we'd had an event in the middle of a city in Japan, and the scale of it was huge, and the unique atmosphere of a temple was great. Also, it was great that it was held at night, which made it feel like a rail jam. The sections were simple and made it easy to do tricks, which I liked. The 450 in and transfers were also great, but in terms of style, I think us guys... (Toda) Masato, (Yoneno) Shunshi, and (Suzuki) Toui were the coolest (laughs). We had more fun than anyone! In the open practice we played around with trick restrictions, and whoever lost had to buy a beer (laughs). Through this event, I was able to show my snowboarding to snowboarders living in western Japan, and I think that even people who happened to stop by without any knowledge of snowboarding were able to see that snowboarding can be so much fun and cool outside of the Olympics."
Ryoki Ogawa (invited rider)
"Because the event was called Street, I imagined there would be a lot of stairs, but it was a temple, so that's probably not possible (laughs). But it was great to be able to snowboard with my friends in that location. Holding an event in the city makes it easy for people who have never snowboarded to come, and I'd be happy if this inspires them to try snowboarding. During the snowboarding, I was super excited by OG's (Ogawa Ryoki) BS180 in. But at the after-party, we all drank so many shots that it might have been more memorable than the snowboarding (laughs). Anyway, Osaka Night was amazing!"
Shunji Yoneno (invited rider)
"I was really excited because I'd never heard of a contest at a temple. I was really happy to be able to snowboard in front of so many people. I wasn't actually planning on doing a FS noseslide on the double down, but before I knew it, I got so excited that I did it (laughs). Maybe I was inspired by (Sakamoto) Hinano's 270 out with backside lip tail and (Fujikawa) Momoka's switch backside lip nose and pushed myself to try it myself?
COWDAY STREET was a valuable event that showed people who don't know anything about snowboarding that there's more to snowboarding than just competition, that there's also snowboarding as a way to express yourself through style."
Himari Takamori (Invited Rider, Women's Best Rider)
"I was very happy to be selected for Best Trick. The backslip tail 270 out is one of my favorite tricks, so I'm glad I was able to land it there! However, I made a lot of mistakes overall and my style still needs work, so that's something I need to work on from now on. But it was a great experience to be able to skate in that final atmosphere. Also, the men's final was really amazing. (Toda) Masato's style was amazing, and Ichinose Kaito was able to perfectly land the trick he wanted with a double down, so I thought that was amazing."
Hinano Sakamoto (General Participant Rider, Women's Best Trick)
"It was an honor to snowboard in such a traditional Japanese location as a temple. The skills of the Japanese girls were insane. They would blow anyone in the world away. And not only did they have the skills, they had the style too. It's crazy how many talented riders there are! Anyway, it's been a while since I've had such fun at a rail event."
Grace Warner (invited rider)
"Because the items were simple, it really put my skills to the test, and it was fun because it was like a mixed martial arts match where each style collided. The final was so crazy! Among them, Ryo (Aizawa) was so cool, he showed everyone that he was the best rider. Also, Kaito Ichinose's CAB270 in double down. The way he put it at the end was so manly. You can't see snowboarding events unless you go to the mountains, right? So I think that people who don't snowboard feel too far removed from snowboarding culture. But this event really narrowed that gap. It was like bringing snowboarding culture, which was from another world, into the real world. It was an event that expanded the possibilities of snowboarding."
Soto Nagasawa (invited rider)
"The fact that we were snowboarding at a temple was a surprise to me. There were a lot of spectators and it was really fun, and I'm glad I was able to convey the joy of snowboarding to so many people. The rails on the boards were at a good height, making it easy to do tricks, and the double down was designed to give me good speed, so I was able to ski stress-free. I made a lot of mistakes, but when I got a BS270 in on the double down, it felt amazing. What made the biggest impression on me was Kaito (Ichinose)'s CAB270 in and then back. That was crazy."
Taito Ogiwara (invited rider)
"It's really fun to perform in front of people. I was also happy that they created an event that showed people that snowboarding isn't just leisure, that there is cool snowboarding like this, and that it can be exciting to watch. No one can see the street snowboarding that we usually do! The items weren't too long and weren't too short, so it looked great. There were a lot of great riders, but we were the coolest ones (laughs). However, I think I may have been a bit of a qualifier (laughs). The people from the temple said they want to do it again next year, so I'd like to participate again."
Masato Toda (invited rider)
"The temple location and DO's live performance were amazing! The skaters who were amazing were OG CHEESE (Ryoki Ogawa, Masato Toda) & RICE (Shunji Yoneno). Next time, I want them to do it in full STREET style with all their stairs!"
Fuyuto Suzuki (invited rider)
"Recently, there have been no large-scale jib events in the city, so the fact that we were able to hold COWDAY STREET at a temple in downtown Osaka is a great tribute to the organizing team who worked so hard to make it happen, and to Kitamido for allowing us to do so.
The riders' riding level was high and it was worth watching. However, it was difficult for me as a judge (bitter smile). I thought the final would be decided up to the top three, but it was only the best rider. I was really worried. This time I was a judge, but I was so excited that I felt like I was skating after the event was over. It was such an exciting event.
I've always wanted to hold a snowboarding event like this in the city, so this desire has only grown stronger. The day I snowboarded in Roppongi (BURTON RAIL JAM) was one of the best memories of my life!
Shoma Takao (Judge)
"There were more colors than at a ski resort, but unlike the streets there was a big audience, and they all had happy expressions on their faces. I wanted to preserve this space, this time. However, this time I felt that if I started taking pictures of the riding I wouldn't be able to enjoy the event purely, but I still wanted to take a few pictures... so I took a few pictures with my film camera and enjoyed the event while drinking! Also, it was nice to see a different side of Aizawa (Ryo) than when he was filming."
pink.clown (Photographer)
"At first, I was approached through Cow Milk Soap by someone who was working hard to enliven the local area. They asked, 'Can we hold an event in this area?' So about a year and a half ago, I made a presentation, and after discussing various things, from choosing the location to the content, we decided to hold the event.
Recently, I've been working on events in snowy mountains, and I wanted more people to come and watch. But snowy mountains are too difficult for people who don't know anything about snowboarding... After all, if it's a place that's easily accessible from the city, people will feel free to go and watch. I also thought that by holding an event in the city, it could spread from there and lead to something next. So I'm really glad that we were able to hold it without any problems.
I think the location was a hot topic this time, but I also thought that the riders who would be there were important, so I spoke to each of the invited riders. On the day of the event, I was too busy with the management work to watch the riders carefully, but the tricks, style, and fashion of the riders were all unique and glamorous, and they all looked cool. I would be happy if the people who came to watch thought that snowboarding was cool, just as I did. Of course, I wanted to make people who don't know snowboarding think that way, so I focused on how to convey that snowboarding is not just about competition, and that it is not just about skill or badness, in an easy-to-understand way. However, the capacity of the Kitamido Hall for spectators was about 1,000 people, so we actually had to limit the number of people entering before the start of the final. I felt sorry for the people who came to enjoy this event, but I was really happy that so many passionate people gathered. I was also happy that the riders were happy and said they had fun.
Thanks to the cooperation of many people, we were able to successfully complete COWDAY STREET 2024. Thank you very much."
Itsuki Inamura (Tournament Secretariat/Representative)
If you missed it, you can watch the live footage from that day by clicking the link below!
- Men's qualifying
- https://youtube.com/live/1UfHGThBMhs
- Men's and women's finals
- https://youtube.com/live/GNy3q-NL11c
COWDAY OfficialInstagram account
