A light rain was falling from the blanket of gray clouds covering Zozo Marine Stadium when Bryce Wettstein, an American skateboarder, added a little sunshine to a wet and dreary afternoon with an impromptu performance on her ukulele.
As Wettstein freestyled a warm, relaxing tune — her lyrics made up on the spot — she was not far from where pitcher Roki Sasaki usually works his magic for the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Sasaki was nowhere to be seen, however, and the baseball field was virtually unrecognizable, with a skateboard ramp in shallow left field and a hilly Moto X course in the middle. The Marines are on the road in Hokkaido and left the keys to "Zozoma" with the action sports athletes, who have the run of the place this weekend during X Games Chiba 2023, which began Friday.
The X Games are being staged in Japan for the second time and will not contend with the COVID-19 restrictions organizers and athletes faced in 2022.
"There were restrictions on movement last year, but it is more open this time, and I am glad everyone can go travel around and enjoy themselves," said Aori Nishimura, a two-time world champion skateboarder who represented Japan in the women's street competition during the Tokyo Olympics. "I'm also looking forward to it and I had a chance to see the park, and it looks really interesting."
Some of the world's top action sports athletes will compete in the event, which will also feature live music and a breakdancing exhibition. The X Games will feature 10 events from the skateboarding, BMX and Moto X disciplines.
Nishimura will compete in the women’s skateboard street event alongside Tokyo Olympic champion Momiji Nishiya, silver medalist Rayssa Leal and bronze medalist Funa Nakayama.
Sora Shirai will compete in the men’s street event after taking bronze last year.
Kieran Woolley, who won silver in the men's skateboard park event in Chiba in 2022 and gold at X Games 2022 in Los Angeles, will go for gold in Chiba, and Wettstein, fourth in the women's event in Chiba last year, is also back.
The main attraction is skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, who will compete in the men’s vert best trick event on Sunday.
Hawk, who turned 55 Friday, is a legend who has brought an enormous amount of mainstream appeal to skateboarding, the X Games and action sports in general during his career.
"Well, he's a legend," X Games Director Global Business Operations Brad Florian told The Japan Times. "I mean, he's going to celebrate a birthday here in Chiba. I don't think we're going to have very many more opportunities to watch him compete. Who knows? Who knows when it's going to happen again, even after this? We're hoping at our X Games event in California this summer, we're hoping that he will. But, you know, it's just awesome. We’re super excited to have him here. It's huge."
Over 100 athletes will take part over the weekend. Some, like Nishimura and Hawk, are veterans, while others are rising stars.
"I think we are all nervous, but at the end of the day, it's exciting," BMX rider Kevin Peraza said. "I'm very honored to be invited as an athlete with all these remarkable athletes that work incredibly hard yearly, to be back in Chiba, one of my favorite cities in Japan, and to be closer and more connected with the audience and feel the same energy now that everything is wide open."
The listed attendance for the 2022 X Games in Chiba was 40,000. Organizers are hoping for a larger turnout this year, with no restrictions to keep fans away.
"The fans could not see up close last year, but they can watch from nearby this time," Shirai said. "I'm excited for my friends and family to see me up close. I’m going to do my best."
The organizers are also excited to return to Japan.
"I think it's a lot similar to last year, but there's a lot that's different," Florian said. "I think a lot of it for us are the COVID restrictions. They're all gone now, which is a big relief. I think a lot of the athletes are feeling it, and the staff, everybody's really happy that that sort of is over with because that was operating under very difficult circumstances.”
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