ケイトは寒冷地でもある東北エリア日本屈指のビーチブレイク宮城県仙台新港でサーフィンを初め、12歳からノースショアに通いパイプの波に魅了されてきた。ボーイズの頃はドロップアウトサーフボードのライダー、全日本などのアマチュアコンテストで活躍。JPSAプロ公認獲得。語学や経験値を積むワールドトリップ、17歳から日本のプロツアーを本格的に回り、コントスト最高ランキングは7位。早い段階からコンテストよりもウェーブハントの魅力、サーフィンの本質に気付いていた彼は日本国内外の美しい波を追い続けてきた。世界ではフリーサーファーというジャンルが確立されても、日本ではまだまだ影響力を認められない部分である。

ケイトの魅力は、人間性など金銭的に有利に働く部分（スポンサーへの立ち回りの上手さなど）でなく、サーファー、男としての夢を揺るぎない信念でフォーカスしている部分だ。

そういった稀有、唯一無二な存在は、しばしば言動が、凝り固まった思考の人間には否定されがちであるが、自分でも俯瞰して理解しているし、荒削りでも、いつも目の奥には力強い美しい波が見えている彼には、美しい生き方を感じさせてくれる。

サーファーとして、”かっこいいか”、”かっこ悪いか”

シンプルに2択しかない。

2017年、生まれ育った仙台新港での台風によるグランドスウェルが炸裂。フォーカスした波を逃さず、ビッグエアードロップがサーファーマガジンにピックされ世界で注目された。

すでに家族築き、湘南に移住していながらも国内外旅を続けている彼にとっては、その場にいる事は当たり前であるが、この時の波をメイクすることは奇跡とも言える確率だ。この時間で、この位置でと洞察力、判断力、スキルを世界にわからせた一本であった。

ビックウェーバーとしての認知度が上がり、聖地パイプラインで名誉ある大会2017〜2018年”ダフイバックドアシュートアウト”にチームジャパンとして初参加し、大会最高得点をメイクした。総合3位、日本人初の快挙を成し遂げた。2018〜19年も出場に選ばれ、数十分と言う短いヒートの中で、ずっと見据えていた夢の波がケイトの前に押し寄せてきた。この史上初と言われる程のビッグパイプバレルをメイク、全世界のトップサーファーが集まるパイプラインで12point満点を獲得。2年連続大会最高得点。

その年の世界一を決める SURFLINE Wave of the Winterに輝き、SURFER AWARD Best Barrel賞も獲得。その後全世界のパンデミックが広がりながらもケイトは美しい波を求め活動し、世界が落ち着き始めた2024年再び名誉ある大会”Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational”に招待された。また新しい伝説の幕開けとなるのか、彼の目の奥にはまた力強く美しい波が見えているのだろう。

ストーリーは続く。。。

Keito started surfing at Sendai Shinko Port in Miyagi Prefecture, one of Japan’s best beach breaks in the cold Tohoku region, and from the age of 12 he started going to the North Shore and was fascinated by the waves of Pipe. When he was a boy, he was a dropout surfboard rider and participated in amateur contests such as the All Japan. He obtained JPSA professional certification. He went on world trips to learn languages and gain experience, and from the age of 17 he started touring the Japanese professional tour in earnest, with his highest contest ranking being 7th. From an early stage, he realized the appeal of wave hunting and the essence of surfing rather than contests, and has continued to pursue beautiful waves both in Japan and abroad. Even though the genre of free surfing has been established in the world, it is still an area where influence is not recognized in Japan.

Keito’s charm is not in his personality or other aspects that work financially in his favor (such as his skill in dealing with sponsors), but in the part where he focuses on his dreams as a surfer and a man with unwavering conviction.

Such a rare and unique existence is often rejected by people with rigid thinking, but he understands it from a bird’s eye view, and even though he is rough around the edges, he always sees powerful and beautiful waves in the depths of his eyes, which makes him feel a beautiful way of life.

As a surfer, there are only two simple choices: “cool” or “uncool.”

Typhoon caused a grand swell in Sendai Shinko

In 2017, a typhoon caused a grand swell in Sendai Shinko, where he was born and raised.
He didn’t miss the wave he focused on, and his big air drop was picked up by Surfer Magazine, attracting worldwide attention.For him, who has already started a family and moved to Shonan, but continues to travel both domestically and abroad, being there is a given, but making a wave like this was a miracle in its odds.
It was a wave that showed the world his insight, judgment and skill, at this time and in this position.

A perfect score of 12 points at Pipeline

As her recognition as a big waver increased, she participated in the prestigious 2017〜2018 “Da Hui Backdoor Shootout” tournament at the sacred ground of Pipeline for the first time as a member of Team Japan, and made the highest score in the tournament.
She placed third overall, the first Japanese to achieve this feat.
She was selected to participate again in 2018〜19, and in a short heat of just a few minutes, the dream wave she had been looking at for a long time came rushing in front of her.
She made this big pipe barrel, said to be the first in history, and earned a perfect score of 12 points at Pipeline, where top surfers from all over the world gather.
She scored the highest in the tournament for two consecutive years.
She won the SURFLINE Wave of the Winter, which determines the world’s best that year, and also won the SURFER AWARD Best Barrel award.

After that, even as the pandemic spread around the world, Kate continued to work in search of beautiful waves, and in 2024, when the world began to calm down, she was invited to the prestigious tournament “Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational” again.
Will this be the beginning of another legend? Perhaps he can see another powerful and beautiful wave in the depths of his eyes.

The story continues….