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.

Genryu Fishing of Japan #47

A Bear Family

by Keiichi Okushi

In January 2020, the first person infected with covid19 in Tokyo came out. The number of infected people increased to about 30 in a month, and although the number of covid19 was more increasing in China and Southeast Asia at that time, I thought that it would be settled by the time the climate became hot, like someone else’s problem. However, the number of infected people did not subside even after spring and gradually spread throughout the country. In April, we were requested to refrain from going out without important purposes and to refrain from traveling across prefectures. Usually, in April and May, I often go fishing in the mountain streams in the neighboring prefectures, but that year I could only go fishing in the small mountain streams in the north of our prefecture or get out to the low mountain hike in our prefecture. I then thought it was a big deal.

Even so, the number of infected people gradually turned to a declining trend, the restrictions on going out were lifted, and we decided to go to the first genryu fishing trip in early June like every year. I talked with my group friends and decided to avoid fishing with large number of people in one group. I went to the familiar Oide-River in Tohoku Iwate with Tsuru-chan and Mr. Matsuzawa for 2 nights and 3 days. Oide-river is the genryu that we often go in the beginning of June because we could harvest good sansai(mountain plants) besides fishing. Concerning Oide-river I have written in “#9 Genryu Fishing Trip Walking Through 1300 Year Old Trail”.

On early Friday morning, Tsuru-chan, Mr. Matsuzawa and I were climbing 1300 year old trail and picked Nemagaritake (Nemagari bamboo shoots), Taranome, udo etc. on the way to the tenba (camp site) by Oide-river. It was a deeply foggy morning, but by the time we crossed the pass and went down to the Oide-river, the clouds had become much thinner, and the sun was shining little by little. Eventually, out of nowhere, Ezoharzemi (Ezoharu Cicada) started singing one by one. “Weather will be better soon," Tsuru-chan said happily with a smile.(Ezoharuzemi only sings in good weather.) After 15 minutes, the blue sky was spreading, and the forest was surrounded by a large chorus of Ezoharzemi. There is no better time than when you come to the mountains and the weather is getting better like this.

We arrived at the usual Tenba about 10:00. Immediately, we set up a tarp and prepared for early lunch. The afternoon was a wonderful day. We hiked up the main -stream and fished a little. Yes, fishing was very good. Everyone fished good size iwana. We returned to Tenba much earlier than usual. We prepared sansai (mountain plants) by the stream in front of the Tenba and started drinking while preparing dinner. At 8 pm, when we continued the drinking while fighting drowsiness, there was full of stars in the sky that promised good weather of the next day.

 The next day we woke up after 6am. Weather was good, and we were all fine. I always think that after sleeping in a mountain listening to the sound of stream we have a pleasant awakening and wonderful morning. May be because the first day of entering the mountain, our sleep time is extremely short due to the travelling the night before, and the tiredness of climbing over the mountains may lead us to a deep sleep from an early night. But not only because of that, I think it is very good for the human body and spirit to sleep in the woods listening to the sound of the stream flowing. In fact, when I come back from the mountain, I'm really in good shape for about a week.

 After having breakfast, we set out for the 30m Kashiwa Otaki (Big Water-fall) in Kashiwa-zawa, which flows into far upstream of the main stream. We skipped the area we fished the day before and started fishing about an hour walk from the tenba. Fishing was good on this day as well. There aren't many anglers in this river in early June, and fish are not so cautious. There was very little snow in the last winter, so the amount of water in the stream was very low, but iwana were very active and chasing flies well. The three of us took turns fishing and arrived at Kashiwa Otaki before noon.

 We returned to the mainstream and had lunch. We still had plenty of time, so we fished further upstream of the mainstream from noon. The fishing there was also very good. After fishing for about 1 km, Tsuru-chan suddenly shouted, "Oh, bear!" When Tsuru-chan was fishing in the waterfall basin of a waterfall of about 2 m. It seems that a bear appeared on the waterfall, which is about 7 or 8m away from us. According to Tsuru-chan, he was a young bear body length of a little over 1m, who has not grown up yet. The bear was also surprised and fled upstream. After climbing the waterfall, it was a slab gorge with steep banks. We walked a little, but after the bear ran away in a hurry, the puddles all over the places were cloudy. "I think he spoiled the stream for fishing", "I don't want to bump him again." We decided to finish fishing and return to the tenba.

 When we walked for an hour to the tenba, Mr. Matsuzawa, who was walking at the front, shouted, "Oh, there is a huge bear!" Well, bear again, when I looked downstream while thinking so, it was true that a wonderfully strong looking and big bear was walking toward us. The bear had not noticed us yet, maybe it was still 100m away. Even at that distance, he was probably a big bear whose body length was probably close to 2m. "Wow, it's a really amazing bear." I said. Tsuru-chan and Mr. Matsuzawa were taking pictures, but the bear still had not noticed us. At the distance of about 50m, I thought it was about to be dangerous distance and we shouted, "Hey, hey." The bear immediately noticed us and disappeared into the woods on the left bank of the stream. It was the usual bear behavior pattern. We though he was not a dangerous bear. We walked to the tenba with confidence.

In the evening, we started a drinking around the bonfire next to the tenba from an early time. After drinking for a while, our talks got excited. Around 6 o'clock when it was finally getting dark, "I think some animal was rustling from a while ago.", "Oh yeah, I noticed that too," said Mr. Matsuzawa and Tsuru-chan. I could not hear it because it was in the direction of the bush behind me. Immediately there was a sound of animal walking in the bush. I felt it was only about 15m away. I felt it was very strange as to whether the wild animals would bonfire and walk to the place where they were speaking loudly. "Hey, hey.", "Don't come over here.", We made a loud voice, but the sound of walking through the bushes was approaching. We were upset and stood up.

 "Oh, bear!" Exclaimed Mr. Matsuzawa. A bear was walking just behind Tenba, 7.8 meters from us. "Hey, don't come!" When we shouted, the bear looked finally noticed us. When Tsuru-chan threw a firewood, the bear turned and ran upstream. "What's that? No joke.", "It may be a young bear who doesn't know about humans yet." We were relieved and continued to have dinner. However, in less than five minutes, we were horrified by the sound of pushing through the bush, bear-like sound approaching again. "No way!" Tsuru-chan threw the firewood again, and he became quiet.

 "Oh my god, a big mother bear is coming!" Mr. Matsuzawa shouted and pointed to the upper reaches of the stream. A big bear that seemed to be seen upstream in the daytime was crossing the stream about 20m upstream of the Tenba to the right bank side where we were. "Hey, hey!", "Don't come!", We screamed and ringing the pot. The mother bear immediately noticed us and disappeared into the forest on the upstream right bank. That was where the young bear just ran away. And within 5 minutes, a bear-like sound was approaching from the back downstream side of the Tenba. I felt like we were in a pinch and panicked. Tsuru-chan threw a firewood again and drove him away. However, this time it seemed that he was trying to go from downstream to upstream. May be, he was the third one. I suddenly realized. These three bears are a family. Thinking to their size of the two young bears, it was the time they would leave from the mother bear to be independent in the near future. May be, they were practicing apart from their mother during the day. Perhaps the young bears were trying to join their parent bears in the lower reaches of Tenba. One of the young bears passed behind Tenba, but the second was driven away by us and fled upstream. Another young bear, who realized that his mother and brother bears were upstream, would have been driven away by Tsuru-chan every time, trying to pass behind Tenba many times in order to join them

 "The next time a young bear comes, let’s go down the stream side and let him through." I told Tsuru-chan and Mr. Matsuzawa also telling them what I thought. About 3 minutes later, a rustling and a young bear came from the downstream side. We immediately descended to the riverbank, and the bear seemed to have gone upstream. "It would have been too bad if I was attacked by that big parent bear.", "Aren't they attack us again, are they?" we talked, but they never came again. Around 11pm, I became quite calm and sleepy. We decided to sleep, but we put all the bonfires woods on the bonfire so that it would keep burning as long as possible. We also left the lantern on. "It's best not to sleep soundly to notice in case a bear comes." Tsuru-chan said.

I woke up once after 1am. The bonfire was still burning. The light of the lantern also illuminated the area. I did not feel any sign of a bear. Insects are crying. I heard a Tora-tsugumi (thrush) singing in the distance. It was the usual genryu night. The two, who had told me not to sleep soundly so that they could immediately notice the sign of a bear, were sleeping soundly with a sleeping bag on their heads. I fell asleep thinking that various things would happen in the mountains.

It was also sunny from the morning on the last day. After withdrawing the tenba, I was walking up the trail to the ridge carrying a backpack that became slightly lighter. Suddenly, I wondered the children bears met the mother bear safely last night. Then, I hoped that the beautiful nature of this genryu area continues to be rich and that bear family will live well in this rich forest for many years. From the bottom of my heart.

Genryu Fishing of Japan #41

Snow Bridge in mid July

by Keiichi Okushi

This year, rainy season ended much earlier than usual year. In our main genryu fishing field Tohoku, generally the rainy season ends around middle to end of July, but it ended by the end of June this year. As soon as July came, the summer had come. The sun was shining and glittering strongly every day. I do not like the rainy and humid climate of the rainy season, but when the rainy season had ended so soon, I was concerned about the shortage of water. Not to mention growth of agricultural crops, I was also worried that the genryu in the summer would not be drought.

In mid-July, on the three consecutive holidays including the marine day, I went to Arakawa flowing on the south side of the Asahi mountain range with 2 friends, Go-chan and Ubi-chan. Arakawa genryu area is a beautiful mountain stream that runs through white granite river-bank, and the stream is surrounded by mountains of 1,500 meters to 1,800 meters and untouched forests of beech. For me Arakawa is a stream that I have fished many times already, but it is the first genryu in Asahi Mountains for Go-chan and Ubi-chan. Tenba (Camp site) is only 2 hours walk from the car parking, and we can use the climbing trail up to the tenba.

In this fishing trip, we planned to stay at this tenba for 2 nights and aimed to go to the upstream waterfall called “Magari-daki” that I have never been before. A little while ago when I visited Sebata-san at Bansho in Tadami, as I talked about this fishing trip, Sebata-san said, "There must be still snowy bridges remaining in mid-July and it might be impossible to go to Magari-daki." However, we did not have much snow this year, so I thought that it would be fine in the middle of July as expected.



When we arrived at car parking lots by Arakawa, as the weather forecast was very good for the three consecutive holidays, there were 5 or 6 cars were parked in the parking lots at the gate of the climbing pass already. Early in the morning, when nobody had gotten up yet, we started walking up the mountain path. Arakawa's climbing path continued upstream along the river, so there was no hard climb. We walked breathlessly in the deep forest where stunning beech trees are scattered. We crossed three suspended bridges that gradually became poorer, and when the sun appeared over the mountains, we arrived in Temba.

Around the time the Tarp and the Blue Sheet were set up in the tenba, 2 anglers were coming down to the stream. We exchanged greetings. They said "We will stay for one night, so we would like to go to the tenba of about an hour and fish around there." I said “OK, then we will fish lower part today.” “We will take care walking not to spook fish” they said and walked to up stream.

We had a break for a while and prepared for fishing. Go-chan said he would like to fish near tenba and have a little nap today. I could understand him because we only slept for 2 or 3 hours a night before. Ubi-chan and I decide to fish up to Masudome-no-taki (Trout Stop Water Fall) which is about 1km up-stream from the temba. Arakawa in this section is surrounded by un-touched deep forest of big old beech trees, and stream flows slowly with a large amount of water.

I thought fishing might be a tough condition because it was already July and many fishers walked and fished around this area, but contrary to expectations, the fish showed good reactions to our kebari. There were nice sized iwana of 24-27 cm vent our rods at every good point. Apparently the two leading fishers seemed to have walked so as not to rough the fishing points. Ubi-chan and I enjoyed fine fishing up to Masu-dome water fall. We had lunch under the water fall and walked back to the tenba.

When we arrived at the tenba another 2 guys lookd ike fishers were resting by the tenba. I said hello to them, then one guy told me “You are Okushi-san, aren’t you?”. He was a genryu fisher that I once met in the keiryu and talked for a while. They were wanting to stay at this tenba, so we welcomed them to set a tarp by our place. Luckily there was enough space for one more tarp. I said, “Let’s drink together tonight.” “Yes, of course.” they answered with smile.

"Photo by Uberto Calligarich"

We started bonfire around 5:00 and prepared for dinner. That evening, Go-chan cooked lamb-chop steaks with salt, pepper and rosemary. We called 2 guys and had beer together. Lamb-chop steaks were so good. We also cooked more foods and enjoyed talking until about 9:00 pm. When noticing, the starry sky, that was promising good weather of next day, was spreading in the night sky.

Next morning, we woke up at 6:30 am. When we were having breakfast, 2 young guys looked like Sawanobori (Stream trekking) were coming over. They told that they were on a day hike sawanobori and do some fishing too. We said we would probably catch up sometimes later, and we saw off them. There were many people because of 3 consecutive holidays. Well, thought that day's fishing was difficult, but I thought it was OK if we could see Magari-daki, and we left Tenba after 8:00 am.

"Photo by Uberto Calligarich"

The morning mist hung over the river where the sun light was not reached yet. We aimed up-stream and walked in this fantastic scenery. It only took us 30 minutes to Masu-dome waterfall where we finished fishing yesterday. Masudome waterfall is only about 8m but it had a large amount of water and there was a huge pool under the waterfall. There was also another 8m waterfall right after Masudome waterfall. I told Go-chan and Ubi-chan how to climb over the waterfalls, and I traversed right side of the pool and climbed Masudome waterfall and waded across the rapid stream and climbed the next waterfall. Go-chan and Ubi-chan climbed the waterfalls safely. We really enjoyed this waterfall climbing.

Gorge finished just upstream of the waterfall and the vast Hirokawara (Wide and flat shallows) spread before our eyes, and over there the spectacular scenery of the Asahi mountain peaks were spreaded under the shining sun and the blue sky. There were no clouds to obstruct this majestic scenery shone on the summer sun. Ubi-chan and Go-chan both were taking photos. This was the landscape I wanted to show them. I said, “Real Arakawa genryu is starting from here.” Since we have a predecessor, we took walk forward for a while.

Two fishers we met yesterday came down as we walked a little. Talking, yesterday they took a tenba near there and fished up-stream. “Fishing was good.” They smiled fairly. Talking with them, I learned that they are the same locals as me. We talked for a while and said good-bye. Around 9:00 am, we reached the confluence of Nabekura-sawa where a huge snow bridge lied down even in mid-June. The snow bridge had disappeared without a trace, but the mainstream was deep pool for about 30m that we can not wade or traverse, Ubi-chan and I decided to climb over the 40m high right-side riverbank, but surprisingly Go-chan swam and broke through the pool.

We started fishing from the up-stream of this big pool. We fished some iwana but size was not satisfied, we knew it was because there were still 2 sawanobori guys up-stream. We walked again and then we found 2 guys about 100m up-stream. We soon caught up with them. It was around 10:30. They said they were just finishing fishing and go down the stream as they had to go home by the evening. Finally, there was nobody up-stream of us in Arakawa genryu. Now, as soon as I thought that Arakawa fishing was going to be real high right, the river suddenly became little muddy. I think it was the sign that a snow bridge broke down somewhere up-stream. "In July, there must be snow bridges left." I remembered Mr. Sebata-san’s words.

As we fished and walked for about 30 minutes, the turbidity disappeared. After passing a large tributary called Ohobi-zawa, the flow of mainstream became rapid, and the contrast of white granite of river banks and green forest, pale blue sky showed us a beautiful scenery of Arakawa genryu. Iwana to catch got bigger, and they bent our fishing rod comfortably.

"Photo by Uberto Calligarich"

After few minutes, we faced Ex-Sakanadome Waterfall. It was only 2m high water fall, but there was no clue, I climbed the right bank acrobatically and put out the rope for Ubi-chan. As we walked for a while, the valley became the deep gorge and the compressed flow became deeper and stronger. When we turned one blind corner of the valley, there was a huge snow bridge caught upon 30 meters high valley hill. It looked like breaking and falling down any time soon. That was too huge and too unstable snow bridge. The current under it was very deep and rapid. We had to give up wading up the stream there. However, it was quite an inspiring sight.

"Photo by Uberto Calligarich"

We had lunch at down-stream of that place and slowly went down the stream. The sun in summer was as strong as ever, the temperature went up but the walking in a pure flow was very pleasant. In the pool by Nabekura-zawa, high school students boys and girls sawanobori (stream climbing) group was practicing swiming supported by instructors by a rope. They said they were wading up Oh-Obisawa from now on and stay overnight in the mountain and coming down the climbing path tomorrow. We waved hands and said, "Take care and enjoy!". Everyone turned about and waved hands with a smile.

This time, we could not reach the target waterfall. Moreover, it was only 200 meters from the waterfall. It was disappointing, but fishing was very good and we really enjoyed breathtaking sceneries. Also, we met more fishermen and sawanobori climbers than usual during this trip, and everyone was very nice. On the last day, we met the local elementary school students who were led by the teachers. They were on a beginner river hike tour and everyone looked enjoying the walk very much. They all said hello to us with smiles. It reminded me the smiles of the high school students who were waving hands at that pool Nabekura-zawa a day before. I was thinking that Japanese young people were still not that bad.

"Photo by Uberto Calligarich"

Genryu Fishing of Japan #40

Photo by Uberto Calligarich

Ezoharu Zemi

by Keiichi Okushi

Ezoharu Zemi is a small cicada with a male body length of about 3 cm. In our main genryu fishing field Tohoku region, they occur in the broadleaf forest such as beech from late May to July. In Japanese, Ezo means Hokkaido and Haru means spring, so the meaning of the name of Ezoharu-zemi is “a cicada telling the spring to the north country”. What a fascinating name it is. The Ezoharu-zemi’s echoing in the forest tells us the arrival of a full-fledged genryu fishing season. In such a season early June we go on the first genryu fishing trip of the year.

This year, we went on a genryu trip to North-Tohoku, Iwate, on a group of 6 people. Our normal size of the group for a genryu fishing trip is 3 or 4 people, but this time we had 3 new friends joining in the group. One guy was Go Ishii (Go-chan). I met him about 2 years ago on a short genryu trip that we went with 2 American friends. We often saw from that trip and Go-chan wanted to join our genryu trip. Another guy was Uberto (Ubi-chan). He is an Italian who lives in Osaka. I got to know him when he came to the event with Yuzo Sebata last year. Last guy was Matsuzawa-san. He is a friend of Tsurumi-san (Tsuru-chan, my best genryu friend) from the school days.

At 21:00 on Thursday, we gathered at Shin-shirakawa station in Fukushima where we always meet and parked some cars at near -by parking, then we headed to north on Tohoku motorway to Iwate. We got off the motorway around mid-night and drove general road for about 30 minutes, then drove into a dirt forest road. In about 15 minutes we arrived at the end of the forest road. There was no car parked before us, and we felt a luck. The first day was rainy weather forecast until around noon, but fortunately it was not raining. We laid a blue-sheet and made a toast with beer celebrating a safe arrival into the mountain. Then we drunk about 1 hour while talking about each other 's current situation, and we had a nap for 2-3 hours until the morning.

In the morning, I woke up with the sound of rain that beat the roof of the car. It became steadily rain when it became bright. Okay, departure was unfortunately in the rain. We wore rain jackets and quickly packed the baggage. The departure was 6 o'clock, rain was strong, but today's over mountain course time is about three and a half hours. As we planned to pick up bamboo shoots and wild vegetables on the way, so I estimated that we would arrive at the tenba (campsite) in around 4 hours.

Ten minutes after we started walking out, the mountain climbing trail became very steep. Matsuzawa-san and Go-chan seemed to suffer for climbing over the mountain as it was their first time. Ubi-chan carried 20 kg of luggage, but he continued to climb further with young Italian power. I also became feeling little sick because of lack of sleep and chilling due to rain. I climbed a steep climb in about 20 minutes with slower pace than usual. Then there was a huge snow bridge laying over the route. This year the snow bridge looked much bigger than usual year. I thought there should be more and bigger snow bridges in genryu area.

We had a rest after climbed over the snow bridge, but there was bit windy and rain was still strong. We thought we should not stay there for a long time because We worried about getting cold out of our body. So we continue walking through the pass and arrived at nemagaritake-bush where we planned to harvest nemagaritake(bamboo shoots). We decided on 15 minutes harvest time, and we were divided apart. There seemed to be few people who came here for bamboo shoots this year, and enough amount of bamboo shoots could be harvested in 15 minutes.

Soon after we arrived at the peak of the mountain after harvesting nemagaritake, but all the wonderful scenery was in the fog. Well, raining started to fall little by little when we started going down to the target river. By that time, our body got used to walking and earned a good distance. When we went down the mountain path, we arrived at the first small stream. From there to the mainstream we walked while harvesting wild vegetables such as koshiabura, Taranome and udo. Trails had no footsteps of predecessors, probably we thought we were the first anglers this year and fishing would be great.

We arrived at the tenba (camp-site) around 10 o'clock. It was a wide, flat 5-star tenba on a river terrace that we could overlook the river. I felt happy thinking that we could enjoy a good camping and good fishing for two days. Tsuru-chan and Ubi-chan set up the rope for tarps quickly. Then everyone worked keenly to set two tarps and spread blue sheets under the tarp, we got a completion of a comfortable river house. I took off my wet clothes and put dry clothes on. My body got warmed and I finally got comfortable. We had light lunch before the noon, and as it was still raining a little, I took a nap under the tarp. It was the time of bliss.

The rain stopped before 14:00 and the little muddy flow in front of the camp site became clear little by little. When a quick minded Hama-chan and Ubi-chan started casting a rod alternately in front of tenba, Hama-chan caught a good Iwana of about 27cm in a while. The weather forecast said it would sunny forecast for next 2 days. Our main fishing day would be 2nd day. We planned to fish and wade the mainstream altogether up to one big tributary and split into 2 groups from there.

Early in the evening we made a bonfire and started drinking while preparing dinner. The menu of the day was Hama-chan’s Tempura of wild vegetables, Go-chan's Grilled hormone and Tsuru-chan’s pork miso soup. The bamboo shoots burned with bonfire was also excellent appetizer. Our cold bodies were warmed up from the core with grand bonfire and hot pork miso soup. We enjoyed drinking until 9 o'clock and slept in sleeping bags. When I awoke in the midnight, I saw a bright big moon from among the trees. I fell asleep again praying for nice weather for the next day.

I woke up after 6:00 in the morning. The sun was already rising, and a wonderful blue sky was spreading. Some of the members were already awake and a bonfire was buring to prepare breakfast. Ubi-chan made pastas of tomato sauce. This was the best pasta we ever ate in genryu. It was very cold when I touched the river water to wash the dishes. So I felt that it was better to start fishing after the sun would be high in the sky.

Photo by Uberto Calligarich

Hama-chan had a rod and headed upstream at 7:30. At 8:15 the sun has risen high in the sky, and Ezoharu-zemi started shrilling in the forest. Temperatures also got higher, we got ready and walked upstream at around 8:30. Hama-chan was fishing slowly waiting for us, so we caught up with Hama-chan in about ten minutes. Because the water temperature is still low, the activity of the fish was not high, but Hama-chan, Tsuru-chan and Ubi-chan fished nice size Iwana.

We reached the main part of mainstream around 10:30. The temperature has risen high and the activity of the fish also got higher at once. The stream started to have some run-off, but it was not the level to affect fishing. We fished Iwana fairly and reached the confluence point with the tributary around noon. We had lunch by the river. Then the sunlight was already very hot.

We had been divided apart after the lunch. Go-chan returned to tenba. Hama-chan, Ubi-chan and Matsuzawa-san went into the tributary. Tsuru-chan and I headed to upper part of main stream. Fishing was just great after that too, but We were blocked our way by the snow bridge to clog the valley. We checked the climbing route, but it was not easy. Time was also getting tight, so we decided to finish fishing and went back to down-stream. Collecting Nemagaritake on a way back, we arrived at tenba at 15:00. Go-chan was gathering firewood. Hama-chan group returned about 1 hour later. They said they had excellent fishing in the tributary too. “I have been fishing a lot since I came to Japan, but today’s fishing was just like another world. So great. I have never had fishing like today.” Ubi-chan said smiling. 

Photo by Uberto Calligarich

It was fine weather on that day, so we made a bonfire just beside the river and began preparing dinner. The menu of the day was my miso-soup of bamboo shoots, Ubi-chan’s spaghetti Ario Orio Peperoncino Anchovy, Hama-chan's Iwana with marinated kelp, yesterday's remaining hormone grill. Then we grilled 6 Iwana for the souvenirs for Tsuru-chan and Ubi-chan. We call this unseasoned grill way “Shirayaki”. We make Shirayaki when we would like to keep Iwana for several days. Knack of Grilling Shirayaki Iwana is to grill slowly over long hours with a far-fire. On the second night in the genryu everyone got back physical strength and had the best time. We talked about fishing, about mountains, about memories of a young age. Many topics came out from one to the next, a party with laughter continued late into the night.

Photo by Uberto Calligarich

The morning of the last day also started under fine weather. We enjoyed a slow breakfast surrounding the bonfire. Matsuzawa-san's Harusame-don(Vermicelli rice) with Nemagaritake shoots was so good. We cleaned tenba and the bonfire just like we came before, and we left tenba around 9:00. A long climbing continued to the peak on the return trip, but as our bodies got used to for two days in the mountain we all climbed at a good pace. Early summer sun shined strongly, but hardwood forest blocked the heat. From the peak we were able to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery of the mountains of the Ohu Mountain Ranges.

Photo by Uberto Calligarich

In this fishing trip, we got new genryu friends as Go-chan, Ubi-chan and Matsuzawa-san. Hard climbing over the mountain in the cold rain on the first day, a heavenly fishing under the beautiful blue sky surrounded by green forest, drinking good sake by the bonfire, all things seemed better than usual because we had them. Go-chan and Ubi-chan said they would participate in the fishing trip next month again. Matsuzawa-san promised resumption. Thus, a full-fledged genryu season started up this year. While I was thinking those things, we got close to the Parking place. We were slowly walking down the trail in the forest where Ezoharu-zemi’s shrilling was echoing.