The Literary Fly Fisher

Craftmanship online magazine recently published an article on a type of traditional Japanese fishing pole, known as Edo wazau, and its construction. Author Yukari Iwatani Kane takes the reader on a journey through their history. He also explores the current, diminishing state of the craft behind their construction. Explaining the poles origins, he writes:

The Edo-wazao is estimated to have started 228 years ago, by a samurai named Tosaku Matsumoto. All of today’s top masters trace their roots back to Tosaku. From the beginning, Edo-wazao were a luxury item for the wealthy, for whom fishing had been a popular pastime akin to polo or golf. While the working class used rough, homemade bamboo poles, nobility, kabuki masters, and prominent politicians used rods tailor-made to each season and fish species.

The article it titled, “Japan’s gorgeous, precarious fishing  poles.” (Yes, “poles.” These are not fly rods). It is accompanied by the authors excellent photography. Follow the link, below, to read it.

This entry was posted on August 18, 2016 at 7:08 PM and is filed under Fly Fishing, The Arts, The Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.