The Cove Wins!

For those of you who haven’t seen The Cove yet, heres one more reason to watch it – it won the Oscar for Best Feature length Documentary!

Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Watergardens

It’s no secret that I love Japan. There is not a single place on this earth that I have fantasized about visiting more than Japan. In fact, I probably think about Japan just as much (if not more) than I think about fishing on a daily basis. Even when I’m sleeping, I dream about Japan. I cannot escape it, and there is only one way for me to deal with this obsession- go there.

But since I cannot go to Japan, I read about her culture, I watch shows about her cities and streams. All the while I’m in complete envy. A great example of this was when I recently watched Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Watergarden. I can’t help but share the awesome wonder of such a place. I found all the videos on youtube, and even created a playlist so you can watch them with ease.

I’ve embedded the first video, but if you find it as intriguing as I have you’ll definitely want to watch the rest.

Continue watching- Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Watergardens

Beautiful Sailfish Quilt

Now, I’m no quilting aficionado, but this sailfish quilt is amazing!

Check out more from the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2010.

Best Movie of 2009 – The Cove

I’ve heard a lot about The Cove over the past couple of months. The movie made its round in theaters last year, but I couldn’t find any local shows to go see. As of December, the film was released on DVD and I’ve been wanting to get my hands on it – today I finally did. There are a lot of things to be said about this film, but all I have to say is go and buy this movie, or rent it, or do whatever you need to do to watch it. Not only was this the best documentary of 2009, but in my opinion, the best movie of the year too.

Traditional Japanese Rod Making by Adam Guy

Adam Guy recently sent me a new editorial on making traditional Japanese bamboo fishing rods. In his email he described the process and techniques used to handcraft these beautiful rods, which I found very interesting, and once completed he takes his rod fishing for the first time. Adam is never one to leave us hanging, but always the one to leave us hungry, he takes us home with him and shows us a fully prepared plate of fresh Japanese Whiting caught on his handmade rod. If this doesn’t impress you and make your mouth water I don’t know what will.

The editorial is 3 pages long, but it’s a great read and I recommend you start at the beginning. However if the internet has modified your behavior patterns, or you’re the type of person who enjoys reading the last page of a novel first, you can skip to the end for the fishing report and food.

Here I will describe the process of making my first bamboo fishing rod, with a few photographs. Some of the stages, particularly the lacquering, I was unable to photograph as I had my hands full; also some of the tools and techniques are trade secrets that must remain in the workshop. For beginners it is usual to start with a rod for either madai (red snapper) or shirogisu (Japanese whiting) with a bamboo body and fibreglass tip. Since I go fishing for whiting much more often than for snapper, I went for the latter type. The first step is the selection of bamboo; there are many varieties, of which about six or seven are used for rod making. My teacher showed me a variety from his stores, which is bamboo which has been cut and then dried for a number of years. So long as the bamboo is kept free of burrowing insects, it can keep for decades; some of his best bamboo is from his own late master, whose stock dates back to before the War. Unlike bamboo ‘cane’ that is split and fashioned into rods in the West, bamboo is almost always used whole for Japanese fishing rods.

Continue reading Making A Traditional Japanese Bamboo Fishing Rod by Adam Guy…