My encounter with Masami "Tenkara-no Oni" Sakakibara (Part 3)

The next day we did fish the same torrent but a little bit further upstream.

I have watched videos on the  web and seen a lot of pictures of Japanese anglers fishing at the foot of dams and this time it was my turn to try this exercise in style. There is indeed some iwana at the foot of the waterfalls but it is not easy to reach them with a kebari. After a few tries I managed to sink my kebari in the depths and got a strike. The fish unhooked itself when  emerging from the water but Masami-san congratulated me because it is very difficult to feel the strike of an iwana in a such violent current.

We slowly ascended the banks of the river, exploring one by one all the spots likely to harbor these very discreet fish are that are iwana. 

The Iwana being a fish that does not move a lot it is to you to get your kebari convincingly drift in its field of vision. Masami-san never insists on a post, if the fish does not react when fishing upstream, he goes up the river a few meters and may try the same spot fishing downstream. His approach of the fish spots is stealthy and it pays off because he excels at catching fish at very close range.

A discreet approach, accurate and delicate casting and drift control are the keys to success in tenkara. I was also pleased to take another Yamato Iwana before we arrive at the highest point of our adventure. Having not the necessary gear we could not climb the waterfall that was in front of us when we came down in the valley.

We did find a river whose water was well cleared, the level still seemed a bit high to Masami-san but it probably seemed correct because he invited me to fish.

This time I was the only one to fish and it was my great pleasure and privilege to practice on this stream under the watchful eye of my friend and master.

I did catch some beautiful  amago that were in great shape. I was satisfied with this result and the water level being a little bit high was a good thing for the amago. They were in great shape and were a lot of fun to fish.

The weather that had been sullen and capricious turned to great weather as we were leaving the mountains. All good things come to an end and I had to return to Tokyo to take the plane that would bring me back to Paris. I thanked warmly Masami-san and Coco for their hospitality and for sharing with me their vast knowledge and experience of tenkara. Bye my friends!

My stay in Japan was a great moment in terms of fishing of course but above all a great human experience because I met simple, welcoming and generous people. And I have no doubt that this trip where I had the chance to meet some of the best connoisseurs of this fishing technique will have a great influence on my own experience of tenkara.

My encounter with Masami "Tenkara-no Oni" Sakakibara (Part 2)

The typhoon had striked the area and made plenty of damages as we were seeing at the TV news in the morning. But it also meant that we would now have warmer weather and we would gather our tenkara gear before leaving Masami-san's home  to go north to fish a river he likes a lot.

When we arrived in the coveted valley it was a scene of desolation that we had in front of us, the level of the river was very high and the water was muddy. So we do not have any other option but to go further to the north and the high mountains for a chance to find clear waters.

We did find our happiness rather quickly because Masami-san knows the area very well. The first fishes were caught pretty fast. This torrent is full of beautiful iwana and despite a very capricious weather I put to good use everything I had learned in Tadami, on the Itoshiro and of course Masami-san valuable advices. He is a first class guide who knows how to give you what you need to meet success. 

Thanks to Oni's advices and the casting lesson the day before I had the opportunity to really improve my technique. Success is based solely on technique. I will not say I "master" everything tenkara because it is a perpetual learning, but I think I have done credit to those who shared some of their knowledge with me.

Masami-san fished as well obviously, it was an opportunity for me to pause and learn by observing. We all know his honryu style of tenkara but his genryu style is also very effective. 

That first afternoon of tenkara fishing was obviously a memorable moment for me, fishing in the mountains with Masami Sakakibara as a guide was a dream that until recently I thought unachievable. I did not see hours passing by, totally absorbed by fishing which was really enjoyable. The light was beginning to fall when we left these majestic mountains to go back home. If Japan is the land of the rising sun is also that of the setting sun, night falls early even in summer.

The evening was an opportunity to meet Masami-san's friends who would join us the next day to fish. This was also the opportunity to taste the best okonomiyaki I've ever eaten. The atmosphere was really friendly as it was expected to be for the Team Oni. 

My encounter with Masami "Tenkara-no Oni" Sakakibara (Part 1)

I originally had the project to enjoy my stay in Takayama to go fishing on the Miyagawa but unfortunately this was a project failed because of strong thunderstorms that night had given the river an opaque grey stain. So I took advantage of these three days to visit the city and once again I had the chance to host a Japanese family with the opportunity to live in the historic center of the city, just a few meters to the Higashiyama walking course.

If you visit one day Japan I invite you to visit this city that will give you a very good overview of not only the rich culture of Japan but also of provincial life that is very different from what you might experiment in Tokyo or even Kyoto . Everything here is much quieter and serene than in big cities. Do not be surprised if walking through a residential area you see a man wearing a samue and sugegasa working in the rice field adjacent to his house. 

I devoted my days and visit the old town still making a few detours to go watch the river that was still greyish and spent the evenings with the Shimizu family. Although I have not had the opportunity to fish in this river where was born the famous Takayama sakasa kebari this stay in this beautiful city will remain an everlasting memory of my stay in Japan.

After a little more than three hours by train I arrived in Kakegawa, where I was greeted by Masami Sakakibara and his wife Coco. After nearly three years of contact only on the internet I was finally in the presence of the person by whom I discovered tenkara. His blog is definitely from that day my biggest inspiration and I would not even remotely consider going to Japan without meeting him. 

We had dinner in a restaurant whose food was delicious and the owner seemed a bit eccentric who seemed not to believe to have a French visitor! Masami-san and Coco are wonderful people who know how to put you at ease immediately and this first contact was very positive. As it was often the case during my stay strong stormy rain did on us while we were strolling in the city which gave us the opportunity to go home and watch DVDs among others devoted to tenkara. Thanks Masami-san for sharing with me these documentaries and answering my questions.

The next day I will know the house's cats trio while Masami-san was interested very closely to weather forecasts that were not really good, the least one could say, since a typhoon was announced to strike the area where he had planned to go fishing. Masami-san will decide to postpone the date of this fishing trip. 

When the rain finally stopped, we take the opportunity to visit the city and its beautiful castle. We will also visited an antique shop and the one of a manufacturer of samurai armor. For me who has been interested for a long time in history, civilization and culture of Japan this afternoon was really excellent.

The sky remained overcast all day but when Masami-san suggested me a casting session I accepted willingly and the fine drizzle that was falling from the sky was quickly forgotten. Who better than the man who designed some of the best rods in the world can provide you the better information on tenkara rods and lines?

I had the opportunity of a presentation on the rods and lines and the best possible combinations and then we started the  casting session and I must say that if  Masami-san's casting  is already impressive on a video that is really nothing compared to a live demo. Incredibly accurate. 

Masami-san is a very good teacher, he immediately identifies small defects in your casting and explains you clearly how to correct these defects. After making me try many rod/line combinations he did seem satisfied with my casting so he and myself were going back home. I had the pleasure and privilege to see him tie his kebari in front of me and then followed a very interesting conversation about that topic. Is it a coincidence that the greatest tenkara anglers, those who like Masami-san developed their own technique, evolved over time towards greater simplicity? Surely not.

Outside we heard a very strong wind and heavy rain, the typhoon was passing over the city. 

Tenkara on the Shō-gawa with Ajari and friends

After a restful night of sleep and a delicious breakfast prepared by Sasaki-san I did join my friends at their camp site where everyone was busy getting ready for the day that was going to be devoted to fishing. When I joined the conversation had no other topic, and it was a pleasure for me to make my friends discover the content of my kebari box and I must say that they seem to be surprised to see only Japanese kind of fly patterns as they were probably expecting more contemporary ones. 

It was already hot and it was barely 9:00 a.m when our band broke up, I saluted those who were leaving us and thanked them for the welcome they had given me the day before and then we were off to go fishing the Shō-gawa River, which rises in Mount Eboshi and then runs through the prefectures of Gifu and Toyama.

Arrived on the banks of the stream we did leave Tadani-san fish first and thanks to his excellent technique he quickly hooked a couple of iwana. Then we began to fish and catches did come at a good pace. We can roughly translate the name "Iwana" with "rock fish" and it is no coincidence that iwana is caught nearby stones, in the most quiet places of rivers, making your kebari drift as slowly as possible.

I walked a few meters and watched Ajari and Kura-san fishing and noticed that their successful technique  was very well established: accurate and delicate cast, no contact between line and water surface and perfectly controlled drift.

The first spot where Ajari, Kura-san and I did hook a dozen of iwana with different kebari without any common point but used in the same way, the good one!, will long remain in my mind. 

We fished like this all morning long only a few meters from each other exploiting all the "hot spots" of the stream. We fished every possible fish spot upstream and downstream and we were rewarded for it. This stream stretch has a very nice density of iwana. 

After a little over two hours of fishing we arrived at the mouth of a stream of about twenty centimeters wide. There were fly fishermen a few tens of meters upstream and we were hungry, the temperature had risen so my companions decided to stop fishing. They went up the bank then settled on the deck behind me and I heard Ajari then tell me he saw a beautiful iwana nestled against a rock at the mouth of the creek. I retreated a few steps to place me under the bridge and take advantage of its shadow to accurately locate the fish and said it was made when I deposited my zenmai-dou gently at its upstream. The iwana took it at its first drift. It was a beautiful yamato iwana.

This superb released fish, I collapsed my rod down, I  had the good days smile on my face and we left lunch. After the meal we did take the road to Ishigawa, another river lower in the valley where only yamame live. Once there we first spent a nice time to watch the fish from a bridge but we do not hang out because the very high temperature this afternoon let us think that fishing would be difficult. 

And it was difficult. This is again Tadani-san who caught the first fish. The yamame is a much more spooky fish that iwana and is very sensitive to vibrations in the water. Therefore it is advised when possible to fish from the bank.

Each of us caught a yamame which obviously made us happy but the warmth of the afternoon was goign to defeat our motivation. The fishes were not active on food and we decided to leave the river after two hours on its banks.

We quietly walked up the river and once returned to our starting point it was time to say goodbye to Kura-san and Tadami-san. I have been really happy to meet them after all this time only knowing them through Facebook. Ajari and I had were about to take the road to Takayama. I really had great time with the Itoshiro group. 

Bye friends! I will be back!

Itoshiro Tenkara

It was only 7:30 a.m when I joined my friend Kazumi "Ajari" Saigo in his car and this day was beginning under good omens: the sky was prefectly clear and bright blue. Although the previous days had been rainy and stormy we hoped for clear waters on the Itoshiro river where we had planned to join friends and go fishing. We did drive for a little more than three hours during which we had the opportunity to get acquainted because until now we only know each other though social network. We of course mainly talked about tenkara and I was satisfied to realize that we had a  very similar idea of tenkara.
Before arriving at our final destinataiton we made a detour by Hirata-san's tackle shop that is located only a few steps away from the Itoshiro so nobody can give more updated informations about the stream condition better than him. 

It was really a nice experience to meet him in person and to have an overview of his talents that encompass tamo making, horsehair furled lines and more. I did take advantage of this opportunity to purchase a few of his famous "Mamushi kebari".

Arrived at our home base I had the opportunity to meet Akai Kitsune who is really friendly and truly passionate about tenkara with whom I share many viewpoints about this fishing technique. He has been living in Japan for several years and has met the most famous and experienced tenkara anglers from whom he has learned a lot. He has the good idea to document his meetings with the tenkara masters to help the conservation of these anglers techniques and knowledge. 

Our conversation was interupted by the arrival of a car from which came a man know by anyone interested in tenkara at least for his famous kebari pattern: Hisao Ishigaki.

If you have watched some of his videos or DVDs and think that this very experienced tenkara angler is very friendly and does not take himself for serious you are right. This is probably why he decided to call himself the "King of tenkara"! A funny and healthy way to ridicule the fake experts and other self-proclaimed specialists.

It was decided to split the group in two, Ishigaki sensei and I would fish together while others would fish further upstream so I joined my guide onboard his vehicle. We continued the conversation seriously this time and I was not very surprised that ishigaki sensei was interested by the development of tenkara in Europe, I even think that ha is happy to know that some European anglers are sincerely interested in tenkara. After a few minutes we did arrive at a temple, the Chukyo Hakusan Jinja where Ishigaki sensei is used to come when he goes fishing  the Itoshiro. Mount Hakusan is, along with Mount Fuji and Mount Tateyama, one of the three sacred mountains in the Japanese beliefs. People are used to come here and pay homage to the mountains. When leaving the temple Ishigaki sensei asked me what I had asked the mountains to give me.
"A good day of tenkara" did I answer

"So did I" answered Ishigaki sensei.

We had no doubt about the fact we were going to have a great fishing time.

Arrived on the banks of the river we were talking about the theory of Ishigaki sensei on the vision of the fish and handed me one of his kebari and I knotted it to my tippet before giving him my rod. Having seriously studied everything I could find on the subject and viewed countless times his videos I thought I understood the technique of Ishigaki sensei and I would now have the chance to have him for a personal tuition.

I was a little bit surprised when the doctor asked me why I had caught this Iwana. I replied that the fish had bitten because I had used the right technique then Ishigaki sensei told me, laughing, "No, it is because a kebari used up by the king of tenkara". These famous kebari are very simple but if they are used by a fisherman who understans that a single pattern can fish in any water they can do wonders. Tenkara  is based on the fishing technique, not the choice of a particular pattern. A rod, a line, a fly.

I was invited by Ishigaki sensei to take the lead. I quickly hooked an Iwana, a beautiful fish with  its sides studded with white dots.

It was followed by many others. We fished either in turn or one behind the other, one in front was fishing upstream and the other downstream which allowed us to take a lot of fish over fairly short distances. The downstream fishing technique of Ishigaki sensei is very effective as I realized it. The afternoon passed quickly despite the sweltering heat that day we spent a lovely time and we noted with enthusiasm that the mountain of the gods had granted our wish.

Running out of cold tea and satisfied by our tenkara fishing session we decided to wuietly walk down the stream to go back to the car.  Along the way we discussed about tenkara and I realized also that Isihgaki sensei was very interested by what is happening with tenkara in Europe and the United States. We will continue the conversation with the entire group during a dinner under the stars placed under the auspices of good humor, friendship and tenkara.

The time came Ishigaki sensei left us and I thanked him for being my guide during this anthology day. Thank you!

Amago fishing with Eiji Yamakawa and Nishi-san

After a restful night I took the road to Totsukawa, Nara prefecture, to discover tenkara fishing for amago accompanied by Eiji Yamakawa and Nishi-san. I had no doubt that it was going to be a marvelous experience because I had the chance to have a couple of Harima tenkara Club members as guides. They are experienced tenkara anglers and know this area better than anyone.

We arrived near the Totsukawa river after an over three hours drive but what we found was a stream swollen by the heavy rains of the previous days so we had to drive a few miles more to gain altitude for the opportunity to fish a stretch of this river with clear water even though we would also have water level higher than the seasonal average.

Finally out of the car we took the time to relax and watch the river which is at this place about 32ft wide and features all the characteristics of the perfect stream for amago tenkara fishing: a powerful current, alternating deep pools and shallow stretches where the water is very well oxygenated. It would have been useless to us to hurry up, amago can only live in streams and by chance we had one a few meters under our feet.

Arrived on the banks of the stream I let Eiji-san and Nishi-san fish first in order to observe their technique, faithful to the tenkara basics "One rod, one line, one fly", and it proved to be effective as the first amago were caught fairly quickly. I was happy for them but Eiji-san told that the water level on this portion was really high and would make fishing pretty difficult so he decided to bring us a little further upstream.

We took back the road and then a forest trail that led us at the top of a steep path traced by unlikely passage of forest animals, serow or sika , that we we were going to walk down for an access to the stream. Nishi-san who has had an accident on this steep path a few months ago decided not to follow us so Eiji-san and I only took this path that the heavy rains had made, as we were going to realize soon, very slippery. After a slow and cautious descent we reached the edge of the river and started fishing. This time Eiji-san invited me to take the lead and fish before him. 

I did catch my first amago after a few casts and I was quite happy with it because this fish is not easy to reach as it stays at the bottom of the most powerful current parts of the stream. The hook setting has to be fast when the strike has been detected otherwise success will remain out of reach.  This amago released I  thanked Eiji-san for bringing me here and offering the opportunity to fish this iconic fish of this part of Japan. 

Amago is an endemic salmonid species that lives in only three islands of the Japanese archipelago. I had literally dreamed of these little red dots for several years!

We will wade up the stream for nearly three hours exploring one by one the most promising spots and we caught enough amago to be satisfied by this outing.

We were progressing in a fairly narrow and shaded stretch of the stream ans as the hours were passing by the temperature was rising, we really were feeling the threatening storm and probably fishes were also feeling it because the catch frequency was declining. Still some amago did were catching our kebari and we did enjoy this final moments with enthusiasm.

We will finally reach the downstream of a deep pool supplied with very cold and very well oxygenated water where we had the opportunity to watch amago waiting for insects, this was the last spot we did fish this day. Struggling like a devil at the end of the line he put all the others in alarm and none of them showed any activity after so we decided to collapse down our rods and to go back to the spot where we arrived on the stream.

If the descent of the trail was perilous the ascent was grueling and once at the top we raised our eyes and found a blackened sky: the storm was about to burst. We did not have the time to arrive at the parking lot where Nishi-san was waiting for us before heavy rain starts. We did use the roof of branches of a chestnut as an umbrella in front of the car!

We had a great fishing outing despite the high water level and we shared our thoughts about the day and tenkara along the road back to Kobe. Arrived at the station from which I was going to go back to Kyoto I warmly greeted my friends who helped to realize a dream that may seems banal  but that was dear to me: tenkara fishing for amago.

Thank you!