Folks in Japan thought skate tradition was harmful. Now it is going mainstream

People in Japan thought skate culture was dangerous. Now it's going mainstream

[ad_1]

Contributors Oscar Holland, CNN

A teenager leaps into the air on his skateboard before thudding to the ground. Nearby, his friend rotates a board on his head while another uses zig-zags down concrete steps.

It’s close to midnight and these skaters have gathered at Osaka’s Triangle Park in the city’s Amerikamura (American Village) neighborhood. Flanked on all sides by apparel shops and independent boutiques, this has long been a hub for young creatives. But it also has a near-constant police presence.

“From the outside, this park looks like it belongs to young people, but when we skateboard here, the police always come,” says skater Taiichiro Nakamura, better known as “Chopper.”

“So while this place is meant to represent freedom, it’s not quite the case.”

For the past 30 years, Chopper has been part of the Osaka Daggers, a skate collective named after a gang in the 1986 American movie “Thrashin.” When he started coming to Triangle Park in the 1980s, the crew often clashed with local…

[ad_2]