60
Septembersunwasstartingtoset over
primesurfinghoursatthebeachesinnearby
Shonan—whenKanoaIgarashi,Japan’smostfamous
waverider,draggedhimselfandhisentourageintothe
HarajukushowroomofQuiksilverInc.,oneofhissponsors.
It hadbeena whirlwind48-hourpromotionalblitz.He’d
flown5,000milesfromSurfRanch,themechanicalwavepool
thatKellySlaterbuiltinSouthernCalifornia’sinlandvalley,
whereIgarashihadspentninehoursgettingfilmedcarving
oneperfect,machine-madetubeafteranother,thenhaving
hisbloodtestedforlacticacidlevels.
AftertouchingdowninTokyoat 5 a.m.,heclimbed
intoa blackSUVheadedtowardthePrinceParkTower
Hotel,where,by 11 a.m.,he’dalreadydonea half-
dozeninterviewswithJapanesemedia.Thenthere
wasa photoshootforGQanda pressconferenceto
announcehislatestendorsementdeal,withcosmet-
icsmakerShiseidoCo.
WhenhearrivedatQuiksilver,hewasonlyslightly
behindschedule andstill looking
unruffledina blackT-shirt, black
pants,andwhitesneakersandsport-
ing bleached-blond hair. Igarashi
wouldspendtwomorehourssign-
ingT-shirtsandpostersandposing
foryetmorephotos.Offtooneside
wasa 6-foot-tall,life-sizecardboard
cutoutofhim,equallybronzedand
impossiblyfit.
“There’sa lot ofathletic,gifted
surfersbutnotmanyas drivenas
Kanoa,”saysDerekRielly,co-founder
ofthesurfwebsiteBeachGrit.“He
seemstoloveallthemachinations
aroundprosurfing—thecompanies,
thepeople,theattention,thecam-
eras.Hethrivesoffit.”
Thesportofsurfingisallabout
timing,andwiththepossibleexcep-
tionofSlater,nobodyevertimedit
betterthanIgarashi’ssurf-crazedparents,Tsutomu
andMisa.Twenty-fouryearsago,thecouplequit
theirjobsinTokyoandmovedacrossthePacific
toHuntingtonBeach,SurfCityUSA,withthegoal
ofhavinga babyandraisinghimorhertobea
champion.ThatCaliforniakidgrewuptobethe
youngestsurfertomaketheprofessionaltour.
Now,rankedNo.6 intheworldandwithearnings
ofalmost$2millionlastyear,he’soneofthesport’s
highest-paid athletes.
Comparisons are inevitable with tennis prod-
igies Serena and Venus Williams, whose father,
Richard, saw how much money was being handed
out to the winner of a tennis match on television and
drafted a 78-page plan to turn his yet-to-be-conceiveddaughtersintostars.ButTsutomu,orTom,stillgivesoffa
bohemianvibe,witha longponytailandthick-rimmedglasses
thathesometimeswearsaroundhisneck.Heintroduces
himselfwith jokey businesscards, thelatestofwhich
describeshimasheadoftheCaliforniaResearchCenter,a
serious-sounding institution that doesn’t exist.
His real business, of course, is managing his son’s career,
which he’s done since he would wake him by 5:20 every
morning as a small child so he could be surfing waves by
5:45. (He’d time the sessions so his son could still make it to
school on time—second
grade.) By age 7, Igarashi
hadwonhisfirsttrophy,
andhewasoutsurfing
hisfatherbyhis early
teens.In 2016 an18-year-
oldIgarashibecamethe
youngestrookie,aswell
asthefirstsurfertofor-
mally represent Japan
on the World Surfing
League’s Championship Tour. He
won the Vans U.S. Open in 2017
and2018,andlastyearhebrokeinto
theWSL’stop10. In May he scored
his first Championship Tour victory,
at Keramas Beach in Bali.
Perhaps the most fortuitous timing
of all came when the Olympic com-
mittee decided to include surfing in
the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo
and selected a beach break in Chiba PREVIOUS PAGE: RYAN MILLER. THIS PAGE TOP TO BOTTOM: MATT DUNBAR/GETTY IMAGES; RYAN MILLER;
TANNER CARNEY FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEKSPORTS Bloomberg Pursuits September 30, 2019Bottom:Igarashi
signsa T-shirtatthe
Quiksilvershowroom
inHarajukuPreviouspage,
top,andmiddle:
Igarashiathisfirst
ChampionshipTour
victoryinBaliinMay