Ryuhei Kitazume in "Meet You There"

by Anthony Claravall

Less than a month ago, I was up in here reviewing Ryuhei’s part of Lens III that featured on Thrasher. Now I’m clicking Free Skate Mag posting Ryuhei’s 4 minute 20 second Anthony Claraval joint, “Meet You There,” with an accompanying interview. My beautiful girlfriend steps in bringing me a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal, maple syrup, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. Would I like a cup of coffee? Please. I spark my elephant bowl, blow through a trunkful, then press play on Ryuhei’s latest:

“Meet You There” begins with Ryuhei standing along idyllic Shōnan seaside. Surfers ride in Sagami Bay, while on dry land a “No Skateboarding” sign mars paradise paved under Mount Fuji looming. What once was Sega-Mae’s ledgendary plaza wonderland that trained generations of chatty chatty pop technicians is now a void. (After an early childhood in Indiana while his father worked for Toyota,) Ryuhei spent formative years here, an hour south of Tokyo, working early hours at the port, only to find sustained and growing prohibition when practicing his passion. Anyone who knows what love is will understand his inclination toward departure after demolition of his Sega-Mae cathedral. Japan’s covid immigration was strict, but Ryuhei schedules a one way to Barcelona. Wearing earmuff headphones and hi-top Dunks through hazy sea-mist, Ryuhei ollies Sega-Mae’s No Skateboarding spot tombstone, a bittersweet clip that sets us street-sailing into the future.

Ryuhei’s name and face appear in golden hour then into hi-res session, with Claravall’s sharpest camera capturing Ryhuei’s fattest flatground nollie back heel in bandana patterned paisley pants. Orange socks under Cookies and Cream Dunks match his orange 5-panel and Tightbooth’s orange pants tag as he takes a few switch pushes to switch front tailslide 270 heelflip with energetic speed suggesting more to come, then beat shifts clips switches long lens blends urban electricity orchestration into nightriding topped with the same orange hat matching the orange circle with diagonal line indicating No Skateboarding on this grey eight-stair out-ledge that Ryuhei crooked grinds in grey matching outfit. Lens III viewers will recognize the multi-level ledge spot on which Ryuhei now back tail bigspins into switch manual across lower level, switch 180 down to ground in Villanova Dunk highs.

In a seaside town down the Baleatic from Barcelona, there’s a long, low, curved tight hubba, made of parchment colored marble, down a cobblestoned corner turn where Ryuhei switch tailslides past twinkling storewindow lights orange as his shirting, black du-rag under black New Era to corkscrew 270 on his way out. 50 year old Kool G Rapping soundtracking hits like Atiba skating to Styles P “Holiday” in Chomp on This. Ryuhei’s earlier Western Edition sponsorship speaks to his crate digging roots while his switch front tails merit further exploration as foundation for biggerspin out. Ryuhei switch back tails across hefty service-adjacent ledge spot then catches the 270 front shove-it out with pillow soft caress to power stomp as his entourage recognizes a perfectly clean clip when they see one.

You want to get it popped off? Timelapse new verse white brick double set five-flat-five gets nollie snapped like Robbie McKinley, then consecutive Barcelona eight stairs prompt nollie back 180 then switch front 360 with room to spare. Crouched camera pointed up shows Tightbooth logo deck graphic on lengthy out-ledge back tailslide well past three stairs twisting backside 270 dismount as a pedestrian pauses to permit Ryuhei’s successful passage under palm trees wearing Bruce Lee Dunk highs for this clip and the next, which begins with back smith back 180 on a bench, passes some people using some benches, so upon the next empty bench: switch front 5-0 switch frontside flip out. Next ledge single shows front crook precision pinched in preparation for nollie flip out. He’s done these tricks in Lens III and “Meet You There” is taking his show on the Spanish road down to Lisbon.

Claravall likes to use the editing technique of one approach shot transitioned to pop through rollaway second clip. As MACBA’s Big 4 is now Big 3, Ryuhei switch ollies up the first sideblock and lands in switch manual to swish off and over the Big 3. Front blunt with blue accents across long Philly step recalls Darrell Stanton in Roll Forever. Ryuhei switch flips into manual up a two-stair and holds balance across the buildingside pad’s length until switch heelflipping over the far side four-stair into downhill descent.

On a sunshined courtyard ledge that spans the blank space beside municipal elevator booth, Ryuhei undertakes a three trick treatment. First comes his front crook moneymaker, second is Biebel bounced front nosegrind nollie flip, third trick here turns front nosegrind front 180 into switch manual along landing sidewalk to curb drop with bandana flapping from his back pocket while older gentlemen relax around a background table. Tightbooth’s Smoke Up Son t-shirt features Madonna lighting a spliff that Ryuhei wears to back smith an out-ledge made of air vents over 5 blue stairs. He front tailslides across a double-set-spanning ledge and flips out to regular. A four block cut beside an eight stair gets nollie backside flip, shown twice flicked and folded.

A bank descends while a ledge stays horizontal. Ryuhei, in generously sized jacket with Tightbooth logo draped across his back arms and shoulders, pops onto angle-ironed front nosegrind for long distance balance before nollie heelflip out in the unbleached lilac pack Dunk lows. The classic downtilted manual pad that Steve Williams skates gets Kitazume’s fakie pop shove switch manny switch front shove. Ryuhei has a barber in Barcelona who accents his fakie shove into switch nose manual across the top of Universidad’s longest black block to fakie 360 flip out with fresh hightop fade. At golden hour across golden tiles cresting a pedestrian bridge, Ryuhei drops into backtail over and down plenty of stairs before enjoying downhill bomb wearing Lobster Dunks, baggy earth toned corduroy and a navy and white horizontal striped tee. Finishing track drums tap as further clacks down further steps.

Enter second section in ambient sound as urethane rolling brings Ryuhei’s decision to switch heelflip over twelve-stair rail backside touchdown when the gilded glimmering Griselda beat drops. Along the banked ascents to consecutive flatbars that people skate over in lines, Ryuhei switch ollies over a bar to drop into switch manual, held along to tweak switch flip out off the next bank, gold chain chiming with his earlier switch manual at MACBA. He nollie back heels ten cash, next clip pop top to drop nollie heel front crooks through an up-ledge. Ryuhei creeps a Barcelonan bank, then fakie pops into back tailslide, kickflipping out to goofy stance bankroll with his trapper hat flapping.

The blueprint isn’t secret: it’s mainly about the discipline and how your crew keeps its shit tight. A recently popular long white ledge heightening over extensive grass gap buttercusply facilitates Ryuhei’s nollie noseslide nollie flip to regs. His switch back tail turned to switch ride down a chute shows FTC socks and appears in interconnected angles to approximate tunnel vision. In a red Yankees flatbrim, Kitazume b/s bigspin back tails onto second stair of the growing downhill set that holds 4 stairs high by endpoint twisted fakie to banked exit. Propped propulsion onto heightened blue-tiled downward manual pad first fields Ryuhei’s front 180 switch manual, next clip same spot elevates frontside flip into switch manual, humping around descendent pivot point to switch dismount in green bucket hat. He’s hyped. Quick fade to black precedes ender, a 20-foot front crook across two-stairs grown to 4-stair dismount. He skated here earlier as manual pad. Second angle shows how Ryuhei pinches into pressure point with back left foot for rudder as seconds pass through blinking sequence flash. Ryuhei pops out clean to regs down 4 stairs as piano keys tinkle and we’ve been waiting to exhale.

I imagined Yuto’s Olympic gold in Tokyo heralding a greater societal acceptance for Japanese street skaters, but Ryuhei’s experiences and expatriation show otherwise. His Lens III part documented hi-tech home-turf ledge capabilities, and “Meet You There” displays his bag of tricks upon new and international benchmarks. I look forward to seeing further fruits of Ryuhei’s visa and hope Tightbooth and Nike are sending ample traveler’s checks.