Here comes Hayato, representing for Japan.

That Tokyo has given birth to some of Japan’s best surfers is a fact too often overlooked. The densely populated city hardly seems like the breeding ground for young, hotshot surfers but over the past two decades Tokyo has punched out handfuls of skilled riders.

Born and raised in Tokyo, professional Japanese free surfer Hayato Maki is one of these guys who have broken free from the restraints of the concrete jungle to shred amongst the world’s best natural water playgrounds.

The Maki name is no stranger to fame in Japan. Hayato’s father Mike is a major Japanese singer and actor and his older brother Claude an actor, professional surfer, skater, café/shop owner and hip hop star. One of three good looking, surf/skate/snowboarding brothers, the trio are dubbed the Maki Kyodai (Maki Brothers) and you’d have to have been living under a rock in Japan to not have heard of them.

Despite having both good and bad aspects, Hayato says growing up with the fame has been quite balanced, but then again nothing much seems to bother this easy going, well-balanced family man.

When Hayato was in the eighth grade at school his family packed up and moved over to Hawaii. Brother Claude was already surfing and after the move to the islands started to introduce Hayato to the scene.

“I guess you can say I entered straight into the full thruster generation” says Hayato, “The momentum era. But because my brother was already surfing when I was younger I got to watch lots of surf flicks and look at pics of Tom Curren, Occy, Sunny Garcia so I always had a thing for the way those guys surfed with a lot of power and big carves”.

After graduation high school the family moved back to Japan and until recently Hayato had been based in Isumi, Chiba. Like his brother, Hayato joined the Japan Professional Surfing Association (JPSA) and tried his legs at the competition scene but after a couple years threw in the towel.

“Competing made me want to stop competing. I hated surfing knee high slop all the time and having to be there at a contest knowing that the waves would be going off at the same time somewhere else. Contests just aren’t my thing so I refocused on my dreams and took off on the path of doing what I wanted to do”.

Evolving his already fresh, smooth style, the past few years of traveling the world as one of Japan’s most successful free surfers has seen Hayato grow into a mature, soulful surfer encompassing a well-balanced bag of tricks allowing him to plunge into deep barrels, lay powerful carves and seek out fun launch ramps for aerials. His good looks, friendly persona and bilingual capabilities keep him popular with the media, allowing him to sustain the dream life as a professional free surfer.

“The good thing about traveling is that you get to see new places, surf new waves, meet all kinds of different people and eat great food. Food poisoning and being away from my family are the low points of travel for sure!”

One trip that sticks out in Hayato’s memory was to Cloud Nine in the Philippines in 2010, with Japanese free surfer and Vans rider ‘Onoge kun’ and Surfer’s Eyes photographer Kuni Takanami. Chasing a typhoon that ended up grounding planes and causing havoc across the country, the guys experienced all the hardships that third world travel can throw at you and after losing surfboards, missing planes and having no sleep eventually scored the world class break at its best.

“That was a great trip. The Philippines have so many great, undiscovered waves and really awesome local food. Some say it’s dangerous but we were it really wasn’t at all. The people are so nice and geographically speaking the Philippines is really close to Japan and really good in typhoon season”. It’s an exciting place to explore and there are still so many unridden waves.”

Married with three beautiful daughters, Hayato met his stunning wife Mari at the beach in Chiba, Japan, and encourages her own passionate affair with surfing.

“Mari loves surfing so I do a lot of babysitting when I’m home and the waves are fun. It’s all good!”

Mari was nine month’s pregnant with their third daughter when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Their coastal town of Isumi city in Chiba prefecture, north east of Tokyo, was spared but like millions of others across the country they were forced to evacuate the initial tsunami.

“That was a tough time for my family and of course everyone in Japan. My kids are still very small and my wife was pregnant, so after the tsunami I decided to move us all to Okinawa in case the radiation leaking from Fukushima got worse. The whole disaster was a big eye opener for us. Our daughter was born safely and I’d always wanted to live in Okinawa anyway. We’re happy there, just living the simple life”.

Concerned for his surfing friends and other Japanese living near the contaminated areas, Hayato hopes that international experts can keep sharing their advice to help settle the Fukushima plant and start testing the soil and waters in widespread locations.

“Now I think it’s important for us surfers and our international friends to teach Japanese how to live more simplistic lives away from mass consumption society.”

Hayato is leading the charge. In Okinawa when the surf goes flat you will find him deep below the water’s surface, seeking out his family’s next meal relying on a decade and a half’s worth of ocean knowledge.

“I started out spear fishing with my friends in high school when the waves were junk, using three prongs and pole spears. It’s actually pretty difficult. You assume fish are stupid but they are much smarter than we think! You have to act like one of them to get up close underwater. It can get scary, with big sharks and eels that spook ya out, sometimes they sneak up on me because I carry all the fish I catch on my weight belt. But the scariest thing is blacking out, so I try not to push the limits too much. I’ve lost a good friend that way. It is pretty dangerous I guess but at the same time getting under the water and catching your own food really makes you appreciated more things in life.”

The future for Hayato is set to be volumes of adventures as he remarkably maintains a busy travel schedule with his growing family.

“I am off to California, Mexico and then Indonesia next and then to Hawaii. With all that travel and three wild kids I have my hands full! But life is so great for me, playing and learning so much from the ocean and nature. I’m happy just enjoying and sharing in that stoke with my friends and family.”

Hayato Maki

D.O.B: January 11, 1979

Born: Tokyo

Lives: Okinawa, Japan

Stance: Regular

Sponsors: Nesta Brand, Naki Surf, Dove Wetsuits, Black Flys, Supra, FCS, Gorilla Grip, Dice Wax

Blog: http://go-naminori.com/hayatomaki/