Meet Our Friend Takuya

One more introduction to make before we get into our days of fishing. When we sat down for dinner at the Kinugawa Grand Hotel Yume no Toki on our first night in Nikko, there were two anglers on the other side of the table we hadn’t met before. One of them was Takuya Yamakoshi.

While he was dressed in a yukata that evening like the rest of us, Takuya definitely stands out on the water. He shows up to the river in a button-down shirt, a tie, and a driver’s cap. Not as a bit. Just because he likes it and figured, why not? When I asked him about it he was refreshingly straightforward: “I just combine things I like.” It’s hard not to dig his river vibes.

35 Years of Fishing, But Only Six Months of Tenkara

Here’s the thing that makes Takuya’s profile a little different from some of the other people we spent time with thin Japan. He’s very new to tenkara, only starting about six months ago. However he’s been fishing for 35 years, working his way through bait, lure, fly, and whatever else looked interesting along the way. He targets fish all over Japan in freshwater and salt. He’s a campground manager in Nikko City on weekdays and spends his weekends on a motorcycle, camping, or fishing.

What attracted him to tenkara wasn’t a mentor or a family tradition. He noticed more people enjoying tenkara on the local river, got curious, and decided he wanted to become a tenkara guide. So he started fishing it. Just like that. His advice for beginners is simple; “Just give it a try.”

Home Water

Takuya fishes the Ojika River and the Kinugawa River, both running through his hometown of Nikko City. He describes them as rivers with varied currents and good populations of yamame and iwana, with one particular advantage over similar water elsewhere in Japan: the local yamame run bigger! Yamame are his favorite target and largest challenge.

When asked what keeps drawing him to tenkara specifically, it’s likely similar to yours, simplicity and a direct connection to the fish.

Takuya’s Tenkara Preferences

Takuya’s current setup is a 270cm tanago rod and a 320cm tenkara rod, paired with a 4-meter Daiwa tenkara fly line and a 7.5-foot 3x tapered leader. He mixes Western flies with tenkara flies, leaning toward whatever the situation calls for. His fly tying confession is that he’s not particularly good at it, but his favorite fly that he can tie is an Elk Hair Caddis.

He also mentioned something about his rod preference that I thought was interesting. He started out liking stiffer rods for precision targeting, but has since shifted toward softer rods that let the fly drift more naturally without resistance. As someone new to tenkara, he’s already working through nuance and building personal preferences.

Something Worth Knowing

One thing Takuya mentioned that I also thought worth mentioning was that beyond tenkara, Japan has a long tradition of traditional fishing rods called wazao, hand-crafted bamboo rods that are built for specific species and fishing styles. They predate and exist alongside tenkara, and most international anglers have never encountered them. Takuya would love for that to change. “I would love for you to have the opportunity to try out these traditional rods,” he says.

Passing it On

What I appreciate most about Takuya’s story is what it represents, and how similar it is to what I often see from American tenkara anglers. He’s been fishing his whole life, came to tenkara recently, and immediately started thinking about how to share it with others. That instinct, to learn something and then turn around and guide people through it, says something real about the culture around tenkara in Nikko. Everyone we’ve encountered seems to be trying to grow it, preserve it, and pass it on.

If you want to follow Takuya’s fishing or get in touch, he’s most active on Instagram. He’s worth a follow, especially if you want to see what fishing looks like when you’re well dressed for it.

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