There are few rods available today that have the overwhelmingly positive reputation of the Nissin Oni Zerosum Oni Honryu 395 & 450 tenkara rods. Tenkara anglers that have fished them (particularly the 395) count it as a favorite; a top rod in their respective quivers. Heck, among the Tenkara Angler Staff, Matt, Tom, & I each consider ourselves one of those anglers. Personally, I feel the 395’s combination of being incredibly stout while maintaining quite a bit of finesse makes it amazingly versatile to fish. From a practicality standpoint, I actually prefer it to my Oni Type I.
Well, this year Nissin announced they were going to release two newer rods in this Masami Sakakibara “Tenkara No Oni” inspired family, at shorter, and possibly more popular 295 & 345cm lengths, each with a 7:3 flex profile. And as of these weekend, they’re now available for purchase at Tenkara Adventure Outfitters.
Per the Nissin Website (Translation by Deepl):
“Zero-Sum Oni Tenkara, produced by Mr. Sakakibara, the devil of tenkara, now comes in 7:3 tone. The new 7:3 tone allows for accurate casting and quick hand movements. Like the Zero-Sum Oni-Tenkara main stream, it has the same three features: “straight flight, good straightness,” “no blur, good resilience,” and “good rod shedding, good restorative power. The rod is available in two lengths, 295 and 345, to suit your preference and field conditions.”
Now, it’ll probably take a few weeks for the first tenkara anglers to get these in their hands for on stream evaluation, (I know Tenkara on the Trail‘s Kris Franqui already ordered both – no surprise, right? 😁 ), but I’m really interested to see some of the feedback. I think I’m most interested in how the 345 compares to the 340cm Oni Type III (or even Oni Itoshiro), which are rods of similar lengths and Oni pedigrees.
While an Oni Type III is generally considered as “soft” (a 2014 evaluation by Tom Davis put it as a “slow action, full flex” 5:5 equivalent with a 3.5 RFI), this new Oni rod should be a bit faster and tip flex if it’s a true 7:3. I’m assuming that may make it a bit more of an all-purpose rod and more capable of throwing some weight, (i.e. nymphs), if you so choose. In his review, Tom also weighed the Type III in at 56g, so the chart above suggests the Oni Tenkara 345 won’t be much heavier, despite the slightly longer length.
I guess time will tell, but I’m very excited about these rods, and I think many of our readers will be too. I’m not sure how many Tenkara Adventure Outfitters brought in with their first shipment, but if you want to have this rod in hand for the last few months of summer, I wouldn’t sleep on it. If these new models are anything like the larger honryu versions, they will be extremely popular. Check out the TAO site HERE to learn more and possibly purchase one of these new rods.
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