The KAIROU Ensō Signature Skateboard

Without surfboards, skateboarding wouldn’t exist. Surfing began in Hawai’i. But, American skateboarding began with a passion for surfing.

80s Skateboarding in an abandoned California pool

Inspired by recreating the feeling of riding waves (especially on off-season days when there weren’t waves to ride), industrious surfers in the 1950s unwittingly gave birth to a passionate subculture whose prowess and athleticism would become a part of mainstream sports - as well as olympic competition - less than 40 years later.

Crude, hobby-quality, skateboards were first developed in garages and backyards, in California and Hawai’i.  Irregular and occasionally mismatched parts were sourced from local hardware and department stores. Initially, shorter polyurethane surfboards sufficed for the deck itself, with wheels kit-bashed from roller skates, Radio Flyers, or wheelbarrows, including rigid metal axles lacking bearings and shock absorption. By the late 1950s amateur skateboarding and “asphalt surfers” began to gain regional followings across the USA. By 1959, the Roller Derby company debuted the first prefabricated skateboard, with added technical innovations that permitted the rider to turn, pivot, and maintain speed similar to the way surfers did on waves.

KARIOU Waterman is proud to debut its first - of many - signature skateboard deck: The Ensō

The KAIROU Ensō is neither a piece of art nor a conventional skateboard, but represents a deep tradition of Japanese philosophy. The Ensō symbolize enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and mu (the void). They are characterized by an essential minimalism, simplicity, and apparent perfection. Drawing ensō is an aspect of a larger, disciplined creative practice within Japanese culture known as sumi-e.

Every Ensō is drawn by hand, in acid free black acrylic ink, for its richness and weather resistance.  Each deck is made of 100% 7-ply Canadian Maple - a choice wood for high performance skate decks. The KAIROU logo is laser-etched. Nestled subtly into one of the kicks, the logo’s topography provides a small amount of stationary traction for takeoffs or drop-ins. Other than the Ensō itself, the deck is left unpainted to honor the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi - a world view centered on the acceptance of natural flaws, transience, and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature. In essence, the more the deck shows its scars, scrapes, and mileage, the more beautiful it becomes.

KAIROU Brand Ambassador OniMasai Ku’ulei Connor

Custom made to order, and proudly produced and designed in Honolulu, Hawai’i, the KAIROU Ensō Signature Skateboard deck is available for purchase exclusively in the KAIROU Waterman Makeke. Hele mai!

KAIROU Brand Ambassador OniMasai Ku’ulei Connor