DEPS, the lure brand of the big bass hunter, Mr. Kazumasa Okumura
There are a lot of people who have heard the name, “DEPS,” but not so many people know the name of its founder, Mr. Kazumasa Okumura. Though he is not as popular as tournament oriented Japanese pro-anglers, he is one of the most famous black bass anglers in Japan. In this article, I will show […]
Do You Eat Fish? The Relation between the Fishing Population and Fish Eating Preference in Japan
Japanese people love to eat fish. And they like to go fishing. But it is too early to say the reason fishing is popular in Japan is the joy of eating fish. In the US, angling is a popular leisure activity, but it does not really reflect that they have a strong fish eating culture. […]
Fishing in the Edo Period
About 200 years ago, Japan was in the Edo period. It is often said that this period made the basis of Japanese fishing (or fishing for leisure.) In this period, the ruling government was stable and it brought a stable economy in Japan. Especially the people who received the benefit of this stable economy were […]
“One Fishing Rod” - Children’s Story about Fishing in Japan
Fishing is deep inside the people’s lives in Japan. And it is one of the familiar activities or leisures. Reflecting this situation, there is a lot of literature from various periods in Japanese history. There is one children’s story about fishermen, written by Mimei Ogawa. For your small entertainment, I translate one of his stories […]
Area Trout Fishing, Catching Trout in Fisheries in Japan
Have you heard of a fishing style called “Area Trout Fishing?” This Japanglish stands for the fishing for trout in waters under control. These waters can be a part of a river, natural lakes or artificially built ponds. As one of the easy-to-go fishing styles, it is very popular in Japan. In this article, the […]
Engaging Children in Angling
In my article, Statistics on Angling in Japan, I showed the declining angling population in Japan. Under this circumstance, the angling industry is working to re-activate this leisure. One of such actions is to try to engage children into fishing. In this article, I will introduce such activities. Angling as a preferred activity for children […]
Paintings of Fish in Edo Period, Part 1
This article features the paintings of fish drawn in 1835. To see them let us know how people in that period recognized fish. And they give us the idea how people in the Edo period looked at fish, in general. These paintings are from a pictorial encyclopedia on fish, called Baien-Gyohinzusei 梅園魚品図正(ばいえんぎょひんずせい), drawn by Baien […]
The Japanese Approach to Carp Fishing
Carps are a very familiar fish for Japanese people. There are many ponds that have carp all over Japan. And I can even say that it may be hard to find a pond without any carps. We love carps with colors, and we had been breeding carps for their unique colors. In Europe, colored carps […]
Fishing for Spangled Emperor, in Japan and in Australia
The Spangled Emperor is living in the Indo-Pacific coasts. In Japan, this fish is called Hamafuefuki or Taman, and one of the great target fish in southern Japan. When we go across the equator and look at Australia, the same species is also a popular game fish there, too. In this article, after we review […]
Smelt whiting, the swift in the surf
Smelt whiting is one of the most popular targets in surf fishing, especially on sand beaches. As a target of angling, its size is not big, but there are unique attractive points in this fishing. I will show you the current fishing styles (from the shore) for this fish, after you will know about this […]