A tenkara angler named Yuzo Sebata heads for the river.
For him, it is the same as always.
The mountains of Oku Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture see some of the heaviest snowfall in Japan.
Running between its peaks is the Takizawa River.
Sebata makes his way to his favorite spot.
The Gesetzentwurf needs compensation, and the recommendation of Yuzo Sebata,
He walks deeper into the mountains and further upriver.
He walks deeper into the mountains and further upriver.
Throughout the mountains of this region are hideouts called Yu or Iwaya.
These are sacred places where bear hunters would take shelter against the harsh weather in olden times.
The people who live here in the mountains call these places Yu.
The calligraphy for you is the same as Yurei, which means ghost.
Some people call it an Iwaya, which means stone house.
Hunters in these regions would go into the mountains to hunt for bears in the winter.
They would set up camp in these shelters.
You can find countless places like this all along the trails in the Tadami region.
Sibata resumes his hike up the mountain.
After around two hours of walking through the wilderness, Sibata finally reaches his destination.
While checking the familiar waters and landscape, he begins his preparations to fish.
Sibata pulls out a handmade 20 foot long tapered line out of his bag.
A typical Tenkara rod is around 12 and a half feet long.
And that's about how long my rod I'm using today is.
I'd say the taper of the rod I'm using today is pretty standard for modern Tenkara rods.
I'm not sure if everyone would understand what I mean by a 6 to 4 action, but it's the butt to tip ratio.
As for the line I use, I make them myself.
I make them out of nylon line.
I twist lines with varying diameters together to create a taper.
The line itself is actually pretty heavy.
The line I will use today is about 20 feet long.
I start by twisting two sets of furrowed lines together.
Each set is one thick line furrowed together with three thinner lines.
So, the butt section of the taper starts with eight lines.
That's how I make my line.
As for my fly, the dubbing for this fly is the fur of a fern sprout, which we call Zemmai in Japan.
The hackle is from a pheasant.
I personally don't use many patterns.
These are the only patterns I carry with me.
I have one with a black body.
I have some with a fluorescent orange body.
And these have a fluorescent yellow body.
I only use these four patterns.
Besides the Zemmai kebari, Sebata only uses three other patterns.
I'd say my leader is about 27 inches long.
I think that's about how long it is.
I'm fishing in a small river, so even if I'm using a long line,
I'll keep the leader short for better control.
Sebata's fishing has begun.
Here are the fish!
It seems that the fish are a little shy today.
Sebata has finally come across a fish.
His catch is a small Iwana.
These hardy fish thrive even in these mountains that see the heaviest snowfall in Japan.
I wondered, when did Yuzo Sebata, the wise man of the mountain, come to begin Tenkara?
When did I begin Tenkara, you ask?
It all started when I moved from Tokyo to Utsunomiya for work.
It was a relocation for my job that had me move there.
It was there in Utsunomiya, where I met the successor of the Nikko-style Tenkara.
The grandfather of this man was a master at Tenkara.
I happened to witness him fishing.
They were fishing for Yamame, which the locals would refer to as Yamo.
Everyone called them Yamo, and I was told there were a lot of them in those parts.
I asked them if they could take me fishing for them, and they took me.
I caught a few fish that day.
There were lots of Yamame back then.
They were all pretty big too.
We didn't have a nice fire pit like this, so we made a fire in the half of an oil drum.
We lined the fish along the fire and roasted them.
As we were talking around the campfire, that's where the subject of Tenkara came up.
They told me that Tenkara was easy.
They said you just swing a rod to catch a fish.
So I thought I should try it if it's that easy.
That was when Tenkara began for me.
I'd say that was really the first step on this path of life.
That's how it started for me.
It's already been 50 some years since then.
I'd say the reason I've been doing it so long is because it's fun.
There are many reasons that I find it fun.
As you know, Tenkara is a traditional method of fishing in Japan
where we use a fly called the Kebari.
It's a traditional method, but I came up with my own ideas through trial and error
and added them to my technique.
Along the line, I was somehow recognized as a true Tenkara angler
by the successor of the Nikko style.
I can still clearly remember my first fish.
In truth, I had caught fish several times by chance.
I had caught fish before, but it was in my second season I did it through skill.
It wasn't until my second year after taking up Tenkara.
I still remember my excitement when I hooked that fish.
My encounter with that Yamame remains with me as a vivid memory.
It was thanks to that fish.
If I count the years, it has already been almost 55 years since that day.
Even after that many years, I've not grown tired of it
and have yet to skip a single season.
In that sense, it was a life-changing experience for me.
So far, Cebata has had only one catch.
The fish are not keen on taking his fly today.
Regardless, Cebata continues making his way up the river.
The fish don't seem to be out today.
As the day reaches noon, Cebata decides to sit down and have lunch.
His lunch is some homemade rice balls with a few side dishes.
To quench his thirst, he drinks from the river.
I brought some miso with me to dip cucumbers and pickles in.
The miso is here with me in my bag,
but it seems I forgot to pack the cucumbers and pickles themselves.
You can't complain when you're hungry.
How's it taste?
Well, I'm hungry.
Anything tastes good when you're hungry,
and I won't make it back on an empty stomach.
Oh, well.
Another beautiful iwana has come to meet Cebata.
Cebata's love for the rivers and nature,
found here in the Tadami region of Okuaizu, runs deeply.
The Tadami region called Tadami is a special place.
To me, the Tadami region is particularly remarkable even within Fukushima.
Theoku in Okuaizu means deep, and it's true to the name.
This place is very deep in the mountains.
To the west, there is also the Ichigo Mountains.
The rivers that run from there are wonderful.
The first time I experienced this place was back in 1961.
I was 21 years old.
That's when I first set foot in Izu.
It almost seems like yesterday.
In a wink of an eye, over 54 years have passed since then.
What I really enjoy about the Tadami region is the rich nature found here.
There is an abundance of wild vegetables and several species at that.
There are also lots of mushrooms here.
I don't think there is a single native species of mushroom you can't find here.
I think you can find every kind of wild vegetable and mushroom here.
Of course, even if they're abundant, I never take more than for one meal.
I only take enough for myself.
Well, I may take a bit more when I have friends come to visit me,
but I try to keep it to only what I need.
I hope to continue doing this until the end of my days.
But one can only wish. As we all know, age is something that we cannot escape.
I just had a recent incident where I broke my hip and it has become weak.
It prevents me from moving around as actively as I was able to.
I can't cover as much ground by foot anymore.
I do find it a bit unfortunate because I can't be out in the mountains as long as I used to.
But these things are inevitable.
I guess these are things that come with age.
But I don't let my mind dwell on such things because that would make me depressed.
I try to stay in a place like this where it's relatively easy for me to go out.
I make sure that I don't lose that opportunity.
I don't know how much longer I'll be able to do it.
Either way, going out into the wilderness is fun.
I just like to enjoy it for as long as I can.
