I first met Ronnie Yamada when I was a little tadpole of a surfer, getting rides over to Town from the Eastside to get a taste of real waves instead of the windy beach breaks of Kailua and Waimanalo. At that time, Ronnie was blowing up in the surf scene. He was the guy I would see all over the magazines and HIC manila folders that were given away during back-to-school sales.

I remember the first time he called me to come over to his house. I was from a not-so-great neighborhood and thought that Ronnie—a pro surfer—would be living in a gigantic mansion with cars and money everywhere. After apprehensively driving through the Likelike tunnel with my mom, then straight into the cut of Kalihi Town, and finally pulling over to his house– I noticed that his stomping grounds had the exact same feeling as my hood.

Right then and there I knew Ronnie lived like us. He was a pro surfer living in the ghetto. It made me feel like my dream of going pro was possible. More importantly, it made me respect the guy because he had so much notoriety in the surfing world, but still lived where he grew up and kept it real.

Ronnie’s been the “real, real” from the beginning—and to be honest—hasn’t changed one bit. He is the same guy I met 20 plus years ago, only thing now is he makes a living as a skin artist instead of a wave rider. Nowadays, he has a six-month long waiting list for tattoo appointments.

It’s crazy how he went from pro surfer, which most of his clients have no idea he once was, to a tattoo artist in high demand. How’d he do it? I figured that it was time to clear up any rumors about Ronnie’s journey and find out.


Jun: How did you even start surfing given where you grew up?
Ronnie Yamada: Way back in the day, I used to tag along with my brother to Waikiki Walls. Took the bus and stayed at the beach all day long. My bro, his friends, [surfboard shaper] Darren Tatsuno and myself were the groms.

Aw shit, Waikiki Walls! Darren Tatsuno, too? That’s crazy because both of you were the top guys when I was starting out that everyone talked about. Darren being the all around clean cut professional, while you were the exact opposite. To me, in a way, you were always on the short end of the stick, but do you think that was your way of not conforming to the ways of how to dress and act like a surfer?
Darren and I battled from way back when, pushing each other to get better, like all rivals do. As far as my mentality went, I never thought about it like that. I never wanted to look and be like everyone else, kind of, “Why be normal...look at what happened to you” thing. But, once I touched that water, mentally– that competitive side of me took over. I wanted to beat everyone and be better than everyone else.

Guess it’s that, “Never give up and do what you feel is right” that has gotten you to where you are. I heard a story from a major player/big surf shop owner in Hawai‘i about telling you that you’re never gonna make it in the middle of your career before you did really well.
One of my sponsors did tell me, “You will never make it as a pro surfer and you should go back to school.” Another even told me, “I dont even know why we sponsor you.” I could have folded then, but I used it as motivation to prove them wrong.

Fuel the fire you could say.
For sure, so for my family and friends, who had faith in my surfing and now tattooing: much love to you. For all that doubted me: pick a finger.

From there, I remember you doing some airbrushing work for all kinds of companies and surfers. Did you always have that art in you?
Yeah. I airbrushed surfboards for about 20 years. Eventually spraying boards for almost every big shop on the island. I also spent about five years in Japan.

Man, going from a pro surfer to air brusher to tattoo artist is a long journey.
My life has been a dream up to this point. From surfing and traveling the world, to art, tattooing and trying to “one up” the last tattoo I’ve done. If you can even consider surfing or tattooing a job, I’ve loved what I have done so far and not too many people can say that.

You can say that and most people can’t. Who was instrumental in your dream life?
I just wanted to send some love to my family and friends that supported me and had faith in me. I guess also to those who didn’t because it made me stronger and want to prove you wrong. Big ups to my new family at 808 Tattoo, everyone at In4mation, and of course Travis Tominaga. Trav was really brave or really stupid for being my test pilot and human-pin cushion. I will continue to tattoo for the love of art and not the love for money.


ロニー・ヤマダ
彼は、ハワイでとても有名で才能のあるタトゥーアーティストだ。彼の作品は素晴らしく、多くの人に求められるほどだ。その他にも彼は、昔やっていたサーフボードのエアーブラッシングでも有名。彼が一度、とても腕のあるプロサーファーだったことはあまり知られてないが、今でもその腕は落ちていない。