by Al Lagunte

 A Diver's Gift to the World

The Man, the Diver, the Artist

Many in the freediving community would conclude that spear fishing is an art form in itself. But, for Naoki Hayashi the hunt and the catch are only the beginning. Our profile series takes us to East Honolulu where I had the chance to meet this incredible young man who has a remarkable talent to see things not as they are but as they can be.

Naoki, the Man

Naoki, originally from Japan, grew up fishing and diving on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island. He attended school at Hawaii Preparatory Academy INPAI in Kamuela and continued his education at Chapman College in California. He graduated in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and returned to Hawai'i with hopes of someday returning to school and furthering his education in marine science.

Ironically, he found himself working for a local dive shop where he received his certification as a scuba instructor. Being bilingual helped carve a niche for Naoki in the tourist industry.

Talking with him, one can immediately notice that Naoki is a people person. He loves to talk about diving and his passion for spear fishing.

Naoki, the Diver

Naoki makes his own guns. Interestingly, his guns are made of koa rather than the usual teak or mahogany. And although they resemble a Riffe type of gun, they're really not that similar. All you have to do is hold one and then you can actually feel the difference. The stocks are laminated vertically and tapered toward the front. Weights are added to take the recoil out of the gun.

According to Naoki. "Since doing this my accuracy has improved so much." And to has his diving. He packed his tanks away and concentrated on free-dive blue-water hunting and recently bagged a 52-lb ono (wahoo).

"It was unreal. . . .I dropped down to about 30 feet and noticed a few fish coming my way. Not wanting to look too obvious. I pretended to ignore them. The smaller of the bunch came right in front of me, and still waiting I could see a larger one behind. I lay still...bam! The rest is history. I had my fish.

Naoki prefers blue-water hunting to reef diving. "I like the peace and serenity of blue water, the vastness, the sound of whales singing, and things that you generally don't see in the shallows. This keeps me in tune with nature. When I was learning how to dive as a child, I used a three-prong. I remember seeing this weke [goat fish] and wanted it so bad, but it never happened. I guess this fueled my need to practice and become a better fisher (a word he uses instead of free-diver or fisherman).

Naoki, the Artist

"I must have been about 8 years old when a friend of my grandfather's showed me how to print fish using ink. Gyotaku [gyo meaning "fish," and taku meaning "rubbing." or "impression"] is a form of art that originated in Japan over 100 years ago. It was a way for fishers 10 preserve their trophy fish long after consumption. to enjoy and relive the excitement as the image becomes the symbol of 'that lucky outing."

Stepping into Naoki's gallery/workshop was like entering another dimension. Everything (I mean everything) was in its place. His custom-made spearguns neatly lined the walls and the beautiful gyotaku paintings hung everywhere. You name it. It was there: ono; mahimahi; aweoweo; ulua; schools of akule; tako; even aku. My personal favorite was a school of mahimahi. The textures. the colors, and the feel of his art left me speechless!

I asked Naoki about the process and without hesitation he explained: "There are three steps. actually four (you have to catch a fish). 1. The fish has to be prepared to accept the ink. 2. Rice paper is used to get the impression by rubbing to get the outline and details of the fish. 3. The colors are then added to give the fish life."

Simple as it sounds, it's really not. It's a very tedious process, and Naoki is very meticulous. Many of his prints do not reach the final stage (framing), and consequently will not receive his stamp of approval. Having said that, he pulled out a print of two aku. It looked fine to me (actually I thought they were beautiful), but it wasn't what Naoki was looking for. The colors of the aku, with their deep-blue backs and flashes of dark purple, just weren't dark enough. For Naoki, it has to be perfect!

Ironically Naoki won't print just anything. "A lot of people ask me to do moorish idols and tropical type fish. I'm pretty sure it would look nice, but I can't even imagining myself wrapping fish in newspaper and throwing it away. Ultimately, you would like to eat your fish, and that's what I preach. Only take what you eat and only print edible fish. Someone else (an artist) could paint tropical fish from a picture. I can't print the picture; I need real fish! None of the fish I print are bought from stores. It's either from my cooler or my friend's cooler, and none of my friends spear tropicals, either.

"When I hunt. I look for certain types of fish such as mu (bigeye emperor), uku (gray snapper), mahimahi (dorado), ono (wahoo); that's what I eat, and that's the challenge."

I asked Naoki about the biggest fish he's printed. He pulled out a print of a 36-lb ulua, still in its third stage, and stated, "I'm only limited by the material I get [the rice paper]; however, I just got this new paper and now size really has no limits. Hopefully. by the end of the year I can do a 200-lb ahi."

Naoki credits his work to his upbringing on the Big Island. After all, that was where he got started. His grandfather instilled the respect of nature and life around him. His father (a doctor of internal medicine] instilled the importance of education. This is all evident by talking to Naoki and hearing his philosophy on life.

"I respect everything and take nothing for granted. I appreciate all living things. Not wasting life just for a picture on the wall. . . I once caught this very, very large barracuda (he whipped out his photo album) trolling. It could have been a great subject, but after looking at it you had to respect its size and the years it took to get that big (over 75 lbs). Things like that don't come every day, and I felt fortunate to catch something like that. After admiring it. I took a bunch of pictures and set it free. It was a good feeling."

Although his works haven't been circulating on a global scale, they have made their way to the llikai Hotel, Nohea Art Galleries at Ward Center, Kahala Mandarin Hotel. Natsunoya Tea House in Nu'uanu and Kealia Ranch Store on the Big Island. He also does private shows and is a member of the Pacific Handcrafters Guild. On July 10. over 500 blue-water enthusiasts were fortunate enough to see his work at the "Blue Water Spearflshlng Symposium" held at the Honolulu Elk's Club. Icons in the spearfishing community Jay Riffe, Terry Maas, Sonny Tanabe and Brian Yoshitawa were honored for their contribution to the sport. Each one received one of his prints.

Interestingly, Naoki hasn't really marketed his work. He jokes about taking up marketing instead of marine science. Being around him, you feel he could handle both. You can feel his energy -- it's that infectious.

Somehow you alto get a feeling that his work doesn't end here. His insatiable desire to learn and to try new ideas will ultimately unveil something new in the very near future (I personally had a sneak preview.) That's what is so impressive.

Lately, Naoki's work started appearing at Maui Sporting Goods where he does custom printing for the free-diving community. And, this, I believe, is where hit heart it: doing it for the love and not the money!

Conclusion

Sales pitch? Not even! His work speaks for itself. Naoki has spent his lifetime perfecting his gyotaku, and it shows. In the art community he's considered a hot commodity. This articulate, bright and larger than life individual really has something special to share with us and the rest of the world. His ability to capture the moment through hit eyes can only be summed up in one word: amazing!

I'd like to thank Naoki for his time, his hospitality, his God-given talent and his remarkable ability to see things from a different perspective. Naoki. you are truly someone special.