Cover of Japan Diary with photos of people skateboarding, taking pictures, and enjoying cherry blossoms, with bright yellow text "JAPAN DIARY" and smaller text in Japanese.
Text saying 'JAPAN DIARY' in large yellow letters against a black background, with small Japanese characters above each letter of 'JAPAN' and a small Nike swoosh at the bottom right.

Role: Director, Creative Director, Art Direction

At the height of skateboarding and surfing making their Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games, I met a group of women at a skatepark in Tokyo and immediately knew there was a story there worth telling.

Creativity is skateboarding’s longest-standing tradition. No parks, no ramps, no scene? Pool your resources, make something happen, and see who it inspires. That impulse to fill in the cracks and do what hasn’t been done is infinite, even at skateboarding’s biggest peak internationally, there’s always new stories to tell. In this campaign, we created a short film and deliverables across platforms for Nike Women, Nike SB, Nike Tokyo, and Nike Global.

Nike SB Article
Instagram profile page of Nike Women with 1,629 posts and 7 million followers, featuring a logo with green text 'women' inside a circle with a neon rainbow border, and various pictures of women in workout and dance settings.
A collage of photos featuring young women and girls skateboarding at skateparks, taking photos, and enjoying a colorful art and mural art scene.

“I wanted girls to know that they don’t have to adhere to the stereotype of a skater girl...They can dress how they want, set up their skateboards how they want, and skate how they want.” — Azusa

Japan Diary,” chronicles Azusa “Nigo” Adachi, Sara Hirayama, Rio Maehata, and Ari Marie Angeles, four women in Toyko, Japan using their own personal style to express themselves through skateboarding. At 29-years-old, Azusa "Nigo" not only picked up skateboarding but saw a lack of representation from the diverse group of women she saw at her local park.

CAST

Collage of four women outdoors, each with handwritten names and age or description, taped on black background. Top left: Woman with blonde hair in a red shirt, labeled "Rio". Top right: Woman with braided hair, black sleeveless top, labeled "Sora", age "47". Bottom left: Woman with glasses, smiling, with shoulder-length hair. Bottom right: Woman with curly hair, wearing a sleeveless top, sitting on the floor with a surfboard behind her, labeled "Ari", age "21".

Starring: Azusa Nigo, Rio, Sara, Ari

Four people skateboarding on a concrete skate park surrounded by tall trees and greenery.

TEAM

Director: Karen Masumoto
Production: monopo Tokyo
Creative Producer: Georgi Roberts
Line Producer: Yukiko Kubota
Art Director: Mei Kanamoto
Graphic Design: Tran Minh Villageois
Director of Photography: Nobu Arakawa
Assistant Camera: Anthony Rilocapro
B cam Operator: Callum Hasegawa
Gaffer: Arata Ichiji
Sound Recordist & Mixer: Mika Watanabe
Photographer: 217..NINA
Assistant Photographer: Hideaki Nagata
Stylist: Ai Takahashi
Production Assistant: Elena Assenheimer
Driver: Ryuta Doi
Editor: Andy Nagashima
Editor: Shane Lester
Colorist: Mai Lasan
Composer: LIONMILK
Online Editor: Kohei Hashimoto
Copy: Aya Apton, Toshika Kosako