From the North to all powder freaks
FREE FOOT traveled to Hokkaido and spent a season enjoying the finest powder, during which time a new binding was born.
The original binding setting that DKC, aka Naohiro Yoshida, talked about in the video EZO POWDER VO.2 released last year was used as the model, and two riders, Yusuke Mino and Yusuke Saikawa, joined in the testing.
This time, rather than using DKC's own art, the design was commissioned to close friend OKI, an artist, which resulted in a product that places more emphasis on the roots and story of Hokkaido (Ezo).
In this video, the three riders talk about their feelings for EZO while having a session in Hokkaido's finest powder, accompanied by music written specifically for the event by OKI, a tonkori tradition holder.
Based on the FREE FOOT [FF], this model lets you fully enjoy Hokkaido's finest powder.
Based on the FF model, which allows you to move your center of gravity on the board at will and feel the snow surface and conditions more directly, we've used the same material as the SR model for the highback.
In addition, to make it easier to move your knees inward, the lower side of the high back has been swapped over to the inside.
This allows you to take advantage of the unique movement of the FREEFOOT while also providing increased support on the backside, allowing you to gain speed on steeper slopes, making this a model that will allow you to fully experience Hokkaido with just that one board.
"I think it feels good to be able to place my center of gravity where the edge bites."
-DKC (Naohiro Yoshida) 
This model was born from over 30 years of experience and passion as a rider. Having been involved in the design and development of Flux, including the SR, I have been searching for the optimal solution for Hokkaido through trial and error ever since I started riding the FREE FOOT.
"I think it's great that Hokkaido's culture and design can be used in Hokkaido."
- Yusuke Mino
Yusuke Mino effortlessly and freely controls the 170cm wide board, which is full of quirks. This also shows the potential of the EZO model.
"I guess it's that feeling of being able to carve and still get the same feeling in powder."
-Yusuke Saikawa
Yusuke Saikawa, who uses his extraordinary physical abilities to attack lines that are unimaginable for ordinary people, is also a fan of EZO.
-OKI
Highback art and music provided
Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts
Completed intensive film course at New York University
Received the Hokkaido Cultural Encouragement Award in 2008
Tonkori tradition holder, bassist, sculptor, and painter.
Born in 1957. Her real name is Oki Kano. She has released over 20 original albums, including solo, band, and dub mix versions. In her album "Tonkori" (2005), she takes on the classics as a tonkori player, based on recordings of performances by Nishihira Ume, Shirakawa Kuruparuma, Fujiyama Haru (Esorrankema), and others collected by researchers from the 1940s and 1950s.
From their first album "Kamuy Kor Nupurpe" (1996) to their latest work, they have included lyrics and narration in the Ainu language, and in addition to traditional songs that have been passed down to the present day, they have released original songs in the Ainu language that they wrote together with Kuzuno Tatsujiro Ekashi. In addition, "Osoro Omap" and "Tawki" on "Sakhalin Rock" (2010) feature unique Ainu lyrics written by children at the Ainu language school in Asahikawa, where they are based.
While valuing their classics and cultural identity, they have achieved cutting-edge musical expression by mixing blues, reggae, dub, etc. in "OKI DUB AINU BAND" (2006) and "Sakhalin Rock" (2010). Their third album "No One's Land" (2002) featured guest artists such as a singer from the indigenous Chukchi people of Russia and a poet from East Timor, and used audio from the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples, which they attended in 1997, in the mix.
Formed as a project led by OKI, OKI DUB AINU BAND has been invited to perform at WOMAD, known as the world's largest world music festival (Australia in 2004, UK in 2006, Singapore in 2007, Adelaide in 2017), and Rainforest World Music Festival (Malaysia in 2019), and has also participated in numerous music festivals in Japan.
As a music producer, he presides over the music label "Chikar Studio" and produces the vocal unit "Mareureu", which reproduces and inherits traditional Ainu songs. Umeko Ando (1932-2004), known as a master of the mukkur (mouth harp) and upopo, has also participated as an artist on the label since OKI's second album "HANKAPUY" (1999). To date, he has produced 23 albums from the label "Chikar Studio" that he manages.
In 2019, he produced "Amamiaynu," which features a singing contest between the Amami and Ainu. In 2022, a documentary about Amamiaynu, " Amami and Ainu: When Songs of the North and South Meet ," was broadcast on NHK ETV and received a great response. In January 2022, he signed with the UK label Mais um discos . Their first greatest hits album, " Tonkori in the Moonlight ," was released simultaneously on CD and LP, and in November of the same year they embarked on a release tour in Europe, which was a huge success.
