Tenkara and Lite Line Fly Fishing

Light Line Fly Fishing is what interested me the most in fishing and ultimately lead me to tenkara. Why would I want to write a fly fishing piece on a tenkara site?

Because the two go hand in hand.

Tenkara is fly fishing, but it is different.

Lite line fly fishing, you can do everything you can do with a tenkara rod. I can see some of you immediately object and that's ok but hear me out, you can reach, just not as well, you can sasoi, just not as well but you cannot shoot a fly in a tunnel or let a big fish run, the obvious things, like you can with a fly rod.

Both have merit yet this is not about which one is better, this is about the small streams you fish and it is a rare look where both disciplines live in harmony.

Since day one for me, in 2009, fly fishing and tenkara have lived in unison. I was introduced to tenkara by an American company that said, "sell your fly rod and get into tenkara!"

Hell no, they got it wrong that day and never recovered. I ended up working for that company and it was a great experience. I always advised the group that fly fishing and tenkara were friends, brothers if you will and hand in hand they should exist. I advised the company NOT to engage with fly fisher people negatively and for the most part, bridges were mended instead of being burned, I'm proud of my association with them but that's water under the bridge, let me explain.

I didn't trust anyone outside of Japan to teach me anything about tenkara. I am capable of critical thinking on my own, I've always learned to go to the source and study, trusting my look at from a balanced standpoint. If I don't like something, I don't give it time, I don't engage or debate, that's far too much energy spent on the wrong thing.

So I decided to go to Japan and find out about tenkara on my own. I went in 2013, I was scheduled to go before but the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami prevented me from visiting the country while it was in duress. I continued to work with the Japanese and I visited my friend Satoshi Miwa, a humble fly fisher that wasn't interested in doing tenkara but he was quite helpful in my study of it. I had been introduced to the works of Yuzo Sebata and Kazuya Shimoda, expert tenkara fishers experienced with fly fishing. I had this idea in my mind that the Japanese loved fly fishing like we do in the West yet tenkara, born in Japan was Japan's contribution to the World of Fly Fishing. I had formed this opinion while reading old tenkara books, watching videos from Japanese home pages and as I wrote above, in my writings, detailed how tenkara is "Japanese style fly fishing" not in the sense that it is a discipline that should substituted for fly fishing but is an adjunct to it.

I had to learn tenkara, not a blend of fly fishing and tenkara or tenkara with a fly fisher's spin (pun intended) so I just quit fly fishing for more than a decade and dove right in and surrounded myself with the best tenkara fishers, media and friends that I could.

I feel like I did a good job.

Now I have returned to fly fishing while still retaining the freedom to choose what I want to do, the way that I want to fish. 

Many fly fisher people are not interested in tenkara and that's ok. I would say that they are ignorant, but it just isn't true. Fly fishing is pretty complete as it is yet they do not know how to make the fly dance as a tenkara fisher can.

So I show them and more times than not, I've introduced someone new to tenkara.

If you have been following along, genryu is the headwaters, keiryu is mountain stream fishing and honryu is mainstream fishing. All three can be done with a tenkara rod and or a fly rod. The term keiryu is simply, mountain stream fishing whereas genryu is a specialized area focused on the headwaters of the stream and honryu is the mainstream or river. A tenkara rod works best for keiryu and genryu and we can make it work for honryu. A specialized fly rod designed for each area works very well or a 7' - 8" 1-weight will work well for genryu and keiryu, for rivers, a slightly longer rod really works well. For honryu, tenkara rods are designed to work but there is a compromise in there somewhere whereas with a fly rod, they are much better suited.

You can do everything with a fly rod that a tenkara rod can do but not the other way around.

Yes, of course, there are exceptions but that's not where this article will focus on.

Prior to 2009, my specialty was 1-weight fly rods. 

If I were to suggest a fly rod to someone new to fly fishing, I would tell them what I've been telling many of you who I have helped into fly fishing, get a 9' 5-weight and go film yourself casting in the front lawn, watch videos and befriend a fly fisher and go to the river with them. A 5-weight line is like rope to those of us who fish level lines. That's an average line weight and as far as the rod length goes, that's a majority of the rod lengths as well. You can use that rod almost everywhere, light salt water, float tubing, rivers, streams, it works. If you continue on as the years go, I think you may end up like me with a 7' - 8' 1-weight. 

Why?

The 1-weight is a light line specialty rod that has been accepted as a specialty. It's not a proprietary line weight such as a 0, 00 or even the 000-weight rod. One company went in that direction and as far as a capable rod, they are however, you are locked into THAT company and what they offer. Many companies offer a 1-weight and it is by far, the lightest and most produced configuration of the industry. You could make the same argument for say a 2-weight or even a 3-weight but those rods are NOT the lightest line weight somewhat readily available whereas the 1-weight line, which is actually what this is about is produced by several fly line companies and has stood the test of time.

I know many of you are waiting for Euro-nymphing to be mentioned, here it is. Euro-nymphing is a conglomeration of techniques, a specialty of subspecialties. It is a frankenfishing, a conglomeration of techniques type genre and without giving a class on Euronymping, I am going to center my thoughts here on conventional (yet specialized) fly fishing without going in a direction of opinion. Euro nymphing is popular. So are bad politicians and that's enough on that topic.

I've seen 1-weight fly rods range from 5'6" to 9'. I've used 1-weight rods in those lengths and have come to the conclusion that a rod of 7'6" to 8' is the sweet spot. It will do the most and is the configuration that I choose in order to maximize what I want out of a 1-weight. On the topic of length, a short fly rod will do almost everything a long rod will except manipulate a line once cast. The short length degrades the ability to mend line in a stealthy manner and in addition, as the length of the rod goes shorter, from my experience, in order to make that short rod (5'6" to 6'6") I have to go up in line weight in order to get the performance I desire from that length fly rod. 

I have a whole other subspecialty on short fly rods that I could draw from but what I'm trying to do here is to divorce the tenkara specialty person from a "tenkara only" outlook and marry him or her to the idea of a broader sense of lite line fly fishing that keiryu is.

At one point in my history of fishing 1-weights, I hunted big fish. I'm not proud of that time, I did learn a lot about catching but it took me away from why I enjoy fishing. I found that it addictive and once I began to zero in on big fish, that's all I wanted and that's not the reason why I enjoy fly fishing.

My project here is not to teach you but to share in what I do.

My experience with lite line fly fishing is that it is not un-common. Japanese fishers enjoy fly fishing more than tenkara. In Japan, tenkara is not popular like fly fishing or conventional tackle configurations with spin and bait cast rods made for keiryu. As I wrote above, on my first trip to Japan, I visited with a fly-fishing friend who toured the different watersheds in the central alps. We did a trip based on his small stream fly fishing, yet I fished side by side and we caught just about the same amount and type of fish. Miwa san wrote an article on our trip, "American Tenkara Fisher, Japanese Fly Fisher" and described his experience fishing with me.

So, my experience is to suggest that 9' 5-weight to you. It will be easy to cast and to learn the different techniques in fly fishing but if you want a rod that lives in the same keiryu environment as does tenkara, I suggest a 8' 1-weight. It may take you some time to get there but once you do, we can talk.

Take care and enjoy fishing your way.

Interview with Daisuke Tsuruta

Mr. Tsuruta, Welcome to Tenkara Fisher. I have been making web sites on small stream fishing since 1997. I started out as a fly fisher and in 2009, while I was searching for a taper to make a split cane fixed line rod, I was introduced to Daniel Galhardo and bought my first tenkara rod from him. I have known Yoshikazu Fujioka since 1997 but I didn’t understand what tenkara was at that time. I have been doing tenkara only since I got my first rod and I’ve been to Japan to fish with my friends there. Many of them are experts and specialists in the type of tenkara and fly fishing. I love tenkara. Maybe almost as much as Ishigaki sensei, maybe not, I don’t know. But I have asked you to be a part of our collection of interviews because of your interests.

I write the interviews in whole; I write it after thinking of what a good interview should be and I suggest that you read what I send you first, then help me make it “flow” by doing your part.

Thank you so much for joining me.

It’s time to begin.

Mr. Tsuruta, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How old are you, when did you start fishing and what is your favorite kind of fishing?

Daisuke Tsuruta: 1975年生まれの48歳です。8歳の時に初めて釣りをしました。初めての釣りは近所の川でのフナ釣りです。日本ではフナ釣りに始まり、フナ釣りに終わると言われています。年老いたらまたフナ釣りを始めると思います。子供の頃から魚が好きで、学生時代、名古屋大学ではアマゴに関する研究をしていました。その研究の合間にテレビで瀬畑さんのテンカラを拝見したのがテンカラを知ったきっかけで、すぐにテンカラ竿を買いに釣り具屋に行ったことを覚えています。私のテンカラの原点は瀬畑さんですね。そこからテンカラを始めて今年で25年目です。

その他、テンカラ以外ではハンドメイドルアーでのトップウォーターで狙うナマズ釣りも好きですし、真夏にフローターでのフライフィッシングで狙うブラックバス釣りも好みです。日本では「エギング」と呼ばれている「エギ」というルアーで岸からイカを釣るのも好きです。

I am 48 years old, born in 1975, and I fished for the first time when I was eight years old. My first fishing experience was crucian carp fishing in a nearby river. It is said that in Japan, fishing for crucian carp begins and ends with crucian carp fishing. I think I will start crucian carp fishing again when I get old. I have loved fish since I was a child, and when I was a student I did research on amago at Nagoya University. I remember seeing Sehata-san's tenkara on TV during a break in my research, which is how I got to know tenkara, and I immediately went to a fishing tackle shop to buy a tenkara rod. Mr Sehata was the starting point of my tenkara. I started tenkara from there, and this year is my 25th year.

Apart from tenkara, I also like topwater catfish fishing with handmade lures, and I also like black bass fishing with a floater fly-fishing in midsummer. I also like to catch squid from the shore with a lure called 'egi', which is known as 'egging' in Japan.

Adam Trahan: I enjoy tenkara very much. Even after experiencing fly fishing for so long, making bamboo rods and building rods for myself and others, I think I still like tenkara more.

It’s more about fishing than ownership of equipment.

I’ve always said that tenkara is about skill, it isn’t about the equipment.

“What do you think about that?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 私も同意見です。テンカラの腕は道具の良し悪しではなく、テクニックによるところが大きいと考えています。もちろん、全く張りのない竿だったり、ただの硬い棒のような竿では自在に毛ばりを操ることは難しく、良い釣果をあげることができません。自分の好みにあった竿を見つけることが大事になのではないでしょうか。私の好みのテンカラ竿は少し硬めの張りのある竿で、ピンスポットで狙ったポイントに毛ばりを落とすことができます。

I agree with you.I believe that tenkara fishing skill depends on technique, not on the quality of the equipment.Of course, if the rod has no tension at all, or if it is just a stiff rod, it is difficult to manipulate the fly freely and you will not be able to get good results.I think it is important to find a rod that suits your taste.I prefer tenkara rods that are a little stiffer and taut, so that I can drop the fly on a pinpoint spot.

Adam Trahan: Where I live in Arizona, I am surrounded by desert. Good trout fishing in the mountains is at least a two-hour drive away by fast highway. In our mountains, we can fish for Apache and Gila Trout, Brook, Brown, Tiger and Grayling. We have a diverse cold watser fishery. In our tailwaters, we have large river rainbows. I think I like honryu tenkara best. Genryu tenkara is beautiful and the fish that live there are too but there is nothing like fishing a small stream for the beautiful fish found in a high alpine meadow.

“Can you tell us a little bit about your favorite type of tenkara fishing?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 私は本流テンカラも源流でのテンカラもどちらも大好きですが、どちらかと言えば源流でのテンカラの方が好みですね。テント泊ではなく、すべて日帰りの源流釣行です。山奥まで行かなくても探せばイワナがむちゃくちゃ沢山釣れる谷はありますよ。一人で釣る時はゆっくり自分のペースで釣り上がり、テンカラを満喫しますし、仲の良い友人と釣りに行く時は自分の釣果よりも彼らに多く釣ってもらうことを心がけています。

I love both honryu tenkara and genryu tenkara, but I prefer genryu tenkara. I don't stay overnight in a tent, but go day-fishing in the headwaters. You don't have to go deep into the mountains to find a valley where you can catch a lot of char. When I fish alone, I take my time and fish at my own pace and enjoy tenkara to the fullest. When I go fishing with my good friends, I try to let them catch as many char as possible.

Adam Trahan: My area is very diverse. In our desert, we have large lakes made by dams. Lots of warm water fishing. Below some dams are cold-water rivers, big big rivers and nice sized trout. In the mountains, we have spring creeks in the alpine environment.

“Can you tell us a little bit about your area where you fish?

Daisuke Tsuruta: 自宅から車で30分から2時間くらいのエリアで釣りをしています。石川県または富山県での釣りがほとんどで、イワナを中心に釣っています。一番近くでは自宅から2kmでヤマメが釣れますし、ブラックバスやナマズも家の近くの池や川で釣れます。イカ釣りも車で30分の場所で釣れるので釣りには恵まれた所に住んでいます。良いでしょ？

I fish in areas between 30 minutes and two hours drive from my home. I mostly fish in Ishikawa or Toyama prefecture, mainly for char. The nearest place I can catch yamame 2 km from my home, and black bass and catfish can also be caught in ponds and rivers close to my home.Squid fishing is also available a 30-minute drive away, so I live in a blessed place for fishing. Nice, isn't it?

Adam Trahan: I sometimes travel with tenkara. Like I said, I traveled to Japan a couple of times but one of my favorite spots to travel and fish, Kauai, Waimea Canyon. It was quite an adventure figuring out the trout there. It is an exotic place to fish, a very rainy jungle place but the day I got to fish, the clouds were hiding, the sun was shining and I got to realize my goal of catching the wild trout there. It’s not an easy place to fish, many things work against the Waimea Canyon fisher.

I don’t carry much.

I’ve been called a minimalist.

I don’t really consider myself a minimalist because I have everything I need. I don’t need much though. I think a lot of stuff takes you away from experiencing the moment outdoors. I don’t have a problem picking out something I like that I may not need but want to take. It's something I do so that I enjoy my fishing.

I have a small bag that has a wooden compartment box, a spool to hold my mainline, a spool of tippet, a nipper and a hemostat. I might have an extra line or a thumb drive that has a lot of tenkara stuff on it for people that I meet that are very interested. All of my different types of tenkara are based on that small bag.

“Please tell us about your tenkara and how you prepare and what you take on the stream?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 私もそんなに多くの荷物を持って谷へは入りません。テンカラ自体がシンプルな釣りなので、竿2本（1本は予備竿）、2種類のライン、数種類のフライ、ティペット等です。源流釣行や単独釣行の場合は、ヘルメットは必須です。その他、クマ避けの海難救助用ホイッスルも必須です。

I don't go into the valley with that much luggage either. Tenkara itself is simple fishing, so two rods (one is a spare rod), two types of line, several types of flies, tippet, etc. A helmet is essential for headwaters fishing and solo fishing. In addition, a sea rescue whistle to avoid bears is also essential.

Adam Trahan: I have a couple of local zones that I fish in the summer and fall. In the winter, I tend to stay at home and fish the stocked urban ponds. It is a break from having to travel hundreds of miles by car just to get to the fish. Although I would not call this type of fishing “tenkara” I am using all the skills as I would fishing in an alpine stream.

“What do you think of urban ponds and using tenkara gear and tactics?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 自宅近くには釣り堀はないので、行くことはありません。仮に都市部に住んでいたら、冬の間は釣り堀でテンカラをすると思います。源流テンカラとは違いますが、釣り堀のテンカラも面白そうだと思いますよ。

There are no fishing ponds near my home, so I don't go there. If I lived in a city, I would probably do tenkara at a fishing pond during the winter. It is different from genryu tenkara, but I think tenkara at a fishing pond would be interesting.

Adam Trahan: In the winter, when our streams in the high country are blocked with snow, I sometimes fish the urban ponds, most have a bar or pub very close and fishing takes on a little bit different meaning, it’s more of a social event. Speaking of social events and fishing, social media outside of Japan has been important to the development of tenkara.

This web site, although not part of social media, will be available to link through social media. I met you through social media.

“What do you think of social media and tenkara?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: ソーシャルメディアがあったおかげでアダムとも知り合うことができたし、多くのテンカラ友達ができました。この友達の輪はさらに広がっていくと思います。コロナ禍においても気軽に連絡を取ったり、お互いの近況等、情報共有ができましたのでソーシャルメディアは必要だと思います。

Thanks to social media, I got to know Mr.Adam and made many tenkara friends. I think this circle of friends will continue to grow. I think social media is necessary for the Corona Disaster because we were able to easily contact each other and share information about each other's current situation.

Adam Trahan: In the beginning, I did not know much about tenkara. Yoshikazu Fujioka and I have been friends for a long time online, however, I did not know tenkara then. I knew it was some sort of fixed line fishing yet he and I, back in the 90’s was sharing our love of small stream fly fishing.

That’s where we meet.

But then I learned about tenkara and quit fly fishing for about 15 years to learn tenkara, in the best way that I could by total immersion into it.

I learned that many, if not most expert tenkara fishermen in Japan have done or do fly fishing. I think fly fishing and tenkara are the same type of fishing yet are very different.

“Can you tell us what your view of fly fishing is in relation to tenkara?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 広い意味で言えばテンカラはフライフィッシングの一種だと思います。しかし流れの緩やかなヨーロッパの河川とは違い、急な流れの多い日本で発達したテンカラは、フライフィッシングとは全く別の釣りと私は考えています。日本の渓流で釣りをするならテンカラの方が釣りやすいので、これから釣りを始める人にはテンカラをおすすめします。私自身、フライフィッシングでブラックバスを釣っていて、フライフィッシングの面白さも理解しているつもりです。テンカラとの共通点も多く、フライフィッシングの技術をテンカラに応用できています。

In a broad sense, tenkara is a type of fly fishing. However, unlike European rivers with their gentle currents, tenkara developed in Japan, where there are many steep currents, and I consider tenkara to be a completely different type of fishing from fly fishing. Tenkara is easier to fish in Japanese mountain streams, so I recommend tenkara to those who are just starting out. I myself catch black bass by fly fishing and I think I understand the fun of fly fishing. There are many similarities with tenkara and I am able to apply my fly-fishing techniques to tenkara.

Adam Trahan: I have researched a lot in tenkara books from Japan. Most of the books include fly fishing (Western type) and I believe both are like brothers but different. I personally believe that the best tenkara fishers are made from fly fishers and that tenkara fishers that become fly fishers will go on to become very good at fly fishing. This of course if that person loves tenkara.

In America, tenkara was started by a company that wanted you to sell your fly-fishing gear to “get into” tenkara. I advised this person that this was not the way to grow tenkara. I told him that for people that learned to fish using a tenkara rod, many of them would go on to learn fly fishing. Things happen for a reason, and he didn’t listen to me but he sold his company and walked away from it. So it does not matter.

I believe the two forms of fishing are both a greater part of a fisher's choice.

The next time I travel to Japan, I am bringing a fly rod. It won’t be the reason I visit but I’m never going to leave my fly rods again.

“Speaking of travel, do you like to travel to fish?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 釣り旅行は好きですよ。子供が大きくなって私の自由な時間が増えたらまた行きたいと思ってます。車にテンカラ竿からルアーロッド、キャンプ道具まで色々積んで、出掛けた先の状況で臨機応変に釣りを楽しむスタイルです。

I like fishing trips. I would like to go fishing again when my children are older and I have more free time. I load up the car with everything from tenkara rods to lure rods and camping gear, and enjoy fishing as I go, depending on the conditions at the destination.

Adam Trahan: It’s one of my favorite things to do, explore with my tenkara rod. Just like I wrote above, my trip to Kauai was probably my favorite even over Japan as it was filled with adventure, failure and success. Bouz or skunked, blanking or not catching fish is not seen as a failure in my book. It rarely happens but it is a necessary ingredient in the meal of my fishing. It keeps the days that I catch fish tasty. It’s like shio (salt) I don’t want very much on my meals and I won’t eat it alone but used correctly, it makes my fishing very special.

Shioyaki trout! And then Kotsuzaki afterwards is a ritual that is very special too. In America, we have people that will not eat their catch. Strictly catch and release, that is what I practice most but I feel strange if I don’t eat my catch every once in a while.

“Can you tell us how you look at catch and release and do you eat your catch?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 渓流釣りでは基本的にリリースします。持ち帰るのではなく、写真を撮って記録に残すだけですね。家族からの依頼があった場合だけ数匹持ち帰りますが、もう何年間も持ち帰っていません。「エギング」においては釣ったイカはすべて持ち帰ります。数が多く、資源が枯渇しにくいと考えられることと何よりむっちゃ美味しいからです。家族にも大好評です。

渓流でリリースする理由は、釣りに集中しにくくなるからです。せっかく食べるなら新鮮な状態で持ち帰り、美味しく食べたいですので、保冷ボックス等が必要となります。荷物が増えると機敏に動けなくなり、源流釣りには不向きだと考えています。

In mountain stream fishing, I basically release the fish. I don't take them home, I just photograph them and record them. I only take a few fish home if my family asks me to, but I haven't taken any home for years. In the case of 'egging' , I take all the squid I catch home with me. This is because there are a lot of squid and it is thought that resources are not easily depleted, and above all because they are extremely tasty. They are also very popular with my family.

The reason for releasing fish in mountain streams is that it makes it difficult to concentrate on fishing. If I want to eat them, I want to take them home fresh and eat them well, so I need a cold storage box or something similar. The more luggage I carry, the less agile I am and I consider it unsuitable for genryu fishing.

Adam Trahan: By the nature of this type of writing, it is a little difficult because I have to imagine what you are going to say. I write it in one piece, send it off and hope for the best when I get it back because I do not change anything after I get it back. This makes me change the subject a little more to keep things interesting and topics separate.

I am finishing the interview at a Subaru dealership. I am waiting for the first service to be done.

My new Subaru Forester is a great car, it is perfect for me to explore the area close or even a thousand miles away, I am able to take my fishing very far without worry.

“How do you do it? Do you travel by car? What kind of car do you have? Or do you take the shinkansen or both?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 私の家族は皆スバルファンで、妻の車はCROSSTREKです。私も以前はスバルの車を乗っていましたが、現在はスズキのエブリイです。エブリイはminivanなので車体が小さい割には荷物も沢山乗りますし、身長176cmの私でも荷室で足を延ばして寝ることができます。細い道でも走りやすく日本国内での釣り旅ならこの車がベストだと考えています。新幹線や電車では釣りに行きたいと思いません。駅からテンカラのポイントまで遠いことが多くて不便だからです。

My family are all Subaru fans and my wife's car is a CROSSTREK. I used to drive a subaru car, but now I drive a Suzuki Every. The Every is a minivan, so it can carry a lot of luggage for its small size, and even at 176 cm tall, I can sleep with my legs stretched out in the cargo area. It is easy to drive even on narrow roads and I think it is the best car for fishing trips in Japan. I don't want to go fishing by bullet train or train. It is inconvenient because it is often far from the station to the tenkara point.

Adam Trahan: Everyone that I have interviewed has things they do besides fishing. I am 62 y/o and am starting to become an old man. I still ride my bicycle very far and I love to do some hiking but things like my dog and flying radio control gliders, sailplanes are piquing my interest.

“What other things do you like besides tenkara?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 学生の頃からバイクが好きでホンダのモンキーに乗っています。大学生の時にはバイクにテントやシュラフを積んで2,3週間かけてキャンプツーリングに出掛けたこともありました。当時はテンカラを知らなかったのでもったいないことをしたと思ってます。また、魚を飼うことも好きで熱帯魚等を家で飼っていました。自宅に湧水の池があり、水温は年間を通して常に摂氏19℃もあります。子供のころはその池でグッピー等を飼っていました。現在はテンカラや他の釣りで忙しく、魚は飼っていませんが、将来、大きな水槽でナマズを飼いたいと思ってます。

I have loved motorbikes since I was a student and I ride a Honda Monkey. When I was a university student, I once went on a camping touring trip for a couple of weeks with a tent and a sleeping bag on the bike. I didn't know what tenkara was at that time, so I think it was a waste of time. I also liked keeping fish and kept tropical fish at home. I have a spring-fed pond at home, where the water temperature is always 19 degrees Celsius all year round. I used to keep guppies and other fish in that pond when I was a child. Now I am busy with tenkara and other fishing activities and don't keep fish, but I would like to keep catfish in a big tank in the future.

Adam Trahan: I have been giving the interview subject space to ask me questions about anything they want.

“Please take this opportunity to ask me any questions that you like.”

一年の内、何日くらい釣りをしていますか？ここ何年かは仕事が忙しく年間25-30日くらいです。かつては一年間で200日釣りをしたこともありました！

釣りをしていて、「この瞬間が最高！！」と思う時はどんな時ですか？私の場合は、他の釣り人がおらず、自分のペースで釣りができ、無風で釣りに超集中できる時です。

How many days a year do you fish? For the last few years, I have been busy with work, about 25-30 days a year. I used to fish 200 days a year!

When do you think " This is the best moment!" when you are fishing? For me, it's when there are no other anglers, I can fish at my own pace, there is no wind and I can concentrate on fishing.

Adam Trahan: Like you, I used to fish quite a bit. This year, I think I have fished about twenty days so far. I am about to go fishing for a few days and will probably fish another couple of days before the end of the year so about twenty-five to thirty days. This has not been a good year, I had responsibilities at home and a couple of trips got cancelled due to weather.

On moments; I think my best moments fishing are often when I am walking spot to spot. I am deep in the forest alone or far up a canyon and I get this feeling of how small I am in relation to the earth, the sky. But I feel like I am a part of it all. Sometimes I can hear the wind in the tops of the trees and I start to see the overview of where I am fishing, like if I were a hawk.

I remember moments much more than whole trips. I think it is the moments that are so important.

It is this type of daydreaming while I am fishing that I have my best moments. 

I appreciate you. I like what you do. I was a guest with a group of fishers in Japan that took me fishing. They said it was light genryu fishing, but I felt that they were describing it that way just for me. I think what they called light really wasn’t hard at all.

I understand you do genryu fishing or maybe sawanobori.

“Can you tell us about your adventures doing this?”

Daisuke Tsuruta: 私の源流釣りは、日帰り釣行です。険しい谷や険しくない谷といろんな源流に行ってます。車を降りて30秒で釣りを始められる谷もあれば、崖を降りたり、ダムを渡って入る谷もあります。

私が源流釣りをする理由は二つです。

一つ目の理由は、他の釣り人が入らない谷を知っているので、自分のペースでゆっくりテンカラができるからです。他の釣り人の存在を一切意識せずに魚との対峙に全神経を集中することでテンカラを満喫できます。

二つ目の理由は、むちゃくちゃ沢山釣れるからです。一日の釣行でイワナは70～100匹、その内、“shaku-iwana”（30.5cm over）は、5～10匹は釣れるので、楽しくて仕方ありません。本州で日帰り釣行のテンカラでこれだけ釣れる人は少ないです。何日もかけて山奥まで行けば沢山釣れますが、日帰り釣行だとこんなに釣れないことの方が多いです。

沢山釣るために私が一番重要視しているのが、釣りをするタイミングです。1年の内でむちゃくちゃ沢山釣れるタイミング（日）があります。そのタイミングは谷により違います。前年の積雪量、春から夏にかけての気温の推移、降水量、直近1週間程の水位の変化等です。一時間毎の水位の情報をインターネットで収集し、その数値を2回微分することで土壌の水分量を推定できますので、直前に雨が降ってもどのくらいの時間で元の水位に戻るかもかなり正確に分かります。学生時代に学んだ数学をテンカラに生かすことができました。20年間同じ谷に通えば、経験上ある程度、状況を予測することはできますが、計算でも予測できるのは心強いです。

My genryu fishing is a day trip. I go to various headwaters, some steep and some not so steep valleys. Some valleys I can get out of the car and start fishing within 30 seconds, others I enter by descending cliffs or crossing dams.

I fish the headwaters for two reasons.

The first reason is that I know the valleys where no other anglers enter, so I can tenkara slowly at my own pace. I can enjoy tenkara to the fullest by concentrating all my attention on facing the fish without being aware of the presence of other anglers.

The second reason is that I can catch a lot of fish. In one day's fishing, I catch 70 to 100 char, of which 5 to 10 are "shaku-iwana" (over 30.5 cm), so there is no way to avoid having a lot of fun. There are very few people in Honshu who can catch this many fish on a one-day tenkara fishing trip. If you go deep into the mountains for a few days, you can catch a lot of fish, but on a day trip, it's more common to not catch this many.

The most important thing for me in order to catch a lot of fish is the timing of fishing. The timing is different in different valleys. The amount of snowfall in the previous year, the change in temperature from spring to summer, the amount of precipitation, the change in water levels over the last week or so, etc. Hourly water level information can be collected on the internet, and by differentiating these figures twice, the soil moisture content can be estimated, which also gives a fairly accurate idea of how long it will take for the water level to return to its original level after a previous rainfall. I was able to use the mathematics I learnt as a student in Tenkara: if you go to the same valley for 20 years, you can predict the situation to some extent from experience, but it is reassuring to know that you can also predict it by calculation.

Adam Trahan: I am too late to that party. I wish that I knew about it as a young man. This would have been perfect for me to quit hang gliding. I used to fly at an advanced level and I enjoyed it very much.

“Is there anything else in the world of Japanese fishing that you want to do or are going to do?

Daisuke Tsuruta: テンカラでサケ科魚類以外の魚を釣ってみたいです。とりあえずナマズを釣りたいですね。ナマズはルアーやフライフィッシングで釣ったことがあるので、釣ることはできると思います。その他、自分で作ったの“egi”でイカを釣ってみたいです。

I would like to catch non-salmonid fish with tenkara. For a start, I would like to catch catfish. I have caught catfish by lure and fly fishing, so I think I can catch them. I would also like to catch squid with an "egi" that I made myself.

Adam Trahan: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate what you do and I look forward to meeting you one day in your country.

Daisuke san, please close the interview with anything you would like to say to our readership.

Daisuke Tsuruta: テンカラを通じて多くの友人ができました。いつか海外でもテンカラ釣りをしたいと考えています。海外でも多くのテンカラ友達ができることを願っています。日本に来た時は私がご案内いたします！

I have made many friends through tenkara. I would like to do tenkara abroad one day. I hope to make many tenkara friends abroad. I will guide you when you come to Japan!

Yoko and Taisho Goto - Genryu Izakaya

 

A Day Fishing Trip to Touge-zawa

by Keiichi Okushi

One day in June, I received an email from my American friend John-san. He said he was coming to Japan for a few weeks on business in July, so he asked me if he could meet me somewhere for a day. In fact, I only exchanged emails with John-san, and it would be the first time for us to meet. We talked about going fishing if we were going to see each other, and we decided to go fishing to some genryu where we could go on a day trip.

I got acquainted with John-san through the introduction of Adam-san, who is a fishing friend of mine and the webmaster of this “tenkara fisher”. Adam-san told me that they have been friends since they were teenagers. After that, John-san came to Japan for work when he was on his 20's and get married to a Japanese woman. John-san said that he worked in Tokyo until he was 50 years old. That's why John-san is very fluent in Japanese, especially when it comes to writing and using kanji. I lived in Tokyo for 4 years during my university days and afterwards I was working in Tokyo until I was 40 years old, so We may have met somewhere without knowing.

Well, we exchanged emails several times and decided to go to the genryu of my home river Naka River. However, this time I decided to go to Yukawa, a tributary, instead of the main stream of Naka River I usually go to. John-san told me that he would go to a town near the destination the night before and stay overnight. So, I decided to pick him up at the hotel early in the morning next day.

Yukawa means “river of hot water”. The name derives from the fact that hot springs spring up in the headwaters of Yukawa, and this Yukawa and surrounding areas are a special place because of two reasons. One reason is in the past, along the headwaters of the Yukawa, an old road called Aizu Naka Kaido was crossing the Nasu mountain range from north, Aizu Domain, to the south in Edo period. The road was built along the Yukawa. After the end of Meiji era, there were no more people using the road, and now it has become a trail that is inferior to mountain trails. The remains of this road and iwana fishing at the genryu of Yukawa are introduced in detail in a previous book written by Mr. Takakuwa.(Refer to #45 Takakuwa-san)

Second reason is there is a hot spring source area called 'Hakuyusan” at the tributaries of Yukawa. From the late Edo period to the Meiji period, the folk religion called "Kou" who came to worship “Hakuyusan” as an object of faith was very popular. If you walk upstream along the river for about an hour on the forest road from the car stop of Yukawa, you will find a surprisingly wide flat land in the mountains with an altitude of 1,100m. The size is about 3 soccer courts. This is the place where there used to be a post town called "Santogoya-shuku". During the Edo period, it was used as a post station on the road, and during the Meiji period, it was used as a post town for worshipers of Hakuyusan. During the peak period, more than 30 inns were built in this mountain, and it is said that more than 1,000 worshipers visited on a busy day.

It is said that ko was originally a group formed by Buddhist monks to study doctrines, but later came to refer to groups and acts of folk worshiping ethnic religions and nature. During the Edo period, "Fuji-ko," which worshiped Mt. Fuji as a religious object, was very popular. Here in Yukawa, the source of hot spring "Gohozen", which gushes out in Ozawa, a tributary of Yukawa, had become an object of worship. Hot spring water is still gushing out from Gohozen today, but it is used as a source for the Itamuro hot spring town at the foot of the mountain.

Well, the day came. I left my house early in the morning before sunrise, picked up John-san at the hotel after driving for about two hours, and we arrived at the car stop in Yukawa after 6:00 in the morning. Yukawa around here is taken the water by the intake dam a little upstream, so it is not the original amount of water. However, John-san, who said that it is the first time for genryu fishing in Japan, said that it was a wonderful and beautiful flow. The surrounding mountains create an atmosphere of deep mountains and hidden valleys. There were already two cars parked at the car stop, but as Sawanobori(Stream climbing) is popular around here, I arbitrarily judged they were for sawanobori.

We quickly prepared for fishing and started walking the forest road. For about 30 minutes, the forest road went along the Yukawa, but after that, the road left the stream a little and turns sharply and climbs the slope of the mountain. Before long, Aizu Naka Kaido joined from the right. The stone signpost at the three-way intersection said 'Bakuhan-zaka to the right'. Interesting name. Bakuhan-zaka means “barley rice slope”. According to Takakuwa-san's book, “Once upon a time, if a traveler had cried out to the inn at Santogoya-shuku from the top of Bakuhan-zaka, Inn staff started cooking rice and the rice was cooked about when the traveler arrived at the inn. That is interesting story.

About 15 minutes later, the steep uphill ended, and the vast plain of the Santogoya-shuku spread out in front of us. There were splendid stone lanterns, water bowls, stone monuments, and signboards explaining Santogoya-shuku, reminiscent of the past. At the end of the post town, there was a path on the right, and at the end there was a magnificent torii gate. There was nothing behind the Torii gate. Only the Ozawa Valley, a tributary that separated it from the Yukawa Valley, and the mountains spread out. I thought the direction ahead of this torii must be the direction of Gohozen, which is the object of Hakuyusan worship.

There were three tents on the side of the forest road, and two people were preparing breakfast. When I greeted them, they said that they had come to camp and sawanobori with two cars at the parking lot.

After passing the ruins of the post town, we parted ways with the mountain trail and followed the ruins of the road Aizu Naka Kaido along the Yukawa. The road was very narrow almost disappearing foot paths. After walking for about 15 minutes, we got off onto Yukawa. Although it is the genryu of Yukawa, decent number of anglers coming up to this area often. Immediately, John-san prepared for fishing and he start fishing. John-san said he does fishing quite often in USA. His casting was very beautiful and there was no problem for fishing in genryu. I thought that if there was a fish, he would catch fish immediately, but there was no bite at all. We decided to walk upstream to the stream divides in two, and we devoted to stream walking for a while. The morning sun had risen considerably, and the sunlight was entering to the valley. The Nasu mountain range was beautiful on both sides of the stream. The weather was forecasted to be downhill from the afternoon, but it looked like there would be no problems until after noon. It was a lovely morning.

After walking for about 30 minutes, we arrived at confluence of the stream. Nakanomata-zawa on the right and Touge-zawa on the left. We proceeded to Toge-zawa to the more upstream side. Toge-zawa means the mountain pass stream. Beyond this stream source was the pass of the Aizu Nakakaido in the Nasu mountain range, and beyond that was the Aizu Domain in Edo period. The water volume of the stream had halved and become smaller, but Touge-zawa is the very upper part of genryu of Yukawa. The water was infinitely clear and beautiful.

Here, I also set the fishing rod and start fishing. There was good looking flow, so when I cast the kebari, iwana came out from the first cast. It was small iwana about 20 cm. It seemed that the downstream of the flow was still good, so I cast once more and another iwana bit kebari at the end of the flow. This time it was a nice iwana about 25cm long.

There was a nice pool with a small waterfall when we walked a little upstream. The depth of the pool was perfect and the water is lush and beautiful. I gave this place to John-san. John-san's cast drew a beautiful loop and the kebari just landed on the water at the falling edge of a small waterfall. When the kebari was drifting in the pool for a while, a nice-sized iwana suddenly bit the kebari. John-san set the hook perfectly, and a beautiful iwana bent John-san's rod. It was John-san's first iwana. At this time of year, the iwana was probably the best size in this stream. I thought it was good that John-san caught a good fish first. John-san was also smiling and taking pictures.

From there, we fished up Touge-zawa that flowed down like a staircase. At the very end of the stream, the spots where we can fish are limited. John-san fished picking up points with a right depth of water. Time passed quickly, it was about noon and the weather was still beautiful with blue skies. The ridgeline of the Nasu mountain range became quite close. We arrived at a place where the old Aizu Naka Kaido crosses Touge-zawa as a mountain trail. John-san seemed to be satisfied with catching 7 or 8 iwana until then, so we folded the fishing rods there.

When we walked a little downstream direction on the trail, the trail split in two. The road on the left toward the ridgeline and crosses the pass to Santogoya Onsen, an old hot spring with 2 onsen inns in the middle of Nasu mountain range, and the road on the right is the old Aizu Naka-kaido. We took right to the old road. We ate lunch on the riverbed on the way and again walked down the old road to the car stop while looking up at the sky where the clouds were moving a little faster.

Interview with Shouetsu Goto

Yoko and Shouetsu Goto

Thank you for taking the time for this interview. I was planning it, but I wanted to give you a little time between Yoko san interview. Now, I am able to introduce you with a unique introduction. I am so happy to be interviewing both of you now, especially since your new book is out.

First and foremost, thank you again for your time.

I have been to Japan three times, but last time I visited many friends at Tadami Bansho. I have been taken on several fishing trips in the valleys of Japanese mountains. We hiked long distances, not only eating at camp but also climbing and route finding. My backpack was unusually heavy, wading, hiking and climbing was a bit of a challenge. My friend said it was a little easier than their trips, but there was one time I was going up a vertical mud wall that was undercut at the bottom. Thirty feet up and it was vertical. The last ten feet I was skating, and I felt like I would get hurt if I slipped and fell. Luckily, I had a few friends who looked after me.

Anyway, no one in our group slipped and it turned out to be an epic trip that I still remember clearly. Your style of fishing is inspiring, and the effort and special equipment is required. I realized that your headwater fishing is on a different scale compared to fly fishing or tenkara in the US.

So, I appreciate what you do.

I watch all your videos! Several times! They are great, and I know in another life, I was one of you!

I bought your book Genryu Izakaya and I love it. I have already discovered a good knife, the G. Sakai, which I currently own and use in my camping kit and at home. We also found nesting wooden bowls from Vidahde. This is very convenient for hot food and very aesthetic. There are good things about your videos and books, like here in Tenkara Fisher's Origin Story.

Anyway, thanks for all the great resources.

First of all, I admire you both as a couple and as individuals. You are very resourceful. I'm glad your house is tidy and your pub is open!

"How did the idea for Genryu Izakaya start?"

Shouetsu Goto: My wife named it Genryu Izakaya because I cook food that looks like an izakaya. After that, I started making videos on YouTube because I felt that I couldn't convey the fun with just photos on social media.

Adam Trahan: Your YouTube compilation is a perfect blend of tenkara, genryu, backpacking, tenkara, temba and cooking!

I really like your channel.

"I heard that you are also in Japan's Headwaters magazine, can you tell us about some of the articles in the magazine?"

Shouetsu Goto: Before calling myself Genryu Izakaya, I have accompanied Shinichi Takakuwa, a famous mountain stream guide, on several occasions. Since I started Genryu Izakaya, I have only been out once, but since it also doubled as a book interview, it was mostly about introducing the original cuisine.

We do not introduce the name of the river to protect the fishing grounds of the important headwaters.

That's why I don't get many requests for magazine interviews.

Adam Trahan: There are a lot of big rivers here in America and many of us do mainstream tenkara.

“Do you practice Honryu?”

Shouetsu Goto: Unfortunately, many of Japan's mainstream rivers are man-made, such as dams, and the water is not very clean. I like fishing in the great outdoors, and I also want to go camping, so I often go deep into the mountains.

Adam Trahan: One of the things I do is packcraft and honryu fishing in the big canyon rivers. The water is cold! The canyon is beautiful, and I have continued to enjoy it over the years.

"Please tell me about one of your ideas for a perfect fishing trip?"

Shouetsu Goto: Our fishing trip includes fishing, wild vegetables, mushrooms, sake, bonfires, and camping.

There are so many things to enjoy, so even if fishing isn't your thing, you can still have fun.

We always look for new fishing spots, so it is not always possible to catch fish. That's why I started cooking delicious food and enjoying sake.

Adam Trahan: I really enjoy taking people to river canyons. Everyone says the same thing, "EPIC", laughing and enjoying the experiences and memories together.

"Do you like to bring new people on your trip to Genryu?"

Shouetsu Goto: I would like to introduce new people to the wonders of Genryu and the joy of fishing. However, headwater fishing requires "physical strength" and "mental strength" of course, but you also need knowledge and skills to protect your own life, such as climbing and sawanobori. Taking a beginner is very difficult.

Adam Trahan: I'm not a teacher, but I enjoy sharing the fun of tenkara with people. I will teach many people how to do it, but I do not consider myself a teacher or a guide. I was getting paid to write about tenkara for a while, but it wasn't the best time ever. The best time is being with other people I don't have to teach and enjoying the experience together.

I can't read Japanese, but I can understand picture books, and if I have any questions, I have friends who can read Japanese and help me.

"Can you tell me about your book? Is it an educational book, or is it just a recipe for what you do and what you experience?"

Shouetsu Goto: Genryu Izakaya is not an educational book. However, for those who want to go headwater fishing, there is information that is necessary for people who want to go, such as the know-how to transport food deep in the mountains without spoiling, and the introduction of special tools. Of course, there are nearly 150 recipes that anyone can easily make delicious meals.

"Are you planning to write any more books at this time?"

Shouetsu Goto: If the publisher requests it, I will. There are still things we haven't talked about with our original know-how and new recipes.

Adam Trahan: I started to write a book about tenkara but I decided against it. I think I would rather it be a sort of mystery, what my idea of tenkara is. There are a few books in the English language about tenkara. My favorites for gifts or suggestions to new tenkara anglers are one from Daniel Galhardo and the others are from John Pearson and Dr. Paul Gaskell. The other books which I have not listed, I have not read. I don't think I can do a better job than Daniel, Dr. Paul and John, mine would just be different so really no need or desire to write a book from an English language point of view.

What I enjoy most now is using my computer to create websites that reflect what I do and what I am interested in.

There are many tenkara books written by Japanese authors that would benefit the tenkara community outside of Japan if they were translated into English.

"Do you have any plans to translate your book into English?"

Shouetsu Goto: I think it will be up to the publisher, Yamato Keitanisha.

Adam Trahan: I use a Gamakatsu Suimu. Such a great rod. There are very few people outside of Japan that use them. I own all three sizes and each size is good for what it was designed for. The EX 400 is my mountain stream rod. It is my number one choice for tenkara. For Honryu, I choose the EX 450 and 500. I use these rods for their length and ability to fight big fish.

"Please tell me about your tenkara rod of choice. If you have anything to say about it, which one would you choose? Why?"

Shouetsu Goto: For tenkara I have about 10 rods, but I mainly use the Suimu EX400 and Keiho 3.3 (old type). Suimu has the advantages of being durable and hard to break, allowing for accurate casting because the shaking of the rod is quickly stopped, being powerful enough for long casting, and being able to quickly bring the fish to hand even if a large fish is hooked. I also use the Keiho. It is a rod with similar characteristics, and I have it for fishing narrow streams in Japan.

Adam Trahan: I met Yoshikazu Fujioka about 25 years ago. I started making a site for mountain stream fly fishing. I like the way Japanese people fish in mountain streams. Thank you to you and your wife for creating a YouTube channel "Genryu Izakaya" for those of us who love what you do.

Looking at your channel, I can see that the equipment you are using is working very well. I use some of it in my adventures. I just want to say thank you.

I enjoy sharing my interest in tenkara, which is why I make Tenkara Fisher available. I think that is the same reason for creating Genryu Izakaya.

"You have a website. I like your videos, magazine content, and books. What are you going to do with your it?"

Shouetsu Goto: I'm thinking about linking new YouTube videos, blogging about fishing trips, introducing the tools I use, and selling original goods.

The website is still incomplete.

Adam Trahan: It is late summer here, but our fishing season in Arizona is year-round. Many of our mountain streams get blanketed with snow and become unavailable due to road closures. This is the time of year we are looking to make our last great adventures of summer and then we get into fall which can be really good fishing but the snows of winter, it usually slows our fishing down.

I turn my attention to fishing in other directions. The rivers are farther down in warmer climates and the fishing there is good all winter. I used to do a lot of snowboarding and hiking in the lower mountains, but fishing mountain streams isn't really a wintertime activity for me. I tie kebari and think about and plan adventures for the new season. Here in town, they stock trout in our local ponds, so we go fishing and then cross the street and go to the bar!

Shouetsu Goto: I pick mushrooms and grapes in the mountains in autumn.

In winter, my wife and I go hunting. I often shoot ducks and wild birds. The feathers are available for tenkara kebari.

Adam Trahan: If you are ever in the area, please feel welcome at my home. We live in the desert Southwest, very different from your climate, however I have had Japanese friends who really like our desert vista. I would be happy to show you around.

I plan to visit your area with a friend that I introduced to tenkara. He has lived in Japan for thirty years so far. He is from Phoenix but married a Japanese gal and has a home in Tokyo. He now goes back and forth, and I will accompany him on a trip in the near future. He knows we have to visit your Izakaya when we go fishing in the Alps.

Sometimes I like to go to Hawaii and fish for trout on the island of Kauai. It reminds me a lot like Japan except there are no streams down past headwaters that hold trout. Kauai is too far South on the globe, only the streams that were stocked long ago near the top of the mountains in one specific area will sustain trout.

Besides travel, I don't do many other types of fishing. I used to do a lot of saltwater fly fishing and bass fishing when I was a young man. I might fish now and then in the sea or go bass fishing with my family, but it isn't my passion.

Recently, I have decided to start tanago (micro) fishing. There are places near my home where I can do that. I don't think it is anything like tenkara but it is something I have always wanted to do.

"Do you guys do any other kinds of fishing?"

Shouetsu Goto: Fishing for horse mackerel, kis and gobies in the ocean. In winter, I go smelt fishing.

Adam Trahan: Yuzo Sebata came to America in 1990 and toured the big Western Rivers with a camera crew from Toshiba. They documented his visit fishing the rivers with tenkara while interfacing with fly fishermen from the area. His tenkara is excellent as you know and even back then, he made it look like it was natural to be doing in the rivers.

Twenty years later, the company Tenkara USA was able to sell tenkara rods to the public. The company produced a lot of videos and marketed tenkara. I believe it was the combination of the Internet and the simplicity of this style of fishing that appealed to new fishing customers.

I don't think it was better than Sebata san's introduction, I believe it was different. The timing and the ease of use for people to use their computer's and pull up the content is what helped tenkara get started outside of Japan. Timing is everything, that's what they say and it's really true.

There is more about that but what is important, tenkara is now outside of Japan and it is growing.

"What do you think about that? What do you think about tenkara being practiced outside of Japan?"

Shouetsu Goto: I'm happy that tenkara is becoming popular outside of Japan. And I would like you to change freely without being bound by Japanese traditions and styles. I also want to try tenkara fishing abroad.

Adam Trahan: I like Ayu fishing! But we do not have Ayu here. I like Tanago fishing but we do not have Tanago here. We have species of fish that some of the equipment that was developed specifically for that can be used for our fishing here. But the keiryu equipment (mountain stream fishing) developed in Japan has had the luxury of much more experience and time and lots of resources to develop the best equipment.

Japanese engineering is a testament to improvement.

I like the philosophy that goes along with improvement, Kaizen being one example that can be used to help improve anything including one's own life.

"You have read here how much I like what you do, what the Japanese culture does that I like, is there anything that American tenkara people do that you like? Or is there something that we should be doing?"

Shouetsu Goto: I know Adam loves Japanese culture and tenkara.

Adam Trahan: I was taught to fish by my Grandfather. He did not even like to fish, my Grandmother loved to fish. My Grandfather likes to live by the lake and drive a boat. It was a good arraignment. Before my Grandfather passed away, he helped me develop a "fly" for the catfish in our pond. I was really proud that he was able to see my fly fishing.

"Please tell us who taught you to fish, also, who is influential to your fishing?"

Shouetsu Goto: My father taught me when I was little. At that time, when I was fishing. My father was working in the mountains, so we went fishing in the headwaters.

I started tenkara only 15 years ago, because I admired Yuzo Sebata's style of fishing when I saw the magazine "Keiryu."

After that, I had the chance to go fishing with Mr. Masami Sakakibara and Shinichi Takakuwa.

I saw Mr. Sakakibara fishing and learned the effectiveness of tenkara fishing. I accompanied Mr. Takakuwa and learned how to have fun in the valley.

Adam Trahan: Before I started tenkara, I was making bamboo fly rods. I was making a kind of secret website. We have gathered many great bamboo rod makers from around the world to talk about bamboo fly rod fishing and the secrets of making great rods. For me, I think the best tenkara fishers outside of Japan come from a background in fly fishing.

Occasionally, I pick up one of my self-made rods or a sweet graphite fly rod and toss it out in the garden. We haven't forgotten how to shoot the entire line.

"What do you think of fly fishing compared to Tenkara?"

Shouetsu Goto: I used to fly fish too. I think fishing is a lot of fun. I think it's wonderful that you can learn about aquatic insects and enjoy not only rivers but also lakes and seas.

Some people say that tenkara has an advantage over fly fishing in the Japanese climate, but that doesn't matter. You just have to do what makes you feel like having "fun."

My style of fishing is mountain climbing and sawanobori, so tenkara suits my style because it allows me to prepare and clean up quickly. The tools are also very light and good.

In Japan, there are many headwater anglers who enjoy fly fishing only with dry flies.

Adam Trahan: My first fishing trip to Japan was hosted by Satoshi Miwa, a Japanese biologist. I met Miwa san through my fly-fishing site, smallstreams.com It was shortly after I quit fly fishing to be very good at tenkara. It was a wonderful visit but sort of odd in that my Japanese friend fly fished with me and I did tenkara. He ended up writing a story about how we toured the alps, the Nagano area. He is from Mie prefecture, and it was quite a drive for him. I did visit his area and we went to Iga, the Ninja village as I have a fascination for Ninjutsu. Miwa san ended up doing some translation and hosting of other tenkara fishers. On our trip we also shared a day with Masami Sakakibara on the Itoshiro river. He really tuned the western fly fisher cast out of me and helped me develop my own technique.

On our trip, many new friends were made. I introduced Japanese friends to other Japanese friends not so much on purpose but because I was traveling and being hosted by friends in different areas.

Tenkara seems very special in Japan and I have noticed, it is not as popular as fly fishing.

"Can you tell me about the growth of tenkara in the last ten years and is it becoming more popular?"

Shouetsu Goto: I'm not in the position of a fishing tackle manufacturer or a mass media company such as a magazine, so I can't judge whether tenkara in Japan is becoming more popular or growing.

From the standpoint of a tenkara fan, I feel that the types of rods and tools are decreasing, and the number of shops where you can get them is also decreasing. The fishing magazine itself is getting more and more out of print.

Nowadays, we are in the age of getting goods and information on the Internet, but I don't feel that tenkara's information is increasing.

I'm happy to hear from time to time that they started playing tenkara after watching Genryu Izakaya on YouTube.

Adam Trahan: My visits to Japan are not fishing trips. They are cultural experiences with some fishing.

I understand from my friends in Japan that the old ways are being forgotten. Young people are moving to the cities and with that, the passage of the traditional crafts is being lost.

The bansho that I stayed at in Tadami was old and beautiful. The gasso style home I stayed at in Gokayama was old and very beautiful as well. The techniques that these houses are made with are quite special. The grass roofs need to be replaced and it cannot be done by one person.

In your videos, I see that you and your wife have purchased a home in the country.

"Can you tell us about your home? What are your plans with the Izakaya and anything else you can tell us?"

Shouetsu Goto: The house I bought after moving from Tokyo is located in Toga Village in Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture. Toga Village is part of the Five Mountains, and in the past, there were many Gassho-zukuri. My house is also an old private house that is more than 150 years old, and it used to be made of gassho.

With the help of fishing buddies and YouTube fans, we renovated over the course of a year, started living in April 2022, and were able to open as a tavern in June. All we asked the contractor to do was water and gas, and everything from the foundation under the floor to the floor, walls, and ceiling made it a house with a strong sense of affection that we created with our friends.

Many locals and people who come to fish come to drink.

You can eat dishes that we make on YouTube.

Adam Trahan: I am 61 years old. I enjoy shooting my guns at a target facility. I have some hunting friends that are teaching me about hunting but there is a lottery and I have not won my ticket yet. I can hunt with a bow but I have to learn the bow technique first.

I already do too many things so I will just stick to my guns.

I see that Yoko san hunts.

"Can you tell us about hunting in Japan?"

Shouetsu Goto: Yoko and I hunt. The animals that live here are different depending on the region, and like tenkara, there are various hunting styles. Some people hunt in groups using dogs.

Some people use traps.

We like walking in the mountains, so we like to follow the tracks of beasts, approach them, and confront our prey. I think it's similar to tenkara.

Adam Trahan: The first time I came to Japan was when I was in the Army. We drove the caravan from Yokohama to Camp Fuji Marine Base. I practiced live fire with the Japanese army there. I am very proud to have trained with your military personnel. I am very honored. After living at the foot of Mt. Fuji for about a month, I learned about the weather and atmosphere of Mt. Fuji. I understand that it is a very special place for Japanese people.

"Is there a special tenkara place in Japan? I hear a lot about Kurobe. Can you tell me a special tenkara place?

Shouetsu Goto: I go fishing by myself, so I don't often go to famous places.

Kurobe and Okutone are famous in magazines, and we used to go there a lot, but we lost interest because of the crowds.

Now I'm wandering around looking for the source where no one comes.

Adam Trahan: Shouetsu-san, thank you for helping spread the word of tenkara through my interview readers. Thank you. I first learned about the historical tenkara from Soseki Yamamoto's book. His writings included many tenkara fishermen. Like Mr. Yamamoto, I try to involve as many people as possible in my tenkara coverage.

Shouetsu Goto: I have friends outside of Japan who are interested in tenkara and who understand it. I am very happy to be here. I think they are learning more about Japanese and tenkara culture than us Japanese.

Please continue to do your best to disseminate information overseas.

Thank you very much for this time.