Koichiro Uehara – Magenta Welcomes (2012)

East meets West.

Magenta really digs the asian vibes. Especially the in and out, jumpy, fast-footed (preferably at night) edits that the Tightbooth Productions and Far East Skate Network release. Koichiro Uehara joined the French squad and put out a stellar performance of light footed prowess to the sounds of a DJ Architect breakbeat previously used by another style master general, Scott Johnston.

The mental calculations that deliver great trick combos work perfectly with the unique architecture Tokyo has to offer. Thread the needle 50-50s to avoid bollards and rapid fire ollies to skip tram lines to a zebra crossing nollie heelflip are visual gems. Supposedly, a lot of skate footage from Japan is filmed at night because during the day it’s far too busy and most likely frowned upon by society. That said, somehow Koichiro pieces together tricks and lines in the deep cuts of a city of several million inhabitants that looks empty.

Arigato Koichiro San.