Kekoa Uemura of Honolulu spent most of 2005 figuring out how to get to Japan to surf.

It paid off in 2006.

Uemura won the final event of the Japan Professional Surfing Association 2006 longboard tour last week at Maruki Beach, Japan. In the process, he won the 2006 JPSA tour championship.

"I actually went there to help my sponsor, Fit Systems wetsuits," Uemura said. "I figured if I did good over there, it would get the name of the company out there."

Uemura dominated the JPSA's 2006 tour, winning two of the three events and placing second in the other.

"I think it helped that the waves were a little better than I expected," he said. "It was shoulder-high. I thought it was going to be way smaller."

He received $6,000 for last week's victory, and more than $15,000 for his performance on the tour.

"As far as prize money, it's one of the best tours out there for longboarding," said Uemura, 23. "There's nothing like it in the U.S., that's for sure."

Uemura, the son of longboard surfing legend China Uemura, has been entering professional events in Hawai'i for several years. However, 2006 was his first year on the Japan tour, so he also won the Rookie of the Year award.

The toughest part for Uemura may have been getting to Japan in the first place.

The JPSA rarely lets non-Japanese competitors enter, so Uemura said he spent nearly one year filling out registration forms.

"I actually had to get a work visa since I was going to be taking money out of the country, and there were all kinds of other paperwork I had to take care of," he said. "It was a long process, but it was worth it."

Uemura said he helped save on expenses by staying with some of the Japanese competitors during his trips.

"I help them out when they come here, and they help me out over there," he said.

Now that he's "in" with the JPSA, Uemura said he plans to return next year to defend his title.

"I heard a lot of other guys want to try and get in now because they heard how much (money) I made," Uemura said. "As long as they go through everything I had to go through to get there, that's fine."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.