Latest news with #Igarashi
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Kanoa Igarashi, ranked No. 3 in the world, happy to be back home for U.S. Open of Surfing
Kanoa Igarashi might have a little trouble recognizing the competition when the Huntington Beach resident paddles out on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier throughout next week during the U.S. Open of Surfing. Over the past six months, Igarashi has been laser-focused on surfing on the World Surf League's Championship Tour (CT) in an effort to win a world championship. Currently ranked No. 3 in the world, Igarashi will be the only surfer still with a chance to win a world title competing in the Open, which begins Saturday and runs through Sunday, Aug. 3, when the men's and women's winners will be crowned. All the other men's division athletes still in the hunt for a world championship have chosen not to compete and instead focus on the CT contest that begins Aug. 7 in Tahiti. That includes Igarashi's longtime rival Griffin Colapinto of San Clemente, the 2021 U.S. Open winner who is currently ranked No. 6 in the world. The Tahiti event is the final contest of the CT's 11-event regular season, with the top five in the season's point standings qualifying for the championship finals in Fiji during the final week of August. Igarashi admitted that skipping the Open to focus on Tahiti and securing a spot in the finals did cross his mind, but it was never a serious consideration. 'I definitely thought about it, but at the end of the day, whether or not I'm in the U.S. Open, I'm just doing my daily routine,' he said. 'As long as I can get to Tahiti a few days in advance, and get rid of the jet lag, I'll be fine. 'I'd be surfing Huntington every single day anyway, so surfing in the U.S. Open doesn't tire me out, thankfully. And I get to spend time with my friends, spend time at home, I'm sleeping in my bed, and I'm only driving three minutes to the pier. I feel like I'm recovering for Tahiti while competing in the U.S. Open. I feel like if it was going to tire me out or distract me, I wouldn't compete. Competing at home, competing in the U.S. Open, it just rejuvenates me.' Indeed, the Open holds a special place in Igarashi's heart. He won back-to-back Open crowns in 2017 and '18, and puts those contest victories at the top of his professional career. 'It was my first big win, so when I won the U.S. Open I was like, OK I think I can move on and do bigger things,' he said. 'It was a confidence booster. To this day, it's right up there with my Bali win and right up there with my [Olympic] silver medal, it's all on the same platform.' The win in Bali in 2019 is the only CT contest Igarashi has won in what is now his ninth season. But he's been to a final six times, including twice this season. It's a reflection of the progress the 27-year-old has made over the years since qualifying for the CT when he was just 17. On paper, Igarshi's biggest competition in the Open will be Mexico's Alan Cleland, who is ranked No. 19 in the world and won last year's Open. Cleland will compete in Tahiti, but is too far down in the points standings to have a chance at qualifying for the finals. Other Southern California surfers who will compete include the San Clemente crew — Kolohe Andino, Kade Matson and Jett Schilling — Long Beach's Nolan Rapoza, Malibu's Taro Watanabe, Encinitas' Levi Slawson and Ventura's Dimitri Poulos. On the women's side, two names to watch for are San Clemente's Sawyer Lindblad, currently ranked No. 11 in the world and the 2023 Open winner, and Australia's Sally Fitzgibbons, still going strong at age 34 and coming off back-to-back appearances in the Open finals. Fitzgibbons won it last year, and finished runner-up to Lindblad in 2023. For Fitzgibbons, the contest is a big one in her effort to qualify for next year's CT, which would be her 17th season on surfing's biggest stage. The Open is a Challenger Series event, with the top seven in the standings qualifying for next year's CT. Fitzgibbons is currently ranked No. 2 in the Challenger Series, but the Open is only the third of the seven contests that will determine the qualifiers. Fitzgibbons has never won a world title but has finished in the top five a remarkable 10 times, including three consecutive second-place finishes in 2010, '11 and '12. Caroline Marks, from San Clemente by way of Florida, is currently ranked No. 6 in the world but will not compete at the Open, instead focusing on Tahiti in an effort to get into the top five of the women's standings. Other Southern California women who will surf in the Open include San Clemente's Bella Kenworthy, Kirra Pinkerton and Eden Walla; Encinitas' Alyssa Spencer, Carlsbad's Reid Von Wagoner and Malibu's Talia Swindal. The Huntington Beach Longboard Classic also will be held, with the log riders competition starting Saturday and going through July 30. Out of the water, competitors will perform Saturday and Sunday in freestyle motocross (FMX), a high-flying action sport where riders perform aerial tricks on dirt bikes, using large ramps to launch themselves into the air.
Asahi Shimbun
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Study suggests xenophobia as the ‘default' is a conformity issue
Voters listen to a speech at Sanseito's street rally in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on June 21. (Akari Sugiyama) While researching overseas cases of 'haigai shugi' (xenophobia), I realized that this word, which literally means 'exclusion of foreigners and foreign things,' can be substituted with other expressions in English. The strongest expression is 'hatred against foreigners' ('gaikokujin keno' in Japanese) but "anti-foreign sentiment" ("hangaikokujin kanjo") and 'contempt for immigrants' ('imin besshi') are also often used. There are fewer expressions that emphasize 'exclusion' ('haijo') or 'ostracization' ('haiseki'). Is there any Japanese word or phrase that explicitly conveys discriminatory thoughts? I wondered about that when I saw, in the July 20 Upper House election coverage, this comment by a supporter of the opposition Sanseito party: 'Since this is Japan, putting the Japanese people first is common sense, isn't it?' Obviously, this person has embraced the 'Japanese First' concept with total ease. Realizing that the wave of populism that's rising around the world has arrived in Japan, I felt down. And it also made me sense that something just doesn't add up. Compared to Europe and the United States, the number of foreigners Japan has let in is extremely small. And yet, the Japanese people are vociferously rejecting foreigners. Why? In 'Kashika Sareru Sabetsu' (Discrimination brought to visualization), author Akira Igarashi presents the results of a very interesting experiment. When Japanese test subjects were asked whether they supported or opposed restricting the number of foreign workers coming to Japan, their comments were more xenophobic if their answers could be seen by other people. This, according to Igarashi, is the opposite of what is normally the case in Europe and the United States, where test subjects tend to hide, out of guilt, their honest anti-foreigner feelings when their answers can be viewed by other people. Igarashi theorizes that there exists a 'standard' in Japanese society that creates the illusion that people must act xenophobically. They are made to believe that since xenophobes are a majority, they must conform. In the background, Igarashi explains, is Japan's greater tolerance toward xenophobic celebrities and politicians, who would be severely condemned in other countries. If a single xenophobic statement can spread by feeding on people's frustrations and anxieties, that is really alarming. Xenophobia is unmistakably the same thing as discrimination against foreigners. —The Asahi Shimbun, July 22 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Kyodo News
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Kyodo News
Surfing: O'Leary victorious at J-Bay, becomes Japan's 2nd tour winner
TOKYO - Connor O'Leary claimed his maiden title on the World Surf League's Championship Tour on Friday at South Africa's Jeffreys Bay, joining Kanoa Igarashi as Japan's only winners on the elite circuit. Australia-born O'Leary, whose Japanese mother Akemi is a former pro surfer, beat overall season leader Yago Dora of Brazil in the final at the Corona Cero Open J-Bay. The 31-year-old O'Leary rode only three waves but scored 8.17 and 7.50 for his two best attempts, logging at total of 15.67 points. Dora was more active, taking seven waves, but could only tally 14.23 points in the 10th event of the season. Two fifth-place finishes had been O'Leary's best results this season. To even have a chance at the win, O'Leary had to spectacularly save his semifinal with a last-ditch 10-point wave that featured a barrel and several big whipping turns to beat Brazil's Filipe Toledo. Igarashi, who has two runner-up finishes this season and won on the tour in 2019, lost in the quarterfinals but remains third in the overall standings with one event left. O'Leary chose to represent Japan in 2023 after watching the sport's debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, motivating him to compete at the Paris Games. He went out in the third round along with Igarashi in Teahupo'o, French Polynesia, where the 2024 Olympic competition was held. Their compatriot Reo Inaba reached the quarterfinals.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Japan's Kawasaki Kisen prepared to reroute more ships away from US over tariffs, CEO says
(This story has been republished to change photographer credit in the image, with no changes to text) By Kentaro Okasaka TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese shipper Kawasaki Kisen (K-Line) is adjusting its U.S. services and is prepared to reroute more ships away to other regions as it braces for potentially higher U.S. tariffs, CEO Takenori Igarashi said on Wednesday. "There have been times when ships couldn't be fully loaded on some routes, and when we reduced the frequency of container services from East Asia to the U.S.," Igarashi, who took his post in March, told Reuters in an interview. "We're adjusting our fleet capacity according to cargo volumes." One of Japan's major shipping companies, Kawasaki Kisen has factored in a 30 billion yen ($200 million) impact from U.S. tariffs for the financial year through March 2026, citing a hit to the car carrier business and lower container volumes and freight rates. Igarashi said that the container ship business would be especially affected by the outcome of U.S.-China tariff negotiations, which the company was closely watching. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened higher tariffs on a range of trading partners unless they agree trade deals before an August 1 deadline. Depending on the tariff rates that various countries ultimately face and what they do to trade flows, there could be some positive impact if shipping distances lengthen, Igarashi said. To adjust to tariff-related demand at the operational level, Kawasaki Kisen could redirect vessels from U.S. routes to Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Africa, he said. "When it comes to strategic adjustments, we may, for example, reduce assets in the form of vessels a bit, but unless we are clear about the direction of trade policies, we can't suddenly make drastic cuts," he said. "We're still in the wait-and-see phase." ($1 = 149.8000 yen)
South China Morning Post
16-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Japanese shipping giant K-Line to divert US services over Trump tariff fears, CEO says
Japanese shipper Kawasaki Kisen (K-Line) is adjusting its US services and is prepared to divert more ships away to other regions as it braces for potentially higher US tariffs, CEO Takenori Igarashi said on Wednesday. 'There have been times when ships couldn't be fully loaded on some routes, and when we reduced the frequency of container services from East Asia to the US,' Igarashi said. 'We're adjusting our fleet capacity according to cargo volumes.' One of Japan's major shipping companies, Kawasaki Kisen, has factored in a 30 billion yen (US$200 million) impact from US tariffs for the financial year through March 2026, citing a hit to the carrier business and lower container volumes and freight rates. Igarashi, who took over his post in March, said that the container ship business would be especially affected by the outcome of US-China tariff negotiations, which the company was closely watching. K Line President and CEO Takenori Igarashi said his company will adjust US services amid tariff fears, eyeing diversions to Europe and Africa. Photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump has threatened higher tariffs on a range of trading partners unless they agree trade deals before an August 1 deadline.
