From ocean swell to snow-covered peaks —
YAYU, a way of living in nature.

YAYU’s story starts on the east coast of Taiwan.

Founder Wu Shih-yuan (Wu Chia-ju) grew up in Tainan. In his twenties he quit his job and drove around the island in a van with friends, chasing waves, until he settled in Taitung and met the swell of the Pacific. There he found a simple, free way of living — following the weather, letting nature set the day.

During those years working as a surf instructor and guide, he slowly realised the ocean was not just a playing field. It was more like a teacher. It taught him to observe, to wait, and to accept the things he could not control.

Later, on that same coast, he met a Japanese woman who loved surfing just as much. In 2013 he moved with his wife to Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan, to a small town five minutes’ drive from the sea. He thought he was simply changing address. He had no idea another kind of wave was on its way.

Life in Japan did not begin romantically.

The language barrier, the cultural differences, the unwritten rules of the Japanese workplace — all of it was new territory for a Taiwanese man used to standing barefoot on the sand. To make a living he joined the local civil engineering industry, working in Ishinomaki as the city rebuilt after the disaster. He worked hard to fit in, to adapt, to become the person others expected — and again and again felt how much he did not belong.

Then one day something became clear: rather than wearing himself out trying to turn into somebody else, he could simply be a Taiwanese living in Japan. No need to imitate anyone. No need to give up who he already was.

That realisation became one of YAYU’s most important values — respect people as they are, and respect nature as it is. Because real freedom begins with being honest about yourself.

Once he let go of the struggle, he began to ask a different question: what is it that I can genuinely give to other people? The answer had been beside him the whole time.

More than ten years of ocean sports experience. A certified SUPA instructor in Japan. A member of Taiwan’s national surf team. And the first Taiwanese to qualify as a judge with the Nippon Surfing Association (NSA).

The sea is where he is most at home.

In 2019 he left the construction company and founded YAYU Adventure.

The name 野遊 (YAYU) means “to play outdoors.” Through safe outdoor experiences with real depth, we want more people to feel what nature truly has to offer.

In summer we take travellers paddling into Matsushima, one of Japan’s three great views, to see island scenery that boats cannot reach and footpaths cannot enter. In winter we head into the snow mountains of Zao — from first turns to advanced riding, from groomed runs to the backcountry, showing people the many faces of snow country. All year round, from sea to summit, YAYU threads Miyagi’s two most captivating landscapes into a single way of life.

Surfing did not only change the direction of his life. It also introduced him to a pioneer of Snow Surf culture — Pioneer Moss. In the mountains of Tohoku he rode alongside riders from MOSS in Japan. It is a way of riding that yields to nature: not chasing speed, not fixating on technique, but following the snow, the terrain, and the lines nature has already drawn. Exactly like surfing.

Reading the rise and fall of the terrain with your body. Feeling the snow flow through every turn. Finding in the mountains the same freedom the ocean gives. Snow, it turns out, can move like a wave. Riding it, it turns out, is another way of being with nature. And so YAYU SNOW was born.

After years of building in Tohoku, YAYU SNOW’s founding team brings together leading instructors and outdoor professionals from across disciplines. YAYU is also a key partner in Taiwan for the Japanese outdoor brand MOSS. Because we believe Snow Surf is more than a riding style — it is an attitude: accept nature, respect nature, enjoy nature.

Nature, however, never follows the plan. Not long after YAYU was founded, the pandemic arrived. There was an entire snow season with only one group of guests. But YAYU did not stop — learning photography, shooting film, sharpening skills, visiting local inns, connecting with partners. That stretch taught YAYU what Snow Surf really means: let go of attachment, follow nature, live in the present.

Along the way, YAYU has distilled its beliefs into a few simple principles.