With Jess Kimura backing her and a stacked rail jam resume at only 15 year old, Hinano is certainly on the rise. We had G-Don reach out for an interview and she gave us the answers between riding dry slope. Arigato Gozaimasu Hinano!

Name: Hinano Sakamoto

Age: 15

Social Media Handles: ＠hinano6622 on Instagram

Hometown: Yokohama,  Japan

Home Mountain: Yuzawa

Sponsors: CAPiTA Snowboards, Union Binding Co, Deeluxe Boots, Electric, Coal, New Era, Pro-Tec

Stance: Regular

Setup: CAPiTA Birds of a Feather board, Union Ultra Bindings, Deeluxe DNA Pro Boots. Stance width 52cm with angles +9 / -9

How did you find snowboarding? I started snowboarding when I was young and quickly fell in love with it.

Years snowboarding? 8years

Best Contest Result? 4th place at the 2026 Uninvited Invitational

Favorite Snowboard Video? Dirty Pimp – DP: The Movie

Biggest Inspiration? Austin Vizz and Henne Ikola

What motivates you? Pushing my riding and landing new tricks.

What rider from the new generation is the going to be the future of snowboarding? Jess Perlmutter

Favorite Old Head? Jess Kimura and Miyon

Best style? Masato Toda and Jill Perkins

Most cooked homie? Himari

Most talented rider? Shunshi Komeno

Sketchiest homie? Miyuzon

Favorite filmer? Yutaro DP

Who brings the best energy? Naima Antolin

Dream Sponsor? (Doesn’t Have to Be Snowboarding-Related) Cartier

Worst Trend in Snowboarding? Early rise

Biggest fear? I hate injuries and bugs.

Is there a time where you should have died but made it out unscathed? Or sketchiest moment? Thankfully nothing too crazy yet.

Steel or Powder? Steel

When do you ride best? When I’m having fun and feeling confident.

When do you ride your worst? When I overthink.

Best and worst place to snowboard? Best: Japan powder / Worst: icy conditions

Warm up or straight to business? Straight to business.

Interests Outside of Snowboarding? Traveling

A moment that you’ll never forget? Winning the Uninvited Japan Open.

Words to Live By? Never give up.

Shout Outs: My family, friends, and everyone supporting me.

Describe snowboarding in one word: Freedom.

Watch Hinano compete in the 2026 Uninvited Invitational