Japan Air

The Japan Air is one of the best-looking and most technical grabs in snowboarding. It’s basically a tweaked Mute, meaning pulled and exaggerated: with your front hand you grab the toe edge, pull the board behind your back, and push your front knee down. The result is a twisted, almost sculpted shape that’s all style. It takes flexibility, body control in the air, and the ability to actively bring the board to you.

How to Do It

1. Ride into the jump with the right speed and do a powerful ollie. The Japan needs more airtime than most grabs because it’s a big movement.
2. In the air, pull your knees up toward your chest, especially your front knee.
3. With your front hand, reach for the toe edge of the board between the bindings (that’s the Mute grab). The board has to come to you: don’t drop your arm, bring the board to your hand.
4. Once you’ve got it, pull the board behind your back and push your front knee down to exaggerate the shape.
5. Let go of the grab, flatten the board out, and land in control.

Common Mistakes

• Mixing it up with the Mute: the Mute is the front-hand grab on the toe edge; the Japan is a Mute pulled behind your back.
• Lazy grab: barely touching the board without pulling it in gives you a weak Japan that’s hard to read. Your body position has to be pronounced.
• Not enough height: the Japan is a grab that takes up a lot of space. Without enough airtime you can’t finish the movement. Invest in your pop.

Progression

The Japan Air already has a ton of style. You can push it further by adding a spin (a Japan Frontside 180 really turns heads), or work on other technical grabs like the Stalefish to grow your bag of tricks in the air.