For the past 21 years, China Uemura has done his part to unite Hawai'i's longboard surfing community.

Now he's reaching across the Pacific Ocean. All the way to Japan.

China Uemura's 22nd Annual Longboard Surfing Classic got underway yesterday, with a mix of surfers from Hawai'i and Japan riding small waves at the "Queen's" break off Kuhio Beach, Waikiki.

"What's really neat is we're bringing two cultures together," Uemura said. "I never imagined this contest could get this big, but I'm happy it is because that means I can help more charities."

Uemura is a former national champion in longboard surfing who started the contest in 1985 as his way of "giving back" to the community that supported him during his prime.

It started as a two-day event with around 200 amateur entries.

The contest is now a four-day event — two days for professionals and two days for amateurs — with more than 500 total entries.

"He's been there as a professional surfer, and he's been running this contest for so long, he knows what it takes to make it work," Hawai'i professional competitor Duane DeSoto said of Uemura. "The biggest thing is he does it for the surfers and the community, not himself."

In keeping with the contest's tradition, Uemura will not keep any of the money generated.

Some of the entry fees will go toward the prize purse for the professional surfers, and some of it will go to charities. This year, the primary benefactor is the Hawai'i Shriners Hospital.

"That's a big reason why I keep coming back to do this contest," DeSoto said. "You know the money is going to a good cause and not just into somebody's pocket."

The professional surfers competed yesterday in a contest that will count toward the Japan Professional Surfing Association 2006 standings. Most of the top-ranked longboard surfers from Japan are here this week for the event.

"Everybody was excited to come to Hawai'i," said Yoshiki Fukui, a contest official for the JPSA. "When we have a typhoon swell in Japan, the waves are good. But here in Hawai'i, the waves are always good."

Today, a Japan vs. Hawai'i event will be run, with 16 surfers on each roster. Among the surfers representing Hawai'i will be DeSoto, Kekoa Uemura (China's son), Ned Snow, Kai Sallas and Rusty Keaulana.

"The Japanese surfers are still learning," Fukui said. "They can learn how to surf better from the Hawai'i surfers."

China Uemura said one of his objectives is to create lasting — and working — friendships between the surfers from Japan and Hawai'i.

"There's a lot of contests in Japan now, so I'm telling all the Hawaiians to make friends so that they can get help when they travel over there," Uemura said.

Snow, who is currently Hawai'i's top-ranked professional, is already heeding Uemura's advice.

"I've been wanting to go to Japan for a long time, but I don't know anybody there who can help me with the language and stuff," Snow said. "But I just met some guys today, and so I'm feeling a little better about trying to go there next year."

What's more, it gives the Hawai'i surfers a chance to compete against somebody other than themselves.

"There really aren't that many contests for longboarding right now, so anything we can get is huge," Snow said. "And this is a good one because we get to go against guys from another country."

The amateur divisions for males and females will run tomorrow and Sunday. Age divisions range from 13-younger to 60-older.

All competitors are required to use surfboards at least nine feet long.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.