Here is, the first part of my report.
I have dreamed about going to Tokyo for at least 7 years. I tried to make plans before (and save money) without much success. This time I just went online, booked the hotel and pack my bags.
My interest for Japan goes beyond fishing. I have always been fascinated by the country's culture. It is not only a world of anime and fishing tackle, but also food, landscapes, architecture, arts, religion and other cultural aspects that makes this country unique.
Anyways, as a fishing blogger, I can write a little about Tokyo from that aspect we all love: fishing.
My blog deals mostly with JDM lures and tackle, so going to Japan was a big thing for me. I only had 5 days to spare for my trip so unfortunately I had to skip some plans I made before but still had time to manage some important visits and meetings.
First Day
I stayed in Shinjuku so the first thing to do was to visit the famous Sansui shop located in Shinjuku. I went there in the afternoon and despite being a small shop I managed to stay there for 45 minutes. The shelves are movable and all of them contained lots of stuff. One wall was full of saltwater lures, another one full of hooks , another lines, freshwater tackle and so on. It was lacking a little bit on fishing clothing but was pretty much stacked with hundreds of lures. I realized that they stock tackle according to the season. The LRF section was great but the offshore or, let's say, "heavy lures" section was not that great. Anyway the staff was very courteous and helped me with the limited communication. I couldn't take photos inside. Too bad.
I also got a Salt Lure magazine which I enjoyed "looking at it" a lot.
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Sansui in Shinjuku was my first stop related to fishing tackle. The famous shop
is quite small but has lots of gear on the shelves. Too bad they don't allow
to take pictures inside. |
Second Day
The second day was the busiest one. I met with my great friend
Takatoshi. He is an amazing guy who has
become quite a sensation on Facebook. One of the objectives of this trip was to meet him and spend some time together. I really value this kind of strong bonds with angler worldwide and meeting him was a great honor for me.
He took me to Sansui Shibuya and Jumbo. These two are one of the biggest stores in central Tokyo and indeed it was quite a great experience.
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One of the most important moments of my visit. Meeting with my fellow friend
Takatoshi. We spent a great day together. I thank him again for the great
hospitality. |
I spent most of my money in these two stores. I got some nice lures and gear which I will review in my second part of the Tokyo Report.
Jumbo looked a little more spartan than Sansui, but nevertheless it had many products on sale. I really enjoyed the saltwater lures and the bag/clothing section. I got myself a nice hip bag and some lures for seabass and LRF.
Also I got myself a shore jigging mook (magazine style book) and lots of Meiho boxes which I love to use.
Just before leaving the store I saw some nice and hard to find (for European anglers like us) 2012 tackle catalogs. I figured out they were free and I took those by makers like Shimano, Smith, Valleyhill and Tidewalk. Too bad they were missing the Daiwa master catalog but I cannot complain.
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Second stop to the 3 stores Jumbo shop in Shibuya.
I found many interesting lures and gear at this shop.
This is where I have used my credit card heavily. |
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Second Sansui store. This is the famous one located in Shibuya. The first
floor is all saltwater stuff and this is where I have spent lots of time. |
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| Second floor was full of fly fishing gear. This shop is just amazing. |
My last stop was at Shibuya's Tackle Berry shop. These chain shop sells mostly used tackle which in many cases lets you find the deal you always looked for. The lures section was good and I managed to find some nice lures in mint condition at some ridiculous prices. Also found a brand new fish gripper and some treble hooks.
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If you need second hand lures and gear just visit Tackle Berry.
This is the shop in Shibuya. I have found some amazing deals on lures
made by Skagit Designs and Smith LTD. |
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| 2012 Smith catalog. |
Third Day
On my third day I have met for dinner with Jed, the owner of the famous online tackle store C
loud Nine Tackle. Again I was very excited about meeting him. I bought many items from his shop and meeting him in person was a great honor for me. We went to a nice restaurant where we had nice food and talked a lot about fishing techniques, lures and his online store business. We discussed the tackle and fishing trends in Europe, the comparison with the Japanese market, YEN and Euro currency exchange fluctuations and so on. It was definitely an amazing evening.
Almost forgot. I even ate some Mebaru Sashimi. I never had the chance to catch it but at least I tasted it.
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| Jed and myself at dinner. I thank him for the great evening. |
If you go to Tokyo you cannot skip some great sushi and interesting places like Akihabara. I couldn't stop taking hundreds of photos. Here are some of them. Enjoy.
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| Anime everywhere. |
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| Fish market. Notice the Aji on the left. |
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| An icon for Japan: Gundam. |
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| Nice Toyota GT car at the Toyota Car Museum. |
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| Colorful night at Ueno. |
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| Sake. |
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| Sashimi. Delicious. |
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| This is the rail system. Amazing. |
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| Sake and more Sake. |
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| I really liked this. I think it is a flounder. |
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Two beers I have enjoyed drinking during my stay: Asahi and
Sapporo. |
More to come soon. Please wait for my part II.
