Bunkyo University Faculty of International Studies
抄録
Surfing using a small wooden board had been played by children at various places in Japan.
Modern surfing was brought to various places, such as Shonan and Chiba, by the Occupation
Forces soldiers after the Pacific War early in 1960s. Japanese young men and women learned
surfing from U.S. soldiers and the Nippon Surfing Association was established in 1965.
In Kugenuma-Kaigan, Fujisawa-city Kanagawa-prefecture which is a typical surfing spot of
Japan, there was a boy who engaged in surfing from before that. He is Mr. Yoshitsugu Naito. He
got to know surfing through the National Geographic Magazine in 1947, and he often made wooden
surfboards by himself , and tried to ride the wave. He met U.S. soldiers and he could to see real
surfboards in 1951. He made hollow boards with wood. When he got to know about the board of
urethane foam through U.S. magazines, he collected the same materials and made a board by
himself in 1961.
Based on the interview with Mr.Naito, this research added historical verification from the
situation of those days, and recorded the situation of his surfing challenge as correctly as possible.