Yuta Sezutsu

Yuta Sezutsu is a tal­ented Japan­ese surfer. His smooth style and grace­ful noserides have been get­ting atten­tion at Joel Tudor’s Duct Tape Invi­ta­tion­als and in the new Mikey DeTem­ple film, Sight and Sound. We spoke with Yuta to learn more.

What was your life like grow­ing up?
I grew up in Fukuoka, located in West­ern Japan. I later moved to Taito Chiba when I was fin­ished junior high school at 15 years old. My dad and I would go surf­ing every week­end until we moved to Fukuoka. Now I surf every­day at Taito Beach.

When did you get your first surf­board?
I got my first surf­board when I was 10 years old. It was a Bic 6’7 shortboard.Then a half year ago, I met Seitaro Naka­mura. His surf­ing changed the way I surf. It was super beau­ti­ful. I then bought a YU 9’0 noserider and it became my first long­board. It was super expen­sive, so I my dad help me pay for it.

What was the feel­ing you had when you first stood on a surf­board?
I can’t really explain the feel­ing. It was just really smooth and amaz­ing. I will never for­get it.

Who did you look up to and admire when you were a young man?
I grew up with all the local old guys at Fukuoka. These guys love to surf sooo
much! I just learned from them it is most impor­tant thing. I love these guys! They are my heroes!

Who/what inspires you?
Seitaro Naka­mura, Joel Tudor, Kenji Miyauchi… these guys have all been
inspi­ra­tion for my surf­ing and life. My dad espe­cially taught me how I should be liv­ing a good life. My boss Takuya Testu has an awe­some char­ac­ter and per­son­al­ity. I wouldn’t be here with­out all the peo­ple in my life. Also movies, books, and peo­ple also pro­vide me good inspiration.

What is the great­est thing you have learned in your life?
Love to every­thing. Love is every­thing. Lov­ing my fam­ily, friends, nature, and every­body and every­thing includ­ing myself.

Is there a “Golden Rule” or phi­los­o­phy that you live by?
Don’t lie. And be humble.

Do you have any regrets or wish you had done some­thing dif­fer­ently?
Noth­ing! That is such non­sense, because my life is always great!

What are you most proud of?
My fam­ily, espe­cialy my par­ents. They were taught me about life and how to love.

What mean­ing does surf­ing hold for you and how has it changed your life?
Surf­ing is free. There are no rules, just hav­ing fun. I can say the same for my life. It
has changed my life to a bet­ter one. More smiles, more laughs, and being happy.

Who are some of the peo­ple you feel are shap­ing the path for surf­ing today?
Seitaro Naka­mura, Har­ri­son Roach, Chris­t­ian Wach, Tyler War­ren, Alex
Knost, Joel Tudor, Dane Peter­son… and more! These are my favorite surfers.

What is your favorite board?
Smooth Log and Sin­gle fin. They are awesome.

What’s your favorite meal?
Mom’s Japan­ese udon noodles.

What are you cur­rently lis­ten­ing to on your iPod?
I don’t have iPod! Haha. Pink Floyd, The Blue Hearts,The
Bea­t­les, Picaresque Sound Track. I love everything!

What are you most grate­ful for?
My par­ents, my fam­ily, friends, and the peo­ple who sup­port me.

What’s next for Yuta Sezutsu?
I don’t know. I’ll just keep going my own way. I have to be me – Yuta Sezutsu. Stay orig­i­nal and be proud of being Japan­ese. That’s it.

All pho­tographs cour­tesy Yuta Sezutsu.