I was fortunate enough to visit Japan recently. I did have high hopes of purchasing Shimano & Daiwa gear at bargain prices, though this was not to be. Prior to leaving I discovered that fishing gear was basically the same price as what we'd get here & in some cases actually cheaper.
However, it was an incredible place full of wonders & wonderful people.
I was delighted to discover that my host loved a beer (& sake) and was a genuine 'top bloke'. He breeds Japanese hunting dogs & targets boar during their hunting season. This involves competions with other hunters in which they pit one man & one dog against each other with a time limit to 'bring home the bacon'. They were waiting for the season to kick in as there was a 120kg boar in an area that needed culling. There was a 20 minute time limit set for this hunt.
Fishing was a common source of conversation as I had taken a couple of photos of barra & a jewie that I had caught. It turned out that my host's son was a top fisherman. His room had prints from Gamigatzu competitions highlighting his results. I'm pretty sure he was in the top 10 in Japan & number 2 in his prefecture.

The Japanese are incredibly busy people, though my host & his son found time to take me for a fish. It was the season for cuttlefish which was completely foriegn to me. It involved buying live bait, rigging to a telescopic rod (prabably 3 metres) & waiting for the livie to start performing. Once this happened a small gaff was connected to the line to hook the cuttlefish.
The beauty was, if you caught nothing the livies would serve as a meal.
This last photo is of a type of Japanese fishing that I saw on a Robson Green show. The rods are again telescopic and are probablt 4-5 metres long. There is a live bait that has a small gang hook attached to the tail. The intention is to use a 2 inch bait to catch a 3-4 inch feed which is skewered and eaten on the spot.
I was told of a tackle store in Osaka that had three floors of gear, though didn't get to see it. Hopefully next time....and there will be a next time. It is an amazing country. Incredibly clean, the most accommodating & hospitable people I have ever met who love hearing how good Japanese gear is. I would sing the praises of Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Shimano, Gamagatzu & Daiwa etc and have friends for life.
I can't recommend this place enough. They come over in August & I can only hope that I can provide as good as I received.
I'll add more fishing related photos as I go.
Cheers (or Campi as they say in Japan)
Smed

A local lure maker's display in the mayor' offices. They tracked him down & gave me one of his lures as a farewell gift. This is typical of the Japanese & their generosity.

A small local tackle shop.These outfits amounted to about $10 (if my conversion is right). Didn't get a good look at them to give more detail.
Some of the stuff in the tanks.

A small fish market. This place was pretty amazing. You go through & pick out what ever you'd like. Then take it out to an area that had a heap of tables that had hot plates built into them. I didn't discover this area until after I'd strolled through chewing on my crumbed calamari skewer whilst thinking "be nice if this was warmed up". As a result I can attest raw calamari is only a little less chewy than cooked calamari.
That'll do....
Cheers

Great read and pics thanks Smed. Looks and sounds like an amazing place - have to put it on the bucket list. Just can't get my head around using a gaff on a cuttlefish but I guess you had to be there Well done, memories for a life time....

Here's what I'm talking about still in the packets. They've got a couple of guides that clip over the line that is then run down to the bait and ultimately snag the cuttlefish. I've never seen this type of fishing, so don't know if it's done here in Australia. I found it difficult to tell when the bait was strarting to panic but my mates there could tell.

Good read Smed, I love Japan the place is awesome. Went skiing there recently and keen to get back, unbelievebale how much they love their fishing

great reading smed, Japan looks awesome

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Great read and yes they are very generous and hospitable

Mate this post has made me want to go over there even more now.

Here's my host & good mate Ikuya.Rigging up the telescopic rodsHere's my bonus round crab entry. I too forgot to get the NT News in the shot...

Great read smed,,might get the sake out tonite,,,cheers

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Good read Smed

, yeah would've had a pretty silly look on your face chewing the calamari when you found the hot plates!!

Might have to get there too one day! Looks great!

Hi Smed, thanks for your story. Yeah, can't imagine chewing raw calamari....

Interesting about the ultra long rods. Happened to see a couple of Asian blokes fishing off the Sorrento Jetty last year using rods that looked to be about 4+m long. Unfortunately I wasn't in a position to chat to them (kids, wife etc were not interested in hanging around after we waved goodbye to relo's on the ferry), but they were flinging out berley using something like those long handled tennis ball throwing things that people use to play with their dogs, and were able to just hang their rig near pylons a few metres away with pretty good control (you'd have had to cast and retrieve with a normal rod and only be 'in the zone' for a few seconds). They seemed to be doing pretty well catching leatherjackets and a few other types of fish that I didn't recognize - certainly these guys were outfishing everyone else.
I had just assumed that they were simply a three piece rod, but presumably they were using something like those ultra long telescopic rods you saw. Interesting..... might be useful catching squid up here by giving you the ability to just keep the jig/pillie right in front of their nose!, or when jigging for baitfish when they move off the pylons and are just out of 'reach' off a jetty. Food for thought (as long as it is cooked first!!).

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