Over the pass years, winching was taken over wakeboarding by a storm with all the rider holding this new form of wakeboarding in it's highest regard due to the amount of planning and effort just to get a single clip. With the Japanese wakeboarding industry being so closed off from the rest of the world. We haven't seen any winching videos coming out of Japan that is until we stumble across Logan's video of him sending a gap down a waterfall near Osaka. We decided that it was a good idea too reach out and get his perspective on the Wakeboard scene in Japan.
Foundation Wake Interview with Logan Dane
FW - What was your plan when you moved to Japan and did you had any exposure to wakeboarding before that?
LD- I started wakeboarding from a young age behind the family boat in Texas. We lived just a few miles from the lake and my dad would want to go to the lake after work most days during the summer. Texas Ski Ranch opened around 2003 and was only about 20 minutes away, thats when I first got introduced to riding cable and eventually winching. Fast forward 15 years and I’m living in Japan and doing a stunt show at Universal Studios Japan. Wakeboarding has been part of my life so I had to seek out ways to ride here. Luckily there is a cable near by and I found a way to build myself a winch.
FW - How did you get started winching in Japan and what kind of winch do you use?
LD - The first time I ever saw somebody winching was in 2005 and from that moment I knew that was the way I wanted to wakeboard the most. After seeing a few different winches in person I started to figure out how to build my own. That lead me to starting a little winch company outta my parents garage. Once I was here in japan for a few money ha I started finding little winch spots all over and got the itch to ride them so I started figuring out how I would build a winch without having access to a welding machine.
What I ended up finding and using was the frame of a moped and some plywood for most the frame. Bit of trail and error but it works and has definitely given plenty of smooth pulls!
FW - How does the general public view wakeboarding? And how do they react when they see winching?
LD- I haven’t been kicked out of any winch spots! So I think most the people that stop and watch are usually just curious and usually quite excited to see it. A lot of the time I’m traveling on the train with my wakeboard just under my arm. Most people that have asked me about it want to call it a snowboard. Couple people have told me that they like to wakeboard. Mostly people just kinda stare.
FW - Opinion on the wakeboard scene in Japan, and do you see more riders getting into winching?
LD - The wakeboarding scene here in japan is pretty interesting. Based on how many people snowboard here I would think wakeboarding would be more popular than it is. But there is only one full size cable in japan which I find pretty amazing. And there are probably a thousand places you can find to pull you behind the boat. As far as winching, I’m trying to get a couple guys from the cable to come have a shred with me but we haven’t made it happen yet. I think if the cable scene were to grow in japan winching would also grow. There are tons of talented skateboarders/ snowboarders everywhere around japan. They just need to find their way to the water!