I saw a whole mess of Toyota marketing money that looked like it was trying to bite Jim Phillips’s style, but it’s probably legit.A quick search for Jim Phillips and Toyota reveals that he appears in a Toyota commercial that airs in Japan, so it’s highly believable that they also hired him to illustrate for the Extreme&trade:! sports market.

I love watching videos from the Far East Skate Network. They sweat skills and poop creativity. Keep watching, because just when you think you know their next move, they throw a curveball. – Thanks to t Skate D for the tip.

Nissen is a girls clothing brand in Japan. This commercial is airing in Tokyo. That’s all I have to say on the subject, except thanks to Jeff Thompson for the tip.

Homeless folks inhabiting Miyashita Park in Tokyo are understandably upset about the fact that their local government has sold the park out from under them. Apparently there were no public hearings or notices before the sale to NIke became final. NIke has plans to turn it into a well-landscaped skate plaza. The park has a sizable indigenous homeless population that will likely be displaced, and they’ve gained some support worldwide, but it seems to me that everyone is pissed off at the wrong people. Don’t get pissed at the people who bought your home for a bargain, get pissed at the bank that foreclosed on you. According to a short video about the situation, Nike refuses to respond publicly to anyone concerning the park. Not the greatest public relations plan, but maybe it’s geared towards some sort of Japanese culture hook that I’m not hip to. Watch the vid after the jump. – Thanks to 100% Talkboarder for the tip. [Source: The Smoking Section]

I just got back from a trip to visit the guys at FELEM in Japan who are a Japanese skateboard distributor out in the Sashima County of Japan. It’s a 1 hour train ride on the Shonen-Shinjuku Line from Central Tokyo (Shinjuku) out into the middle of the Japanese Country.

Skateboarding is a big deal in Japan and like most skateboarders in the world, Japanese artist Haroshi had a pile of broken decks lying around. Too attached to the boards to toss them in the trash, he collected his boards and unless he breaks a few boards a week the ones of his community and turned them into sculptures and accessories such as necklaces and key chains.

I found this picture by following a trackback from Sk8.net. It’s from tumblr user djmascotboy, and you can see it larger here. This Rocky kid has good taste in female companions and bad taste in knee pads. Actually, I think he’s sharing shirts with his girlfriend. Those look like Indy 215’s he’s sporting. Update: Checking back in over a decade later and I was able to figure out this is called Sukebo Rocky By Motoyuki Asai, and it translates to “Skateboard Rocky!”

This is Gou Miyagi’s part in something called “Overground Broadcasting,” a film by The Far East Skate Network. FESN apears to be based out of Japan, but the video has a lot of European and US footage as well. I was hooked on this video in the first 50 seconds. Watching Gou Miyagi immediately brought to mind Natas as well Patrick Melcher and Richie Jackson. Call me shallow, but that’s who I thought of. Although that may be because that list exhausts every street skater that I can claim any knowledge of having a particular style. I especially dug the shove it Natas spin. I suppose if I don’t say “Mark Gonzales,” someone will rant at me in the comments. There’s a lot of show stoppers in the vid, but I don’t want to spoil them. Just watch it, you won’t be disappointed. Great skating, good editing and presentation as well. I need to track down this video. – Thanks to Casey Morrow for the tip.