Tenkara - Japanese Style Fly Fishing
Showing posts with label Yuzo Sebata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yuzo Sebata. Show all posts
Genryu Fishing of Japan #48
by Keiichi Okushi
Around 7:00 am, after passing the last big town Kanuma, the scenery became a rural landscape. Eventually, the road ran along the Kuro-kawa and gradually entered the mountains.
When I entered the village of Okorogawa, I saw the brave figure of Mt.Nikko-Nantai beyond the gorge in the direction of travel. Okorogawa was a beautiful village that retains the atmosphere of a Japanese mountain village in the good old days. I had heard from Sebata-san many times about Okorogawa and the stories of learning Tenkara fishing there. "OK, this is the scenery of Koraigawa.” I wondered in my mind.
When Sebata-san was only 20 years old, he was working at an automobile company in Utsunomiya. At that time, Sebata-san was absorbed in the mountain stream fishing he just learned, and if he had time, he would go out to the mountain stream near Utsunomiya and spend all his time fishing. Sebata-san was still doing bait fishing then.
One day, Sebata-san encountered a mysterious fishing in Okorogawa. That was the fishing which casts only the kebari and line without bait or weight. That was the tenkara fishing that was handed down to Okorogawa in Mae-Nikko. Eventually, Sebata-san met Mr. Juntaro Tanaka, who was fishing for yamame in Tenkara fishing in Okorogawa. Sebata-san begged for the teaching of Tenkara fishing. Mr. Tanaka was willing to teach Sebata-san how to make kebari, how to make tenkara lines, and the fun of tenkara fishing.
However, he never showed Sebata-san how to fish, and Sebata-san later thought that Tanaka-san probably wanted Sebata-san to learn tenkara fishing from yamame(It means to do fishing and study by myself). In addition, Tanaka-san always said, "Tenkara is an interesting fishing. If you catch 5 or 6 fish, you can't stop it anymore." “Tenkara is easy fishing. Just cast and pick up the rod then you can hook fish.”
However, when Sebata-san actually tried it, tenkara fishing was not so easy. Sebata-san says that the word "Quick setting hook for yamame" was stuck in his head, and it made tenkara fishing difficult. In the end, it was said that one season was over without the feeling that he was convinced that he had fished yamame. One day in the second season of Tenkara fishing, one cast did not go well, and the tippet and the line stayed slack and fell on the water surface. Sebata-san thought “Ah, this is useless”. Then yamame appeared and bit the kebari. he could not set the hook because the line was slacked. Anyway Sebata-san thought yamame had already escaped, but when he pulled the line that Yamame was still biting the kebari, and Sebata-san could catch the yamame. Sebata-san thought this was it. "If there is slack in the line or tippet, yamame does not spit out the kebari immediately. Then setting hook is easy even if it is a bit slow." It was the moment Sebata-san opened his eyes to tenkara fishing. Decades have passed since then, and Sebata-san has become one of Japan's leading tenkara fishermen. Kuro-kawa, the river of Sebata-san’s memories, flows through there in Okorogawa village.
Kuro-kawa gradually took on the appearance of a mountain stream from Satokawa(village stream), and I arrived at the Tenkara-only section. I met a friend, Kubota-san, in the car parking next to the house of the fishing ticket office. We were served cups of tea by the old man at the fishing ticket office, and we chatted about Sebata-san for a while, and he kindly told about recommended fishing points.
We entered the point of Otaki (Big water fall), the most upstream part of the dedicated section. Kuro-kawa was a mountain stream with paved roads along the river, but the flowing water was wonderfully clear and clean. This day was a sunny day like early summer, and the temperature rose steadily as the sun rose. When we went down to the stream, many mayflis were already hatching and dancing on the stream. It was the best day for kebari fishing. I connected my traditiona Japanese bamboo tenkara rod, and we started fishing immediately. However, although we could see some yamame were staying in the water, they were not active, and we took turns fishing for a while, but I only caught one small yamame. While fishing the pool of Otaki, Ishimori-san and Hirasawa-san arrived by a car at the parking lot above the waterfall. We finished fishing and went up from the river once and talked for a while.
After talking somewhile, Ishimori-san wanted to do fishing, he started fishing a little downstream and immediately caught a good yamame over 25cm. Then, we move downstream altogerther, there was a good flow with some nice points that were looking better than upstream. As soon as Ishimori-san and I started fishing, Ishimori-san caught another 25cm over yamame again. Although it was discharged fish, it was beautiful yamame. I got motivation looking at that yamame, and I took turn of fishing in the good current, good-sized yamame was a hit in the flow immediately. He bent my bamboo rod and fought well. It was healthy 24cm yamame. Overall, it seemed that a fair number of yamame have been released in the tenkara-only section. The size of some yamame were also quite good.
When I fished the good-sized yamame, I received an incoming call on my cell phone. It seemed that radio waves came in the stream because it was close to the village. When I answered the phone, it was from Takahisa-san, the eldest son of Sebata-san. Takahisa-san probably heard from Sebata-san that we would go to Okorogawa on that day. He said that he would come to Okorogawa in an hour because he had just some errands to do. It had been a few years since I met Takahisa-san last time.
About an hour later, when we just got up from the stream and were taking a break, Takahisa-san arrived. Since it was the first time for the other three people to meet Takahisa-san, I introduced them, and we talked about latest situations for a while. It was a good time, so we had lunch at a soba restaurant nearby. The weather was nice, so we took seats on the terrace. It seemed that there was a small campsite just below, and a good number of people are setting up tents on a sunny Saturday. I thought they might be anglers who were also camping. The topic of the talk went about Sebata-san. Takahisa-san said that Sebata-san’s legs became weak, and he could no longer walk in the genryu. Still, a few weeks ago, Sebata-san visited Okorogawa and stood by the stream, and he was happy to meet old friends living in Okorogawa. The soba sets had been served. The soba made with local buckwheat flour were accompanied by the local wild vegetable tempura, pickles, and rice, which was very delicious.
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Takahisa-san said he would retire from his work in June. He had been very busy with work and away from genryu fishing for a long time, so he said he would like to start genryu fishing again after his retirement. So, we promised to go genryu fishing together in this summer and we said good-bye.
When I was driving home on the road along the Kuro-kawa after leaving the village of Okorogawa, I remembered that Sebata-san saying "In the old days, I could see a bunch of good yamame swimming in every single pool in Kuro-kawa." Sebata-san was smiling with longing eyes.
One day in March, I received a FB message from Sebata-san. There was a link, so when I clicked on it, it seemed that a dedicated section for tenkara fishing was opened in Kuro-kawa, which flows through the village of Okorogawa in Mae-Nikko. Kuro-kawa is the mountain stream where young Sebata-san first met tenkara fishing many years ago.
Sebata-san took on the ambassador for this Tenkara-only section because of the relationship at that time. Recently, this kind of special sections dedicated to Tenkara fishing have been opened in some rivers in various places of Japan. The special section of Kuro-kawa is the second special section dedicated to Tenkara fishing in Tochigi prefecture.
"I want to fish in the river that Sebata-san fished on his young day. ","I want to see the sceneries of the river that Sebata-san saw." I talked it with some genryu fishing friends.
Then one Saturday in April, about a month later. I was driving west on the highway in the early morning toward the Okorogawa. Okorogawa is a mountain village located in the Mae-Nikko Mountains, which lies on the south of Nikko, which is registered as a World Heritage Site, and also about 20 km west of Utsunomiya, the prefectural capital of Tochigi Prefecture. From Mito where I live, I can reach Okorogawa in about 2 hours using the highway.
Sebata-san took on the ambassador for this Tenkara-only section because of the relationship at that time. Recently, this kind of special sections dedicated to Tenkara fishing have been opened in some rivers in various places of Japan. The special section of Kuro-kawa is the second special section dedicated to Tenkara fishing in Tochigi prefecture.
"I want to fish in the river that Sebata-san fished on his young day. ","I want to see the sceneries of the river that Sebata-san saw." I talked it with some genryu fishing friends.
Then one Saturday in April, about a month later. I was driving west on the highway in the early morning toward the Okorogawa. Okorogawa is a mountain village located in the Mae-Nikko Mountains, which lies on the south of Nikko, which is registered as a World Heritage Site, and also about 20 km west of Utsunomiya, the prefectural capital of Tochigi Prefecture. From Mito where I live, I can reach Okorogawa in about 2 hours using the highway.
Around 7:00 am, after passing the last big town Kanuma, the scenery became a rural landscape. Eventually, the road ran along the Kuro-kawa and gradually entered the mountains.
When I entered the village of Okorogawa, I saw the brave figure of Mt.Nikko-Nantai beyond the gorge in the direction of travel. Okorogawa was a beautiful village that retains the atmosphere of a Japanese mountain village in the good old days. I had heard from Sebata-san many times about Okorogawa and the stories of learning Tenkara fishing there. "OK, this is the scenery of Koraigawa.” I wondered in my mind.
When Sebata-san was only 20 years old, he was working at an automobile company in Utsunomiya. At that time, Sebata-san was absorbed in the mountain stream fishing he just learned, and if he had time, he would go out to the mountain stream near Utsunomiya and spend all his time fishing. Sebata-san was still doing bait fishing then.
One day, Sebata-san encountered a mysterious fishing in Okorogawa. That was the fishing which casts only the kebari and line without bait or weight. That was the tenkara fishing that was handed down to Okorogawa in Mae-Nikko. Eventually, Sebata-san met Mr. Juntaro Tanaka, who was fishing for yamame in Tenkara fishing in Okorogawa. Sebata-san begged for the teaching of Tenkara fishing. Mr. Tanaka was willing to teach Sebata-san how to make kebari, how to make tenkara lines, and the fun of tenkara fishing.
However, he never showed Sebata-san how to fish, and Sebata-san later thought that Tanaka-san probably wanted Sebata-san to learn tenkara fishing from yamame(It means to do fishing and study by myself). In addition, Tanaka-san always said, "Tenkara is an interesting fishing. If you catch 5 or 6 fish, you can't stop it anymore." “Tenkara is easy fishing. Just cast and pick up the rod then you can hook fish.”
However, when Sebata-san actually tried it, tenkara fishing was not so easy. Sebata-san says that the word "Quick setting hook for yamame" was stuck in his head, and it made tenkara fishing difficult. In the end, it was said that one season was over without the feeling that he was convinced that he had fished yamame. One day in the second season of Tenkara fishing, one cast did not go well, and the tippet and the line stayed slack and fell on the water surface. Sebata-san thought “Ah, this is useless”. Then yamame appeared and bit the kebari. he could not set the hook because the line was slacked. Anyway Sebata-san thought yamame had already escaped, but when he pulled the line that Yamame was still biting the kebari, and Sebata-san could catch the yamame. Sebata-san thought this was it. "If there is slack in the line or tippet, yamame does not spit out the kebari immediately. Then setting hook is easy even if it is a bit slow." It was the moment Sebata-san opened his eyes to tenkara fishing. Decades have passed since then, and Sebata-san has become one of Japan's leading tenkara fishermen. Kuro-kawa, the river of Sebata-san’s memories, flows through there in Okorogawa village.
Kuro-kawa gradually took on the appearance of a mountain stream from Satokawa(village stream), and I arrived at the Tenkara-only section. I met a friend, Kubota-san, in the car parking next to the house of the fishing ticket office. We were served cups of tea by the old man at the fishing ticket office, and we chatted about Sebata-san for a while, and he kindly told about recommended fishing points.
We entered the point of Otaki (Big water fall), the most upstream part of the dedicated section. Kuro-kawa was a mountain stream with paved roads along the river, but the flowing water was wonderfully clear and clean. This day was a sunny day like early summer, and the temperature rose steadily as the sun rose. When we went down to the stream, many mayflis were already hatching and dancing on the stream. It was the best day for kebari fishing. I connected my traditiona Japanese bamboo tenkara rod, and we started fishing immediately. However, although we could see some yamame were staying in the water, they were not active, and we took turns fishing for a while, but I only caught one small yamame. While fishing the pool of Otaki, Ishimori-san and Hirasawa-san arrived by a car at the parking lot above the waterfall. We finished fishing and went up from the river once and talked for a while.
After talking somewhile, Ishimori-san wanted to do fishing, he started fishing a little downstream and immediately caught a good yamame over 25cm. Then, we move downstream altogerther, there was a good flow with some nice points that were looking better than upstream. As soon as Ishimori-san and I started fishing, Ishimori-san caught another 25cm over yamame again. Although it was discharged fish, it was beautiful yamame. I got motivation looking at that yamame, and I took turn of fishing in the good current, good-sized yamame was a hit in the flow immediately. He bent my bamboo rod and fought well. It was healthy 24cm yamame. Overall, it seemed that a fair number of yamame have been released in the tenkara-only section. The size of some yamame were also quite good.
When I fished the good-sized yamame, I received an incoming call on my cell phone. It seemed that radio waves came in the stream because it was close to the village. When I answered the phone, it was from Takahisa-san, the eldest son of Sebata-san. Takahisa-san probably heard from Sebata-san that we would go to Okorogawa on that day. He said that he would come to Okorogawa in an hour because he had just some errands to do. It had been a few years since I met Takahisa-san last time.
About an hour later, when we just got up from the stream and were taking a break, Takahisa-san arrived. Since it was the first time for the other three people to meet Takahisa-san, I introduced them, and we talked about latest situations for a while. It was a good time, so we had lunch at a soba restaurant nearby. The weather was nice, so we took seats on the terrace. It seemed that there was a small campsite just below, and a good number of people are setting up tents on a sunny Saturday. I thought they might be anglers who were also camping. The topic of the talk went about Sebata-san. Takahisa-san said that Sebata-san’s legs became weak, and he could no longer walk in the genryu. Still, a few weeks ago, Sebata-san visited Okorogawa and stood by the stream, and he was happy to meet old friends living in Okorogawa. The soba sets had been served. The soba made with local buckwheat flour were accompanied by the local wild vegetable tempura, pickles, and rice, which was very delicious.
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Takahisa-san said he would retire from his work in June. He had been very busy with work and away from genryu fishing for a long time, so he said he would like to start genryu fishing again after his retirement. So, we promised to go genryu fishing together in this summer and we said good-bye.
When I was driving home on the road along the Kuro-kawa after leaving the village of Okorogawa, I remembered that Sebata-san saying "In the old days, I could see a bunch of good yamame swimming in every single pool in Kuro-kawa." Sebata-san was smiling with longing eyes.
Genryu Fishing of Japan #46
Wazao (Traditional Bamboo rod)
I sometimes do Tenkara fishing with a traditional bamboo rod in keiryu (mountain stream). We call a traditional bamboo rod “wazao” in Japan. I like the atmosphere of wazao, and I have been using one wazao made by my friend, who is a wazao craftsman, for a long time. I go keiryu fishing with my wazao 2 or 3 times during the keiryu fishing season. I once went to the genryu with Sebata-san for an article about wazao tenkara fishing for “Keiryu Magazine”.
Wazao means "Japanese fishing rod" in direct translation, but it is actually a traditional Japanese fishing rod made of bamboo. Unlike the hexagonal bamboo rod for fly fishing, this wazao uses natural bamboo in its original shape. It is not known when wazao were actually invented, but in 1723, Japan's first fishing manual book"Kansenroku" already had a description of "how to choose a jointed type bamboo fishing rod", so it means that fishing rods made by combining several types ofbamboos were already made by that period.
The historically famous wazao were made in 4 areas in Japan. They are the "Shonai-zao" in Tohoku Yamagata, the "Edo wazao" in Tokyo area, "Gujo-zao" in Chubu Gifu, and "Kishu-zao" in Kishu Wakayama. Among them, "Shonai-zao" and "Gujo-zao" were famous for keiryu(mountain stream) fishing. Originally, "Edo wazao" was started with rods for small fish in the sea and salt-water boat fishing, and later as hobby fishing rods, herabuna rods and keiryu rods were made. The tenkara wazao is only a minor part of those wazao.
When I was a child, most of the fishing rods were bamboo fishing rods. At that time, we didn't call it a "wazao" but rather called a "Takezao(bamboo rod)". Bamboo rods sold at general stores in the neighborhood were cheap rods for 100 yen to 300 yen each, and we bought such cheap rods and enjoyed fishing for crucian carp in streams and ponds in the neighborhood.
At that time, most of the fishing rods sold at fishing tackle shops in the town were also bamboo rods. Many of the sea fishing rods, surf casting rods, boat fishing rods, and river fishing rods like ayu rods, herabuna rods, carp rods, mountain stream rods, were mostly bamboo rods. Probably only 10% or 20% of all the fishing rods sold at those shops were fiberglass rods that were just released by then.
At that time, there were craftsmen who made bamboo rods locally in every region of Japan. The rods they made were simple and practical rods, and the prices werenot so expensive. However, from around that time, some famous master craftsmen had already made valuable bamboo rods with beautiful finish, which was called the "signature inscribed rod", which was well-known. The bamboo rods they made were accurate and beautiful, and were made of high-quality Urushi(lacquer) and looked like works of art. In the era when ordinary crucian carp rods cost at 3000 to 4000 yen, you had to pay for price of 40,000 or 50,000 yen, sometimes about twice that price. Representative of those famous rods were Edo wazao, Shonai-zao, Gujo-zao, and Kishu-zao.
Eventually, the times have changed. Fishing rods have changed to those made of fiberglass or carbon. Bamboo rods disappeared from fishing tackle stores, and there were no more bamboo rod craftsmen in each region.
However, craftsmen who build such as Edo wazao and Kishu-zao, who were called virtuosos, remained, and the rods they produced came to be called "wazao" from that period.
The charm of the wazao is, after all, the beauty of its natural shape of the bamboo as it is. You can say that there is no one same thing in wazao. And the supple action of bamboo gives us the unparalleled comfort of casting and the good taste of bending of the rod when fish is caught.
The wazao I have been using for many years is 3.3m long 3 piece rod. It is a standard rod or little long rod as a Tenkara wazao. Since it is made of bamboos, it is a heavier rod than a modern carbon rod, but I have been satisfied with its casting feeling and fishing taste.
One day when I visited Sebata-san, and we were talking about wazao, he showed me one of his wazao. It was unbelievably wonderful wazao. A 3.0m long, 7 piecetenkara wazao made by "Saonaka-san", a famous Edo wazao craftsman. It is quite rare to see a 7 piece Tenkara wazao actually. This is because the bamboo rod is basically heavier as the number of sections becomes more, and the action becomes stiffer. However, Sebata-san's wazao was really light and the action was wonderful and supple.
In the old days, the tenkara wazao was basically 3 piece rod, and even though the 5 piece rod was heavy, but that Sebata-san’s 7 piece rod was lighter and more supple than my 3 section rod. I was really surprised. From that day on, I realized that "Saonaka-san" was one of the greatest craftsman of wazao. Actually, I knew Saonaka-san in fishing magazines. Also, after that, I had the opportunity to talk with Saonaka-san by introducing of Sebata-san. Saonaka-san was a person who looked about 10 years older than me. From that time, I decided that one day I would surely ask him to make a Tenkara wazao.
They say, at present, there are 11 craftsmen of Edo wazao, but all of them are very old and Saonaka-san is the youngest in his 60s. Saonaka-san said that he has been working as bamboo rod builder for about 50 years after he graduated from junior high school and became a disciple of Edo wazao craftsman. We call that “Totei-sei (Apprenticeship)” in Japan, and he is probably the last wazao claftsman in Japan who started the career with Totei-sei. Sebata-san says, "Saonaka-san is a craftsman who will become a human national treasure someday in the future."
Last year, in October, when the mountain stream fishing season was over, I visited Saonaka-san's workshop. I made my mind to order the long-cherished tenkara rod. My order was 5 piece rod which was from 3.1m to 3.2m long. Finished with dark Urushi(Japanese lacquer), the joints are dark green, and the grip has a rustic design with an old-fashioned intention of wisteria vine wrapped around paulownia wood. I visited him in October because it was said that it would take about half a year to complete a rod. So hopefully I wanted to use the rod in the next fishing season.
The year has changed, and Saonaka-san called me in the middle of March. He said that my tenkara rod was completed. Immediately, I visited Saonaka-san's workshop again at weekend. The rod, which was finished with dark urushi, was really cool, and combined with the simple designed grip, it had a very nice atmosphere.
Immediately I connected the rod and try to cast. It was very light weight. And the bending of the rod is very smooth and flexible. I hold the rod horizontally and slowly rotated it. The rod was parfectly straight. It was a wonderful work. I have nothing to say. I thanked Saonaka-san for his wonderful work.
Saonaka-san said, “Use the rod for a while. I will adjust it if it comes out of tune, so bring it with me anytime.” The craftsman will take great care of the rod he made for long years after he sold a rod. If it bends, he will adjust it, and if the rod breaks, he will make the part. This is another great point of craftsman works.
Every year 1 day in the consecutive holidays in early May, we go out to the genryu of the Naka River, which flows through our local area, for the first genryu fishing of each fishing season. This year, I am going to take Saonaka-san's Tenkara wazao with me. Under the refreshing clear sky of May, how good feeling it will be to cast this wazao in the mountain stream in fresh green forest. I am very much looking forward to it.
Saonaka-san said, “Use the rod for a while. I will adjust it if it comes out of tune, so bring it with me anytime.” The craftsman will take great care of the rod he made for long years after he sold a rod. If it bends, he will adjust it, and if the rod breaks, he will make the part. This is another great point of craftsman works.
Every year 1 day in the consecutive holidays in early May, we go out to the genryu of the Naka River, which flows through our local area, for the first genryu fishing of each fishing season. This year, I am going to take Saonaka-san's Tenkara wazao with me. Under the refreshing clear sky of May, how good feeling it will be to cast this wazao in the mountain stream in fresh green forest. I am very much looking forward to it.
Genryu Fishing of Japan #45
The rain, that had begun to fall when we entered into the mountains, eased off. It was 6:30 in the morning, we lifted up our backpacks on our backs and started walking up through the small stream called “Aka-gawa (Red river). "Because I'm very old now, I can't walk so fast. Go ahead and wait in the right place." Takakuwa-san said to us and he went to the end of the group. We were on the route to Obuka-zawa climing over the mountain ridge of Hachimantai mountains spread over the north of Akita and Iwate prefecture.
Hachimantai is a national park with rolling mountains. There are variety shape of peaks of volcanic origin on a plateaus at an altitude of about 1500m, and there are countless swamps and wetlands between them. We went on a fishing trip to the headwaters of Onuka-sawa flowing westward on the Akita side of Hachimantai for 3 days. This trip was special because we had a special guest Takakuwa-san in the group.
Takakuwa-san is a very famous genryu fisher and stream trekker.
I first met Takakuwa-san about 5 years ago. When I went to Haide-gawa (Haide River) with my fishing friend Tsuru-chan, we happened to meet with Takakuwa-san's party at the tenba (camp site) by the stream on the first day. Haide-gawa, which has a huge slab cliffs called Gangarashibana at the most upstream, is a popular genryu not only for anglers but also for enthusiastic sawanobori (stream climbing) people. On the first day of entering the valley, I and Tsuru-chan enjoyed fishing a few miles upstream from Temba and returned to Temba in the evening, we saw unexpected bonfire smoke from the tributary stream by the tenba. As we climbed to the tenba, we found a party of 3 people on the other side of stream. When we went to say hello and talk about our schedule for the next, I got to know it was Takakuwa-san and two young women. We did simple self-introduction and told that we always enjoyed reading articles written by Takakuwa-san. Takakuwa-san and his colleagues were visiting Haide-gawa to write an article of Gangarashibana for a mountain climbing magazine. Then, for the next day, we decided to go to Gangarashibana together so as not to disturb Mr. Takakuwa's coverage.
Since Takakuwa-san and I had common friends like Sebata-san and several other headwater fishing acquaintances, I sometimes met Takakuwa-san at a year-end party and other occasions. We promised to go on a genryu fishing trip together someday, but I was not given a chance. Five years later, this opportunity has finally come. When I talked to my genryu friends about this trip, 4 members gathered at once because we could go with that famous Takakuwa-san. It was Tsuru-chan, Hama-chan, Yagi-san and Ubi-chan who have just returned to Japan. Unfortunately, Tsuru-chan had to cancel the trip at work just before the trip, so it was a trip with a total of five members including Takakuwa-san.
Takakuwa-san is a celebrity in the headwater fishing world alongside with Sebata-san. In my favorite magazine, "Keiryu", there is an article by Takakuwa-san every issue. He also has authored more than 10 books and has appeared on television programs sometimes. However, Takakuwa-san’s style in the genryu world is a little different from Mr. Sebata or Dr. Ishigaki. Takakuwa-san's approach to the genryu world was not fishing, but mountain climbing. Takakuwa-san was one of the leading persons in establishing a unique Japanese sport called “Sawa-nobori(stream climbing)”.
Originally, Takakuwa-san was one of young mountaineers who aimed for the highest peaks in the world, like Everest. Takakuwa-san said that he gradually began to realize that the appeal of the mountains was not only to reach the summits, but also in the forests and valleys at the foot of the mountains and the history and culture of the people who live there. Needless to say, Takakuwa-san likes fishing. However, fishing itself was not always the primary purpose of Takakuwa-san's mountain trips. His trips were from adventures such as perfecting the many impregnable genryu trips and climbing the waterfall that was said to be impossible, to the trips walking through the fading mountain trails with more than 1000 years of history and recorded the history and the culture of mountain dwellers. Before long, Takakuwa-san became known as a mountaineer who did not aim for the summit.
I was particularly impressed by Takakuwa-san's travel writings and essays in the several books that documented the history and culture of those mountain dwellers and intended to preserve them for posterity. I think Takakuwa-san is an excellent folklore scholar as well as an angler and a mountaineer.
When we were planning this mountain trip, I told Takakuwa-san that we planned to go over the shortest route to the headwaters of Ofuka-sawa and fish only the core part of the stream. However, Mr. Takakuwa said, "No, it is not beautiful by simple round trip, we should make a kind of circle trip in Hachimantai. On the first day we will walk through the ridgeline to the downstream part of Oukasawa and descend down Kantozawa and go to Ofuka-sawa. On the 2nd day, slowly fish the best area of the mainstream and go to Tenba at Mitsumata(confluence of three streams) upstream, put the load from Tenba and fish the headwater part. Last day, we will climb through the Kedo-sawa from Mitsumata to the ridgeline.” So Takakuwa-san suggested a circle trip route which we can enjoy both Hachimantai's ridgeline walk and fishing in Onukasawa.
Akaka-gawa was a stream where acidic water was flowing and the riverbed was dyed in red. After a couple of tributaries, the water quickly diminished, it became a very walkable stepped stream. We arrived on the ridgeline trail for about an hour. The rain had stopped completely. After walking for 1 minute on the mountain trail, there was an evacuation hut of Ofuka Sanso. It was a well-maintained evacuation hut, and the inside looked it was just renovated. Ubi, an Italian, was constantly impressed with its cleanliness.
Takakuwa-san told us that after this fishing trip he would work in a mountain hut for two weeks as a hut guard in the Iide Mountains. Mt. Iide, located on the border between Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures, is a mountain of religion for a long time and is still very popular with mountaineers. Everyone thought that if Takakuwa-san is doing a hut guard, we definitely visit him to the hut next year. There seems to be a stream where you can fish iwana if you go down the northern slope from the hut. I also thought it would be a luxurious mountain trip to fish char at the headwaters of Iide during the day and listen to Takakuwa-san at the mountain hut at night.
Takakuwa-san is a celebrity in the headwater fishing world alongside with Sebata-san. In my favorite magazine, "Keiryu", there is an article by Takakuwa-san every issue. He also has authored more than 10 books and has appeared on television programs sometimes. However, Takakuwa-san’s style in the genryu world is a little different from Mr. Sebata or Dr. Ishigaki. Takakuwa-san's approach to the genryu world was not fishing, but mountain climbing. Takakuwa-san was one of the leading persons in establishing a unique Japanese sport called “Sawa-nobori(stream climbing)”.
Originally, Takakuwa-san was one of young mountaineers who aimed for the highest peaks in the world, like Everest. Takakuwa-san said that he gradually began to realize that the appeal of the mountains was not only to reach the summits, but also in the forests and valleys at the foot of the mountains and the history and culture of the people who live there. Needless to say, Takakuwa-san likes fishing. However, fishing itself was not always the primary purpose of Takakuwa-san's mountain trips. His trips were from adventures such as perfecting the many impregnable genryu trips and climbing the waterfall that was said to be impossible, to the trips walking through the fading mountain trails with more than 1000 years of history and recorded the history and the culture of mountain dwellers. Before long, Takakuwa-san became known as a mountaineer who did not aim for the summit.
I was particularly impressed by Takakuwa-san's travel writings and essays in the several books that documented the history and culture of those mountain dwellers and intended to preserve them for posterity. I think Takakuwa-san is an excellent folklore scholar as well as an angler and a mountaineer.
When we were planning this mountain trip, I told Takakuwa-san that we planned to go over the shortest route to the headwaters of Ofuka-sawa and fish only the core part of the stream. However, Mr. Takakuwa said, "No, it is not beautiful by simple round trip, we should make a kind of circle trip in Hachimantai. On the first day we will walk through the ridgeline to the downstream part of Oukasawa and descend down Kantozawa and go to Ofuka-sawa. On the 2nd day, slowly fish the best area of the mainstream and go to Tenba at Mitsumata(confluence of three streams) upstream, put the load from Tenba and fish the headwater part. Last day, we will climb through the Kedo-sawa from Mitsumata to the ridgeline.” So Takakuwa-san suggested a circle trip route which we can enjoy both Hachimantai's ridgeline walk and fishing in Onukasawa.
Akaka-gawa was a stream where acidic water was flowing and the riverbed was dyed in red. After a couple of tributaries, the water quickly diminished, it became a very walkable stepped stream. We arrived on the ridgeline trail for about an hour. The rain had stopped completely. After walking for 1 minute on the mountain trail, there was an evacuation hut of Ofuka Sanso. It was a well-maintained evacuation hut, and the inside looked it was just renovated. Ubi, an Italian, was constantly impressed with its cleanliness.
Takakuwa-san told us that after this fishing trip he would work in a mountain hut for two weeks as a hut guard in the Iide Mountains. Mt. Iide, located on the border between Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures, is a mountain of religion for a long time and is still very popular with mountaineers. Everyone thought that if Takakuwa-san is doing a hut guard, we definitely visit him to the hut next year. There seems to be a stream where you can fish iwana if you go down the northern slope from the hut. I also thought it would be a luxurious mountain trip to fish char at the headwaters of Iide during the day and listen to Takakuwa-san at the mountain hut at night.
We ate light breakfast in front of the evacuation hut and when we started walking through the ridgeline, the clouds started to cut from the south, and the sun appeared from behind the clouds. Before long, the blue sky began to spread, and by the time we arrived at the top of Mt. Ofuka, the scenery of the Hachimantai mountains gently spread under the wonderful blue sky. In the southeast direction, we could see Mt. Iwate, which was particularly high. It was so beautiful exposed in the morning sun.
We enjoyed a three-hour walk along the ridgeline while enjoying the nature of Hachimantai, with mountain scenery, abundant forests, flower fields along mountain trails and dotted ponds. Around noon, we arrived at the swamp area near the source of Kanto-zawa(Kanto stream). "That side." Takkakuwa-san said. As soon as we descended from the point where he pointed, we immediately came out to the source stream. After walking about 10 minutes, the amount of water increased steadily and it became a fine stream. We went down the stream for about 30 minutes and had lunch on a large monolith by the stream. After lunch, at a confluence with a large tributary, Takakuwa-san told Ubi-chan to try fishing. Immediately, Ubi-chan fished a few iwana, but the size was still small. We kept on walking down Kanto-zawa. It took an hour to reach the confluence with mainstream Obuka-sawa from there. I was lack of sleep and exhausted, but it was a great walk.
The riverside at the confluence was very wide on the mainstream side, and we soon set a tarp at the safest place by mountain side. Hama-chan and Ubi-chan started fishing, but the iwana seemed to be small again. We bathed in the pool in front of Tenba and started preparing for dinner. We made a bonfire, and the dinner was started with toasting with beer. Beer was so good because it was a hot day. We cooked some appetizers and grilled meats, and the main was Ubi-chan's risotto. Since it is the first night, everyone started with a brief introduction of ourselves first and heard Takakuwa-san’s mountain stories. However, we all lay down early under the tarp due to extreme lack of sleep and tired walking on the first day.
The next day was blessed with good weather from morning. "Let me take a picture of a good fishing today." Takakuwa-san pushed our back, and we left Tenba. We were told that we would arrive at Tenba at Mitsumata before noon. Mitsumata is the core of Obuka-sawa genryu area, and just downstream of Mitsumata there is a big waterfall, a landmark of Obuka-sawa, known as the Niagara Falls.
I did not fish at all the previous day, so I fished first this day. I could catch iwana of about 25cm in a riffle above Tenba immediately. Then the iwana had great reactions and chased the kebari and bent our fishing rods. The average size was about 28cm, but in about two hours to Niagara Falls, we enjoyed fishing in Obuka-sawa enough.
Climbing over the Niagara Falls, a long slippery riverbed continued for about 300m, but we quickly arrived at Mitsumata. I heard that Tenba was on the left bank in Kedo-sawa, so when I went to reconnaissance, there was a large enough Tenba on the bank just upstream of the confluence on the left bank that looked comfortable. We immediately set up a tarp and made up Tenba. "We slept enough last night and we have physical strength today, so whatever we do, the work is quick." Yagi-san said and laughed. After Tenba was made, Yagi-san boiled soba for everybody. We spread large leaves on the rocks beside the stream, served soba on it and ate all at once. It was delicious.
We split into two groups from noon and fished upstream from Mitsumata. Hama-chan and Ubi-chan entered Kita-zawa(North stream), and Takakuwa-san, Yagi-san and I entered Higashi-zawa(East stream). Iwana's response was excellent in the afternoon too. As Takakuwa-san had taken enough pictures in the morning, he finally started fishing in the afternoon. Takakuwa-san told us that he was doing bait fishing in the past, but he has been focusing on Tenkara fishing since 10 years ago. Yagi-san and Takakuwa-san caught good size Iwana one after another.
We climbed over a few waterfalls, and we were happy to have fished well enough. So we returned to Temba. We had enough time even after arriving at tenba on this day. We lit a bonfire on the riverside of Kedo-sawa and toasted with beer early on. Hama-chan made iwana sashimi and kobujime(kelp rolled sashimi). After that, we all made Yagi-san's specialty iwana gyoza(Fried iwana dumpling). Cooking was good fun. Takakuwa-san seemed to have iwana gyoza first time and seemed enjoying them. This evening, Takakuwa-san told us many stories about the mountains and the books.
I told Takakuwa-san that two of Takakuwa-san's books were very impressive. The first book is "Mountain Work, Mountain Life", which I described a little earlier, but it is the book carefully describes the history and culture of the mountain people. It is the record of life that has been supporting and inheriting the lives of mountain villagers for hundreds of years. The stories about fisherman, wild vegetable picker, Kiji-shi(Wooden craftsmen) etc. The stories about the culture of the ancient mountain people of Japan that is almost disappearing in this modern age. Takakuwa-san said, "Because if someone does not write it, those things will be forgotten."
Another favorite book is "Kodo Junrei (Pilgrimage of ancient road)". This book is very familiar to genryu fishermen like us. The book is about the roads or foot paths in the mountains. For example, the ancient roads that have been used for more than a thousand years in eastern Japan and all over the Tohoku region, and old trails that mountain people made, or fishermen’s and mountain plants pickers hidden foot paths, some of work roads that has been cut open in the mountains. Takakuwa-san travelled those rods and trails on foot for this book. It is a book that records such a mountain trip. I occasionally wrote about such old mountain trails and zenmai paths in this blog, and the book includes detailed records of those fading mountain roads. Even if it is called a road, it is not a main road that has been promoted to a road where cars run, such as a national road or a prefectural road, but a so-called back road. Sometimes those roads have been made on the steep mountains or cliffs. Those were the places like the natural fortress that seemed impossible to go through. I really think some roads that Takakuwa-san describes in this book are truly miracle.
Takakuwa-san has turned 70 this year. "I'm old now," Takakuwa-san said, laughing. I sincerely wonder if somebody who is younger than us inherits the rest of these Takakuwa-san’s records. As the night went on, we slipped into the sleeping bags one after another. It was a calm summer night, with no wind, the moon light spilling out of the gaps between the trees.
On the last day, we chose the most straightforward route through Kedo-sawa to the mountain trail on the ridge. It was a relatively easy route until the end of the stream, but we made a mistake in choosing walking direction in the last bush and struggled, but finally we managed to go on the mountain trail. The superb views of Hachimantai had been spreaded like 360 degrees. It was the splended landscapes, and we could forget all difficulties we had. The cool breeze was pleasant. We went around the Hachimantai ridgeline and the genryu of Obuka-sawa and reached back the head of Aka-gawa again.
I really wanted to come back to fishing with Takakuwa-san and the friends. I asked to Takakuwa-san, "Where shall we go next year?"
"Yeah, let's go somewhere again," Takakuwa-san laughed.
Sugegasa
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| Adding in Sebata san kebari... |
I've always had an interest in Japanese culture. The Japanese way make sense, their architecture is aesthetically pleasing, their community acts appropriately. The Japanese markets in my area are always affordable with products not found in American markets.
I bought my first sugegasa in the 80's, I believe I got my first one from an International market place. It was made of straw like the one I use now. I have always had at least one rice farmer hat somewhere in the house. I used them for working outside and I remember one of them getting away from me, lost in a dust devil, the thermal literally carrying it into the sky, I watched it for a while thinking I'll just follow it and it will come down but no, not the case, it was lost in someone's back yard or out in the desert... That's ok, I'll get another one, they don't cost very much.
Ever since Kavu offered a version of their sugegasa, the "Chillba" I've owned one. They are made of cloth and foam, they float and you can stuff them for short periods of time so you can travel with them. Kavu is a progressive company and they do a good job with their rice hat. If you want to get fancy, they have many different patterns to choose from, I have always stuck with the basic colors.
In the nineties I started using them for small stream fishing. Back then, Yoshikazu Fujioka and I were making Internet sites on small stream fly fishing, his site tailored to his area, my site focused on the places I fished. I was always reading and looking at the pictures of Japanese stream anglers when making my own site. It is amazing, I knew about tenkara, sawanobori and many other Japanese things but it was so far away. I was fishing a zero weight in small streams and doing so well with it. Yoshikazu and I have been doing this for a long time. I learned about tenkara first from him but I had no idea.
How could tenkara be so much better?
That was like going backwards to fishing when I was a kid.
I knew about a lot of Japanese fishing things but had no idea the tenkara rods did what they do so well.
I did use a few Japanese items and sugegasa are functional in Arizona. In my area, the sun is hot and relentless. They work well for keeping the UV rays off your head. I also wore them when I was fishing in Glen Canyon fly fishing for river rainbows. When it got windy, I would switch to a ballcap or some other sort of hat.
In 2009, I quit fly fishing to learn about tenkara and at that time, even more Japanese culture and fishing were my interest. I knew I wanted to find out about Japanese tenkara rods and equipment. I found out about Yuzo Sebata and it was pleasing to me that he was iconic with his sugegasa. I finally ended up visiting Sebata san and was able to see his laying there in the bansho. Funny, it was just a part of what I understood as functional equipment and I didn't even give it a second thought.
That was my problem, I got home and realized, it was my second trip to Japan and I did not buy one while I was there. Sugegasa are large and unless they are made to fold or crush down, they are big and cumbersome for travel on a plane. They are farmer's hats, not a travel item. I just didn't pick one out because I didn't want to carry it. I meet a new friend at the bansho, Isaac Tait and he also wore a sugegasa. Probably the only other American tenkara fisher that wore one with any authenticity in Japan.
You see, Isaac san lived in Japan and his wearing one was a tribute to the old ways and it is quite functional. I have seen many people wearing them because it is Japanese and it is...ahh, nevermind. I asked Isaac san to join us at the bansho, Sebata san telling me, "invite your friends, this is a fishing party." You would not believe the friendships I help foster with my own invitation to visit Sebata san. One day I will tell the story of that but today isn't that day.
This is the story of my own sugegasa from Japan.
I asked Isaac san if he would help me pick up one and send it to me. He told me, "Of course Adam san, lets pick one out together for you." And we passed back and forth, comments on the different ones that he had available in the markets in his area. We finally decided on a humble one that didn't cost much. It arrived in a big box and it had a couple of bands to attach depending on the size of my head. I just used a couple of tie bands. I could have used some string but I wanted it simple and it took literally two minutes to band it on and cut the tag end. If I needed, I could cut these and replace the band with another one.
I always liked the way Sebata san carried a few flys in his. It wasn't that important at the bansho to look at his and ask him. He did hand his sugegasa to me during my visit and I did see the piece of wet suit neoprene material but I didn't put too much thought into it at the time. It wasn't time for that. But now I wanted to kit mine out that way and I didn't want to re-invent the wheel so I remembered that Danial had taken a video of Sebata san and it had a close up of his flys stuck in his hat. I found the video and in short order, I had my picture so that I could fix mine the way Sebata san did his.
I get a lot of my stuff from eBay. It's just this place where I can pick and choose. It took me a while to find a small piece of neoprene that was reasonable. I looked now and then for a piece and couldn't find one. The other day when I look, I found a place where they offered the right thickness and at a reasonable price. It was an 18" square piece too, enough for the rest of my life so I purchased it and in short order it arrived.
It's always fun for me to figure out the best method to do things and I thought a little bit about how I was going to attach the neoprene piece to the straw. I thought first I would tack it on with some silk thread, no, too much work, how about glueing it on? Yes, that's what I will do. What kind of glue and I thought for a while, really, what kind of glue?
Hmm.
Glue tech is important to me. When I was making bamboo fly rods, I would have lengthy discussions with many other makers on what glue they used for binding their bamboo rods together. My teacher used Nyatex so I ended up using it too. Nyatex is a glue that General Motors uses for flocking the rubber window trim on car doors. It is some serious stuff and I really like it but difficult to buy and in small quantities? It's a two part glue and not all that many makers use it. I'm not going to ask one of my old friends for some so...
I'll use Pliobond, it has an interesting story behind it. It was developed and used for plywood bonding to metal. I had used it on a couple of beautiful bamboo rods I made to glue the metal ferules to the bamboo blanks. Really interesting stuff. I've got a little bottle of it but it's getting old. It is sold at hardware stores, so I took Noah and we went off to our local Ace Hardware and found out that they were not carrying it anymore but there was a single tube of it available in the discontinued bin. I didn't know it came in a tube, I've always purchased it in a little brown bottle. I bought the tube and some blue masking tape so that I could mask off where I was glueing and do a nice job. I really like Pliobond and it works well for bonding rubber to wood, wood to metal, all different kinds of applications.
I like the back story.
I always have a few kebari for myself that Sebata san gave me. I also have a bunch that I give to friends that I am helping orient or turning on to tenkara. Sebata san's kebari have saved the day more than a few times, enough that I will always carry them with me.
They are my magic kebari.
I'm going to keep a few under my hat just like Yuzo Sebata.
I think I will also add in a few flys from Jun Maeda, Toshiro Todoroki, a few of my wrong kebari and well, I'll pick out a few kebari from other special friends to keep with me under my hat.
Zenmai on Oni Hooks
I try all different kinds of hooks, this one, an Oni bait hook has always intrigued me so I bought a pack and stuck it in the bottom of my fly tying kit. I found it the other day and decided that I was going to get down to tying a few to try.
Recently, I went to Ketchum, Idaho and one day there I was having difficulty catching on my goto fly, the "wrong kebari." I had some Sebata-san magic zenmai kebari with me (I always carry a few) and picked one that color matched the insect that was hatching. I started catching and finished the day with that kebari, it really caught a lot of fish.
I have not tied with zenmai in a while so I decided to tye up a few kebari on my interesting Oni bait hooks and the following is a little photo essay that I put together.
Notes: The Oni hook (not Masami Sakakibara as he is known as Oni) is a bait hook for keiryu fishing. It has nothing to do with Tenkara no Oni. I use Griffin silk bead cord in #1 for this hook as it is an extremely light wire hook. #2 silk bead cord, which I normally use is a little too heavy.
If you would like to try some zenmai yourself, you can get it from Keiichi Okushi at TenkaraYa at this link.
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