So after going to iF3 Montreal…. you can say I was a little more than inspired by the films I saw. Some had character, some had big budgets, but they all followed the same plot line: skiing around different places with your friends.

With recent snowfall in Colorado and other parts of the United States, you can say we are all ITCHING to get out there… some of us already have. Here’s a short video I filmed and edited from my trip to Japan to hopefully get you all drooling more.

This is all footage from just one day at a local resort called Sapporo Teine, it’s roughly 20-30 minutes from the city of Sapporo and we were skiing with local professional skiers/friends from Japan.

Next year I hope to enter a small edit into iF3 Film Festival in the amateur category!

だいすき – DAISUKI – LOVE

This one time I went to Japan and fell in love. These are my favorite things in no particular order.

1. ONSENS, ONSENS, ONSENS!
In Japan, hot tubs are pretty much non-existent. Instead you have the glorious Onsens – aka Japanese word for hot springs. There are many hot springs all over Hokkaido, there is even a public one just for your feet in a small mountain town. I pictured these magical things to be in the middle of a snow covered mountain where men and women would sit together… naked. I was sort of wrong hahah.

Things you should know about going to an onsen:

• The onsen’s I went to were separated by men and women
• There are usually a few pools inside with different temperatures and another one outside
• You DO have to get fully nude – (it feels amazing on your skin!)
• Before you can actually get into the onsen, you have to completely wash yourself including your hair
• There are shower heads in the onsen area where you sit on a bucket and rinse off with soap provided
• Tattoos are frowned upon and sometimes not allowed, especially in the more public onsens (at a ski resort)
• Ladies – if you have long hair, make sure you put it up so it doesn’t touch the water!
• It is the most peaceful and rejuvenating experience – it probably results in longer life
• Your skin will look and feel so fresh
• Your first time might be a little awkward… but now you know so embrace it!

2.   7/11′s and SEICO MART 
Okay, if you live in America you have most likely at one point in time been to a 7/11. No big deal, right?
Japan is very different! I survived off of these places, and so will you! You can literally get everything you want, including porn!… if you’re into that. The food is made fresh: fresh beef bowls, rice bowls, other meals. These places are on almost any block in Sapporo. They are everywhere! My favorite thing, besides the fresh rice bowls, were these mini pancakes that came in a package of 4. They were actually pancake sandwiches, so when you bit into it the butter and syrup spread out. Yup, I could live off of those for 100¥ (basically $1). The stores also have hot bottled drinks. America – get with it! Perfect place to stop before heading up to film on the slopes. You can also buy beers out of vending machines throughout the streets, so that is pretty neat.

3.  TOILETS
Let me just say you will be pleasantly surprised by the toilets in Japan. After a 10 hour flight from LAX->Tokyo and going through customs, the first place I headed for was the bathroom. I thought I was in a hotel for a minute, maybe due to lack of sleep or maybe just sheer insane excitement. As I walked in, a robot voice talked to me and I found that each toilet station was like it’s own little room where it had high walls and two doors you shut together. If you hate going to the bathroom (you know which one) in public, you have found your heaven. First off, everything is so clean. There are wipes you can clean the toilet seat with before and after. When you sit down on these modern toilets, you realize the seat is HEATED! And then the unthinkable happens, music or a flushing noise comes from the toilet. You guessed it, no one can hear you. Sometimes I wish these existed in America.

4. FOOD
Alright, well I already talked about 7/11, but we all know that Japan is known for its food. This is true, I never had a bad meal there. Obviously sushi is a must while you are in Japan. There are some sushi places where they make it in front of you and put it out on a conveyor belt, so you can pick whatever looks good to you! Don’t get me started on soup curry. Soup curry is my favorite food ever and I try not to think about it while I’m here in the States. Then of course you can’t forget about the famous ramen.  I felt so healthy and my skin was very clear because the food there is pretty good for you! I’ll be writing another piece solely on great places to eat in Hokkaido – mainly in Sapporo, so look out for that.

5. YUKI aka SNOW!!!
Last but not least…. SNOW! Holy shit. That is all I can say about skiing in Japan. Let’s face it, we all grew up watching Warren Miller and TGR films where they go film powder skiing in Japan and we all dreamed of doing the same thing. When I was 16 I was sitting in a golf course at work watching an old Warren Miller flick and decided that one day I would live in Hokkaido for 6 months. Well, 7 years later I went for 5 weeks and it was enough to fall in love with Japan. It snows all the time, the access to backcountry riding is incredible, the people are friendly, and you will love it.  If you ever get the chance to go to this magical land, please go… and don’t forget your boots.

Hope you found this useful and I hope you will visit Japan one day! Enjoy my continuation of stories on Japan in the near future.

Always stay stoked – Dani.

We are mountain people. Born in the alpine, our souls soar with the eagles and our hearts are clear and run with the purpose of cascading creeks. For us, the season of winter is a gift, blanketing everything anew like a canvas, which calls for an interaction with the slopes of the world.

In winter, snow is our purpose for existence. Like the bubbling stream, it is our source of water- our source of life. The health of our forests, and our happiness is intertwined with it. Driven by stories of the mythical “Deep Snow Awesomeness!” of Niseko Japan, The Life Cosmic Project went in search of the wonderful. What we discovered was a fountain of youth, a prayer answered endlessly.

This film is our totem to that spirit.

About the Flow Riders:

Aaron Lebowitz  created The Life Cosmic Project as a collective of mindful individuals focused on our relationship with the elements. His favorite medium is the snowboard, of which he explores an intimate connection with mountains. His lines are a conscious calligraphy upon the snow-covered slopes.

Lefteri Alexander (Alx) is a third generation photographer and teacher of consciousness through a multidisciplinary and dimensional lens, transcends the literal and allegorical, weaving spiritual exegesis into the practice of spiritus itself, the thread of the many garments into one.

We wish to thank Niseko United for the hospitality and plenty of fresh “Japow” for us to explore. Thank you to Taro Tamai of Gentemstick Snowsurf Designs for sharing with us the consciousness of creating a life honoring our relationship with nature through the lens of snowboarding. Special thanks to Sweetgrass Productions for inspiring our own dreams with their film Signatures 4 years ago.

Respect to the spirits of the snow, mountains, and forests of Japan. We hold you in reverence.

And to everyone we met along the way…We carry you in our hearts- Thank you.

The Life Cosmic Project is dedicated to the exploration, cultivation, and perpetuation of “Stoke!” as a virtue by which happiness is experienced and shared.

http://www.lifecosmic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lifecosmicproject

The Life Cosmic Project is founded on ridership of flow. The flow rider is one who embodies a challenging task in motion where body, mind and spirit are enacted and performed with grace. We are collective of visionaries, innovators, and artist, dedicated to exploring the experience of “Stoke!” and sharing that experience in various art forms through the local communities we represent.

The Life Cosmic Project will be traveling to Japan to intimately explore the winter environment of Niseko and translate this experience through art to the local snowboard, meditation, and climate change communities in Missoula, Montana and Toronto, Ontario. We will be sharing these experiences through a variety of mediums of artwork and donating the proceeds generated to the A-ROB Plant A Seed Project through our Fundrazr page ”SHARE THE “STOKE!“. The Project will provide the experience of snowboarding to underprivileged children along with the opportunity to discover the exhilarating feeling of “Stoke!” through a snowboarding based mentorship program.

PURPOSE OF CAMPAIGN: In support of the A-ROB Plant A Seed Project, the Life Cosmic Project wishes to create rider inspired artwork in Niseko, Japan through the medium of film, photography and poetry. Our story will weave together three elements of snowboarding – the expression of the physical, the spiritus of meditation, and the environmental experience of winter. This project expands the activity of snowboarding to a level of artistic expression. The first element will entice the imagination of local snowboarding communities in both Canada and the United States to reach beyond North America. We intend to portray a parallel of snowboarding at the same latitude but at opposite sides of the world, and how the experience of snow connects us. The second element is based upon the practice of meditation. Through the act of snowboarding, the internal condition of flow is extended to a variety of activities. We will be focusing on enacting a Japanese perspective and “surf style” of snowboarding. Surf style is about blending with the energy of the mountain. This predominant expression from Northern Japan is a type of calligraphy upon canvas, in essence, a dance with the mountain. Our visual images of one in oneness, draws the audience to an inward experience of “Stoke!” Or as the Japanese say “Sugoi!” and “Saiko!” The third element focuses on the oral history of the winter experience in Niseko. As the winters grow shorter, the effects of climate change are seen near and far.

We will be conducting interviews, based on interactive and interpersonal stories of winter.  This oral history will be connected to similar histories from North America at the same latitude. The stories are intended to compliment scientific research based on global climate change, and human interactions with the environment. Through our portrayal, we will be demonstrating the how and why it is important that we interact with the spirit of ourselves and the environment. Like us on FaceBook: The Life Cosmic Project.