Nobuyuki Osawa’s a true-blooded samurai warrior, and not just in the surf, but also in his quiet, determined work ethic, all with the aim of an eventual place on the WCT. The winner of the 2007 Yumeya Billabong Pro Tahara and 2007 ASP Japan tours pro champion, 20-year-old Osawa has been labeled as “Japan’s surfing Jedi.” “My father taught me surf at Kanagawa near Tokyo when I was three,” he explains, and according to Osawa, his father is still his favorite person to go ride waves. A respected aerialist, Osawa lives in Chigasaki on Sagami Bay and works as a carpenter for his father to save money to pay for his travel expenses. “My dream is to make the WCT so the only thing I think about is surfing,” he surmises.