japan

SAMURAI TRICK COMP Vol.2

Me (84kick), Andy Sparks and Kozo are hosting a fixed gear trick competition, “THE SAMURAI TRICK COMP,” in Tokyo! Maybe you think, “Why Andy Sparks?” Last month, I met Andy in Fukuoka and told him about this idea. He liked it and said, “I will come to Tokyo!” So I thought, OK, we have to do it! August in Japan is super hot, so we will start in the evening. Around 15 riders already entered. I’m really excited!

Last time, I decided to have no sponsors. But this time, Andy and I talked a lot, and we decided to have sponsors for the young riders. I asked my friends who always support us, and they said yes right away. I’m so happy! Thank you so much, everyone. I really appreciate it! Some riders from overseas will also join this time. August in Japan is fucking hot, but let’s have fun together!

See you there!

Sponsors
Master Bike Co https://www.masterbike.co
Ruff Bike Co https://ruffbike.co
Suck My Cog https://suckmycog.com
Mosher Original https://www.instagram.com/mosheroriginals/
AREth Footwear https://areth.jp/

Teppei Iwabuchi – Vast Interview

New Teppei content alert!! Anything that involves Teppei, I tune in. This absolute legend in our scene sat down with Vast for an interview about his life, bikes, skateboards, and everything in between. We even get a little bit of riding at the very beginning, a sight for sore eyes.

Koichi Higo aka FORKONE – SKID 180

Early May, We went out for a night shoot with Koichi Higo aka FORKONE again. He comes from a flatland BMX background, but he’s incorporated movements unique to fixed gear riding. One of them is the SKID 180.

What’s crazy is that he even does SKID 180s while riding backwards — absolutely mind-blowing. I shot way more, but I’ll just share a few for now.


Rider: Koichi Higo
Camera: Satoshi Hashimoto
Location: Wangan Tokyo Japan
Early May 2026

84Kick – After Samurai Comp Gallery

I’m sending some photos from a street session. After the Samurai Trick Comp, we went for a little street ride. Even after the competition, many riders kept riding a lot. I took some photos of them. Recently, photo sessions have been even more fun for me than filming. Thank you guys for coming and a having good sesh. (Full gallery after the jump)

(more…)

SAMURAI TRICK COMP HIGHLIGHTS

HIghlights just dropped from 84Kick of his recent Samurai Trick Comp event that went down last weekend! Lots of good things to say about this:

I really love seeing people I’ve never heard of shredding these bikes we love. There are so many new faces and names I’ve never heard of that came out the woodworks for this and killed it with some skills that certainly aren’t new. Seeing all the different kinds of bike setups is also super fun. We’ve got everything from track bikes to 26″ builds in the mix and a lot of bikes in between. Riders really going for it all throughout too, so fun to see! A few riders specifically that stood out to me:

Keisuke is officially one of my favorite 700c hybrid riders now. His drip on and off the bike is fun to watch and he has such clean tricks. He also isn’t afraid to send it, his slam in the finals looked rough. Doesn’t hurt that he rides my frame too!

Kazu looks like an OG. He’s got a classic bag of tricks and clean style that’s super fun to watch. If you told me he’s been riding since 2008 I would believe you.

Takataka’s energy is contagious. I want to meet him and just hang out with him.

Minami has a creative mind. I want to see him develop his bike control more so he can put that creativity to use. There’s lots of potential there.

Sota’s bike setup is crazy and his sends over the blocks was super respectable.

Shun is the complete package and the future. He’s got the speed, style, and tricks. He deserved the win for sure!

84Kick – Samurai Trick Comp Group Photo and Results


March 7th 2026, The first Samurai Trick Comp has successfully come to an end. Even though the location was kept secret, more than 10 riders from across Japan came out to join. There were many riders I had never met before, and it gave me a lot of inspiration and motivation. We filmed the event, so I’ll edit the footage and share it with everyone soon. For now, I’m sending the group photo and results.

Thank you so much to everyone who came. Thanks to everyone’s support and good vibes, it became a truly great event. The next one is planned for August. See you soon. Arigato


Competition Results
1st place – Shun 🥇
2nd place – Keisuke 🥈
3rd place – Sota 🥉
4th place – Micro S Hopper
5th place – Kazu

Best Trick Winner
Shun

Footdown Winner
Liao

Competition and Best trick Judges
Kozo
Yasuo
Satoshi Hashimoto(myself)

Kai Nashimoto aka Fixika

Kai aka FIXIKA is truly a pioneer of fixed gear tricks in the Japanese scene. I remember that he organized a weblog back around 2007–2009, where he wrote about how to do fixed gear tricks. When I was around 24 or 25, I read and read and read his blog almost every day to learn trick tips. I’m really glad he’s still here and still riding like this. We still shoot together a few times a year.

Rider: Kai Nashimoto
Camera: Satoshi Hashimoto
Location: Tokyo Japan
January 2026