During the heyday of snowboarding, a boy who was taken to a snowy country by the influence of adults around him and met snowboarding.I don't have a brilliant tournament record, and I'm not interested in receiving everyone.As an underground hero, his style of sticking to himself, who does not easily distort his opinion, has continued to support the scene from the back.Here, we will introduce the trajectory of Makoto Masuda, the ultimate freestyler who always prioritizes connections with people and real things, and sticks to original things above all.
* This article is a special release of the interview article published in the December 2019 issue of FREERUN magazine (released on November 12) as "STAY HOME" special content.
BORN TO BE REAL SN OW BOARDER
"If you're around people who have a passion, I think you'll be the color of that vibes."
-First of all, I would like to ask you about the background of Ruiki. How did you come across snowboarding when you were born and raised in Shizuoka?
I started snowboarding at BROS, which is located in Shizunami, Makinohara, Shizuoka prefecture, where I do snow, surf, and skating.I wonder if that was the time of the bubble, when snowboarding was popular and the economy was good, I was running a snow shop at the foot of Ishiuchi Maruyama in Niigata prefecture.My acquaintances and relatives went out there, and I started to take them to play.At that time, I was renting a bus for a snowboard tour, so when I was playing on that tour, I was taken to the tour with a feeling like "You're going too", and I heard that I was addicted to snowboarding.It was really fast, I had never skated or surfed at the time, and it was my first time to snowboard.It was probably when I was 7-XNUMX years old, when I was in elementary school or not.At that time, I was more fucking than I am now, so I don't know if it was interesting from the surroundings, but everyone played around with me, and I was pretty crazy, and he seemed to like the fact that he was riding and doing stupid things. He made friends with me.At that time, various people were touring, so I went to various places besides Niigata and Nagano.That's why I was able to meet Naoya-kun (Naoya Hama) and other people through the BROS connection in Niigata, and have them take me around in various ways.So it feels like my roots start with BROS.
-What kind of snowboarding life do you have after that?You were in a contest, right?
When I was in junior high school, I was in a half-pipe tournament in the JSBA youth class, and in our class there were Keito Kumasaki and Eisuke Sugiura. It was said to be the highest.After that, when I was 15 or 16 years old, I went to ARCTIC CHALLENGE twice?No, I think it came out about 2 times.I went to China, and I was lucky enough to get the X-TRAIL JAM on the recommendation of the manufacturer.I'm lucky, I'm really blessed with people.I heard that various people made me better and made me stand in a good field with a feeling of Pappapan.I think that is also a horizontal connection.There is no doubt that someone I know will introduce me to me, or I felt like "I'm okay because this person is saying it", and I was lucky enough to be in a tournament held by a heavyweight.At that time, I also liked jumping and thought that the rails were cool.Naoya-kun was also doing it, and I wonder if the consciousness turned to slopestyle from there.But from the beginning of the morning, I ate more powder than it felt like a park, and after I got sick, I went to the park in the afternoon and jumped, and it was interesting.So, I'll be back from the morning until about 3 o'clock.I think it was from about 3 in the middle.
-Did you try to aim for the Olympics because you could participate in big contests with various connections?
When I was doing pipes, I wanted to go to the Olympics, but maybe when I was in junior high school, Terje (Terje Håkonsen) said something like "snowboarding is not a national competition". , "Wow, I have that idea."That's true.Snowboarding isn't a fight, I like banked slalom, speed, and anything else that everyone can see, but I didn't really like the judges deciding whether to win or lose.It didn't affect everything, but it changed my mind.There are many styles of snowboarding, and you just have to put out your own color. The JSBA tournament also stopped appearing around the middle of the second.Besides, there were a lot of bad older people around me who didn't appear in competitions, so that kind of seniors had an influence on me.I've seen a lot of snowboarding that isn't a tournament, and my seniors are having fun, and this kind of snowboarding is cooler.I've been doing it since I was in elementary school, so there are people like coaches, and that kind of thing has been going on for a long time.When I was thinking about it, Naoya-kun and my teacher, Juzo-san, who I met through the BROS connection in Niigata, picked it up, or rather, I started playing with them.I took a lift to the top of the mountain, then walked along the ridge and slipped, and I was taken to such a field.I hadn't snowboarded like that before, so it was difficult and sometimes I could roll around, but it made me feel like "this is the best".Juso was also a tough person, so when he gets angry, he gets angry, but he always entertained me.Once I got to know the fun, snowboarding for the tournament became an idea like "I don't know." After being sponsored by VOLCOM, I met Yat-kun (Yasuto Yoshino), who became the same teammate, in the second year of junior high school. Although I was a junior high school student, I had an impact, I think I have one.Snowboarding was good, and the style was cool.It's okay because of this, but let's enjoy snowboarding in a cool way.I've met really good people, so I think it's there.After all, if you are close to people who are living cool, you will naturally become longing for it, and I think you will become that color as well.
FLOW & ORIGINAL STYLE
"I want to feel the maximum comfort of slipping in the flow without waste and in line with cleanliness."
-The place to express yourself is no longer a tournament, and what did you think about when you started snowboarding?Is it shooting?
Hmmm, maybe I wasn't interested in movies at that time, or if I was to shoot a work, I would work with the crew for a long time, so that's a serious shit. It has become.At that time, snowboarding was really interesting, and the people I was with said, "If you slide in the mountains for the time being, you will naturally get better at snowboarding." I was taught that it was important.Certainly, I like to play lightly rather than show the video and do great things, and I don't feel like cruising lightly, but I think the style is cool.Besides, I didn't have a favorite rider, and I didn't even think about when and how it was, and it seems that anyone can do it.That's why I didn't want to appear in that movie at all, I wanted to slip more than that, and I just wanted to get better.Rather than attacking myself to appear in a movie, it's more like "If you want to shoot me, you can come and shoot from there and publish it in a video or magazine."Moreover, depending on the rider's men who are out, I don't want to appear in this movie.It may seem like a big idea, but what do you mean?I was always particular about myself.I chose a sponsor because I wanted to sign a brand that I thought was cool.That's why I've never sponsored a crappy brand, and I think it's still the same idea.
-What is Ruiki's greatest commitment to snowboarding?
Is it a flow?Hmmm, what do you say, manipulate the snowboard with a flowing feeling without being too nervous.After all, it's because I'm skating, but it's a place to hit or a line.I think it's different from people who only do snowboarding, and I think the way of taking lines has changed since I started surfing.Isn't the line ten people and ten colors?If you do only one thing, you will only see it, and in my case, I always want to do something different from other people in the flow.Besides, no matter what I do, it's not like "I can't lose the coolness", but I want to bring out my own original feeling.In many ways, it's line-taking and jumping, and I think it's a clean fit in everything.I used to think it was cool, so I thought I should fly anyway, but now that I'm 28 years old, I think it will put a strain on my body.That's why I became a snowboarder who thinks a little more in many ways, like slipping comfortably without any load.However, only the style of "flow and original" does not change, and I think that you can feel the comfort of your own line taking and riding to the maximum.Well, even if someone doesn't look good, it's okay if you feel good.No matter what people say, I wonder if I just want to do it if I think it's this.
-I see.That's why Ruki's slip will attract the viewer.By the way, how do you think you got that feeling and your style?
After all it is something that you can slip into and wear.In my case, it was cool, and it wasn't good because it was a black-and-white pattern for me.When I thought that it wasn't there anymore, I didn't want to talk to that person anymore, and now it's better than it was then, but it used to be terrible.On the contrary, I think that this kind of thing is cool, and that the opinion of the person who admits that this person is absolutely correct.By connecting with such people, I got a clear answer that snowboarding is not a world of winning and losing.Even when it comes to turns and jumps, I've come to pursue comfort and coolness, and I've become conscious of skating and surfing as well. I think that "your style" also affects your lifestyle.Doesn't that person's style appear in their appearance?There are a lot of good guys, but there aren't any guys who have originality, or I feel that insanely cool people aren't featured in the media very much.Really cool people don't want to bean like SNS, they just say, "I'm just pursuing what I want to do."I think that the more core people pursue themselves, the more out-of-the-eyes they are, and those people will establish their own style.
NATURAL FIELD
"Rather than connecting lines and sliding comfortably, face yourself on that line."
-When did you get interested in the world of free riding after entering the back mountains?
I think it was about 16 to 17 years old.I didn't go to high school, and my parents told me to leave home if I didn't go to high school, so I left home.That's exactly what I did at Juso-san's place to sell takoyaki, and because it was Niigata, I got a part-time job at a rice farmer, and while working around Muikamachi, I was allowed to live in Juso-san's house in Minami Uonuma. rice field.From that point on, the field I wanted to slip on changed from a slope to a mountain.At that time, it was probably earlier than anyone else that Juso and his friends attacked the mountains in the Uonuma area from the time when it was not a free riding boom, I did it about 10 years ago. It's amazing because it was in Uonuma.We are still aiming for that spot.I started surfing just around that point.Surfing doesn't have the same waves, and the way the waves break is different depending on the sand terrain, so it's hard to do what you want to do.Because it's a completely natural opponent, the conditions are completely different depending on how the wind blows, the direction of the swell, and the cycle of the waves.Isn't it the same in the mountains? If the westerly wind blows strongly, there will be snow on the eastern side and there will be an avalanche.But it's insanely deep and interesting.There are lots of things I still don't understand, such as taking mountain lines.When I asked if I could rescue with confidence when something happened, it wasn't at that level yet.But as long as I'm in the mountains, I want to take responsibility to save people's lives, so I'm 28 years old now, but I'm not a mountain professional, but I have the experience and knowledge to come back even if I go alone. I want to have.The facial expressions of the mountains and the snow are different every day, so I feel scared.But adrenaline comes out in such a scene.I also like the feeling of being able to charter a mountain with only reliable friends, and at that time I can snowboard with a pure feeling, so I like that feeling.
-In the mountains, Ruiki wants to add freestyle element jumps and actions, not just lines that connect on turns?
I want to jump somewhere on one line with a single jump.I like the lines that connect on the turn and slide comfortably, but I also like the excitement of "what if I fly over there" and the fear of being dangerous.It seems that if you fly and make up such a racy spot with a bacon, that one line will be exceptional and you will feel more comfortable.Looking back and looking at my line, it's not like "it's pretty dangerous", but it's a sense of self-satisfaction or superiority complex, isn't it?That day is the best, isn't it?I think about it while driving the car on my way home or before going to bed, or call someone and brag about something like "I'm over there today."Rather than just connecting the lines and sliding comfortably, you always want to try.I don't want to take on a reckless challenge, but I don't think I should enjoy it to improve myself to some extent.If adrenaline came out in such a scene and I overcame my fear, it seems that I could go there next time.There are times when I'm pretty sick, but just because I was able to go, I gained confidence and improved myself, and attacked a different spot again.Then the appearance will change steadily.Among them, aiming for a section that no one is likely to go to, like "Go there and that line !?" or "Like that line".The feeling of the session around that is also interesting.There are various lines in the mountains and there are no goals, so I think it's interesting to do it and stop.
-Which area did Ruiki pay attention to next after gaining experience in Niigata?
There was a time when Juso-san hit his head downhill and died, and he was a little away from it, or something like "It wouldn't be fun without that person", even when the vibes were at a loss. There was.At that time, you went to Niseko, Hokkaido.Then, there were Yat-kun and his friends at the shooting, and they welcomed me with a great welcome, so I stayed there. Yat and his friends started snowmobiles while they were slipping together for a couple of seasons.Before that, I also bought a rugged mobile in Canada, so I was confident that I could ride it to some extent, and I wanted to snowboard with a mobile in Japan, so I also got a mobile in Japan, We've been moving around Hokkaido together for several seasons.
After that is Nagano.YoneFilm made the snowboard movie "LIVE NATURALY", and Mercy (Masashi Nishina) became a VOLCOM rider and started to have a session together.It's kind of a match.Let's shoot in various places.Mercy-kun, Goro-san (Komatsu), Yone-kun, and other must-have people around that area have come to be good at me, and I've been invited to shoot.I thought it would be a chance if I was invited, so I didn't refuse, and I went to Hakuba for about two seasons based on the suburbs.At that time, I would have been to Niigata if it was good, and I wonder if Hokkaido was going to choco choco and so on. It feels like I went to a place with good snow by connecting people instead of sticking to one place.
-You were connected to various people in various places.Is there any area or slope that Ruiki likes the most?
The Minami Uonuma area in Niigata has its own roots, or it has grown up for a long time, and Hakuba has steep places and there are still many places I want to go.In Hokkaido, the snow is a little deep and it's always good to slide in powder, and this year Nakai-kun (Koji Nakai) took me to a great place.So I wonder if I can narrow down the area that is important to me to one.After all, there are good slopes in each area, and there are people who want to slide together in various places.It's fun to be able to have sessions with such people in various places.Niigata, Nagano, and Hokkaido are places I can't miss.I think it's an area I'll always go to.
Continue to the second part.
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What we can do now.
Thinking about the next season, "Reading for staying at home".
Message from Makoto Masuda to readers
"Now, the world is in tremendous difficulty. I don't want to say this, but it doesn't seem like a bright future is waiting for me. But I wonder if this is a mistake that humans have made. I feel that various systems have evolved too complicatedly due to individual desires. Things that are not necessary and things that are not troublesome are manufactured and produced one after another to make money. Now that what is needed and what is not needed is once again highlighted. This pandemic is taking this opportunity to take advantage of the fact that the system created for individualism is heading toward collapse. I think it's important to make a simple life by confirming the necessity and unnecessaryness while taking it positively.-Masuda base'
