Noah x Maguro Blanks: Upcycled Surfboards

This season Noah is slowing down. While most businesses are looking to see how fast they can speed things up, we are choosing a different path. We are returning to a time when things did not magically happen with the click of a button but instead took time, dedication, and thought. We like to call this a return to analog. Nothing embodies this sentiment more than a craftsperson working with their hands. Often the skills performed are passed down from generation to generation and honed through countless dedicated hours. Within the surf community, no one embodies this more than George Kodama. Born in Tokyo and based in Hayama, he is the founder of Birds Creation & Repair. He studied surfboard and fin making under shaper Katsumi Kawaminami and fin craftsman Toru Onuki before becoming independent. After launching Birds Creation, where he shapes and repairs surfboards, he also developed unique projects such as Replay and Maguro Blanks, which focus on creating playful tools from discarded materials. Maguro Blanks is a project that repurposes discarded styrofoam cases used in the tuna fishing industry, transforming them into surfboard blanks. The Replay Labo Project is an upcycling initiative led by surfboard shaper George Kodama and his studio Replay Labo, which creates playful tools by giving new value to discarded items and materials, in collaboration with the tuna wholesaler Misaki Megumi Suisan. Together they develop and sell a variety of upcycled products. We are grateful f