DUO: Lure Maker with Japanese Craftmanship
Ty HasegawaIn the world of Japanese fishing tackles, there is one brand which boast the true Japanese craftmanship. That is DUO. In this blog, you can see the brief histrory of this brand, philosophy and some key products.
While there are many product categories in which DUO is producing their lures, I needed to select key products in certain category. In this blog, I picked up only bass fishing related products.
You can enjoy the same contents on my YouTube channel, Ty's Fishing Tackle Industry Channel.
History
Born in 1995 in Shizuoka Prefecture, DUO began not as a giant manufacturer but as a small distributor with an ambitious dream: to make lures that not only catch fish but redefine craftsmanship itself.
At a time when many companies were outsourcing production overseas, founder Hiroshi Matsushita took a different path. Rejecting the trend toward cheaper production, he insisted that Japan — with its rich angling culture, diverse fishing environments, and passionate anglers — was the right place to build something extraordinary.
A Philosophy Rooted in Functional Beauty
DUO’s current CEO and chief designer, Masahiro Adachi, helped shape the brand’s core philosophy: “functional beauty.” This idea means every lure must be more than just beautiful — it must perform beautifully. For DUO, beauty is found in the harmony between design and action, form and function.
Their craft combines classical hand-carving techniques with advanced digital precision — a blend of human intuition and cutting-edge technology that results in some of the most respected lures on the market today.
Key Products
For the bass lure category, I picked up these three lures; Dead Drift 100, Jerkbait, and Wriggle Crawler.
Dead Drift 100
This lures shows what DUO wants to do with the lure. It works just like "Better than the Real One." as Mr. Aadchi's vision on his lure making.
While it has the shape like one swimbait, it swims or drifts like a dead fish. The floating posture is very unique. And what is interesting is that retrieve let the water swims with this jointed body, attractively, along with the pause let it behave like a dead or deadly fish.
You can check the video of this lure in DUO's YouTube Channel.
Jerkbait
I want you to see the video of this lure first.
You can view DUO's video of this jerk bait here.
It is a one instance of perfection of jerk bait. It wobbles, rolls and nice dash with jerking.
Wriggle Crawler
This is a Japanese art. Simple shape of straight worm, but the backbone of it is not straight forward (of course, worms do not have bones at all.) The thickness in the main body is slightly oval shaped, while the both ends have the round profile. That makes the perfect flexes with the nice water resistance at the both ends. It results in very idealistic finesse soft bait of a kind.
You can check the movement of this worm from their official YouTube video.
Made in Japan — Not by Chance, But by Choice
For DUO, Japan isn’t just a production base — it’s a creative source. The company’s CEO has said that the unique fishing environment and angler culture in Japan are essential to creating products that truly meet anglers’ needs, making Made in Japan not a slogan, but a necessity.
From the initial ABS block to the final painted lure, each step is controlled within DUO’s own facilities, ensuring quality and performance remain unmatched.
Lure making is often starting from 3D CAD, on the PC. But it is not the case for DUO. They are starting from hand carving modeling. Unless they reach to the ideal shape at this hand carving lure, they will never go to next step.
As some of you know, most lures are made by molding. To bring their perfectly carved model to the mass production, you need to pay attention to the mold and the process of molding. Additionally, the mold making technique brings the difference in quality. DUO's strength is here. Since they have production point in Japan, all of the process are very close within reach. They pay a lot of attention to all the steps of prodution, from mold building to painting, while the others are, often, producing with outsourced production point.
A Legacy of Innovation
Over more than two decades, DUO has grown into a globally recognized brand, with hundreds of models and millions of lures sold worldwide — all carrying the same DNA: pursue for perfection and Japanese quality.
Whether you’re casting for bass at dawn or trolling saltwater edges at dusk, a DUO lure represents a promise — that craftsmanship and purpose still matter in an age of mass-production.
If you are intereted in buying Japanese lures, please visit Discovery Japan Mall.
Looking for Jerkbaits? visit here.
Looking for Wriggle Crawler? visit here.
