The essence (shinzui) of tenkara てんからの真髄

Tenkara
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Preserving ~ The essence of old-fashioned Tenkara World ~

Anyone know who the tenkara angler is in the larger picture on the cover?
Actually he might be identified / named in the text below the picture, but I haven’t yet figured it all out.

When I first saw the above image I thought it was a book or magazine cover.
But it is a poster for an event originally schedule to be held this past March 15th. But postponed due to corona-virus.

The notice of postponement hoped it could be done in November. However, a date certain has not yet been set.

Lectures to be given by the 4 people pictured at the bottom. Who know the the old ways of tenkara as a foundation to the rapidly changing ways of tenkara as it has expanded in popularity and spread round the world.

Of course the event will be done in the Japanese language, but if or when the event can be held - hopefully blog post about the event will be more accessible to English or other language speakers. I think there may be some interesting perspectives.

As you can see they used different Japanese characters for the title than the more common characters we see.

Which I suspect was in keeping with the theme. Using the Japanese characters for traditional Japanese words, and not the characters usually used for words borrowed from other languages.
てんからの真髄 〜古式てんからの世界〜
is the same as
テンカラの真髄 〜古式テンカラの世界〜 (which google more reliably translates)
[Tenkara no shinzui 〜 koshiki Tenkara no sekai 〜]
The essence of tenkara ~ The world of old-fashioned Tenkara ~

The four speakers:
講師紹介 （講演順）Lecturer introduction (in order of lecture)
戸門秀雄さん Tokado Hideo-san
瀬畑雄三さん Sebata Yūzō-san
天野勝利さん Amano Katsutoshi-san
小次郎さん Kojirō-san

I didn’t readily recall Kojirō-san. But an internet search quickly found his blog, which I recognized I have looked at it many times over previous years.

Being the youngest of the four lectures he faces that duty to preserve the older tenkara traditions and methods with great humor at being selected for the honor, and humility.

小次郎さんのブログ Kojirō-san’s blog - てんからとヤマメ - tenkara and yamame:
http://tenkaratoyama.jugem.jp/

Anyway, links to the two original and digitally translated webpages promoting the event.

てんからの真髄〜古式てんからの世界〜
http://teruzo.extrem.ne.jp/tenkara/kouen.htm

http://teruzo.extrem.ne.jp/tenkara/ The essence of tenkara ~ The world of old-fashioned Tenkara ~

講師紹介 （講演順） Lecturer introduction (in order of lecture)
http://teruzo.extrem.ne.jp/tenkara/kousi_syoukai/kousi.htm

http://teruzo.extrem.ne.jp/tenkara/Lecturer introduction

Lastly – Kojirō-san’s January invitation for - Everyone to look at this -
His take on the event, and his invitation to be one of the lecturers. :smiley:

http://tenkaratoyama.jugem.jp/ Everyone look at this ~ ~

Maybe some will find this interesting.

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IMG_20201101_020029
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Photos are taken from this book.

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As an FYI 戸門秀雄さん Tokado Hideo-san is author of the book “Professional Fisherman’s Diary” , “shoku ryōshi-den”, 本『職漁師伝』. That has had been discussed on this forum before.

Published by 農山漁村文化協会刊, Rural Culture Association publisher, which also sponsors this event. Which has also published some of 瀬畑雄三さん Sebata Yūzō-san’s books.

Event sponsored / organized by 主催・釣り天狗 , - dzuri tengu.
http://teruzo.extrem.ne.jp/turitengu_top/tsuritengu_top.htm

Their tenkara webpage may have broader interest.
http://teruzo.extrem.ne.jp/keiryuu/tenkara/tenkara_top/tenkara_top.htm

Vladimir - Thanks for the pictures. It looks like there may be a name below the bottom picture.

高橋真一さん, Takahashi Shin’ichi-san. I think.

神流川で In Kanna Gawa
毛鉤竿を振る shaking a kebari rod
高橋真一さん Takahashi Shin’ichi-san
（著者撮影）(Photo by the author)
http://www.ruralnet.or.jp/bookshop/image/syokuryousi01.pdf

http://www.ruralnet.or.jp/bookshop/image/syokuryousi02.pdf

農山漁村文化協会. 職漁師伝. 渓流に生きた最後の名人たち。
戸門 秀雄 著. 群馬県上野村、神流川で毛鉤竿を振る高橋真一さん
Rural Culture Association. Professional fisherman biography. The last masters who lived in the mountain stream.
Tokado Hideo author. Shinichi Takahashi-san swinging a fishing rod in the Kanna River, Ueno Village, Gunma Prefecture.

Near freezing weather in Murmansk must make you a skillful detective. :wink:

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Mr. Takahashi, if I understand correctly.

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Sadly, there is very little effort in America to promote the knowledge at this time.

I appreciate the topic.

I found some great reading about tenkara in Japan, the type of tenkara I enjoy.

Thank you.

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This book says that photo was taken in May Heisei Era 5th ,1993.

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David san in this case we read not dzuri- but Tsuri Tengu.

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В Мурманске +3°С😄

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Mangetusan,
Thank you for comments.
Depending on one’s own age, a photo from 1993 may not seem that long ago. :smiley:

Well, I knew it was Tsuri, but left it as “dzrui” because that was how it showed up in the phonetic section of the digital translator, and also I thought it may have been written that way in phonics due to - 連濁 , rendaku [sequential voicing of Japanese language].

Similar to とき[toki] time. But ときとき[tokitoki becomes instead tokidoki. [sometimes] Alternately written as 時々[tokidoki]

Looking at the poster Tsuri Tengu [釣り天狗] appears to be translated on the poster as " Fishing Team". But I could never arrive at translation of tengu as team. Only alternate digital translation of 天狗 as “Braggart”. Or oddly, 天 狗, Heaven dog.

It is a mystery, language puzzle, But it’s all part of the fun. :wink:

FYI for anyone interested - to add to the confusion or clarify it. :thinking:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendaku

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology

The rendaku exblog also provides some insight into - classic rendaku [古典 連濁] However, the sometimes odd, inaccurate digital translation into English, can also introduce some confusion, too. This blog takes a bit of a different view, with rendaku not so much defined as [Euphonic change of unvoiced to voiced sound] but emphasizes rendaku’s role in conveying correct meaning of words. The “rule of meaning.”

https://rendaku.exblog.jp/ In odd digital translation into English

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Not much different from where I am, 37.4°F. And I am far south of the Arctic circle.

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David san I found a Tengu article.

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Mangetusan, That is a fun webpage. :smiley: Thank you.

FishingTeamTsuriTengu

「Fishing Team 釣り天狗 」Fishing Team appears to not be a direct translation of Tsuri tengu.
Perhaps more the same idea as テンカラの鬼 [tenkara no oni].

https://note.com/tengart/ 釣り天狗 Tengu to enjoy fishing in a unique way

天狗 とは – What is a tengu?
天狗 人 とは – What is a tengu person?
鬼 とは – What is a demon/Oni?
妖怪 とは – What is a yōkai ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yōkai

https://www.amazon.com/The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore

A bit of fun insight into Japanese folklore culture.

Anyway – Hopefully if / when the てんからの真髄〜古式てんからの世界〜 event is rescheduled.
Maybe there will be some interesting content from the event available online afterwards that will provide a taste of the information presented by the speakers. Perhaps something interesting for people who enjoy exploring insights into historic culture.

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趣味の学び方！How to learn hobbies!
テンカラの本をキンドルアンリミテッドで9冊読んだ感想とオススメ！
Impressions and recommendations after reading 9 Tenkara books on Kindle Unlimited!
https://www.zetuenlife.com/entry/tenkara-book 日本語

https://www.zetuenlife.com/entry/tenkara-book English digital translation

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Thanks.

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David, many thanks. Awesome info.

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Interesting. 天狗 would translate as sky dog or heaven dog in Chinese. And would be pronounced as “tee-ehn goh”. And according to Wikipedia, that’s exactly what a Tengu is: Tengu - Wikipedia

Maybe I understand more Japanese than I think I do (Not really. At all)

What’s really wacky, is plug 天狗 into google translate, and it’s translated as Tengu in English.

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Maybe I understand more Japanese than I think I do (Not really. At all)
What’s really wacky, is plug 天狗 into google translate, and it’s translated as Tengu in English.

I also look at a lot of Chinese websites. Most kanji mean the same thing, only the spoken words are different. But sometimes some divergence over time due to culture.

I think you will find if you enter 天狗 in to Google translate input window, in the English translation output window. If you highlight “Tengu” you will get a drop down list that offers an alternative translation of “Braggart”. But I assume being a braggart may be part of a Tengu’s personality. Not that tengu literally means being a braggart or only by association.

Anyway, the Tofugu / Tengu link from Mangetusan gives a good explanation how Tengu , 天狗, literally Sky/Heaven/Cosmic Dog , evolved to refer to a being that - does not fly and is not a dog.

But often one has to understand the culture to understand the meaning of even simple phrases.
Try this example from a webpage I was looking at.
テンカラ釣りもフライフィッシングも両方知らない方には。
キツネに つままれたような はなしなので。
For those who do not know both tenkara fishing and fly fishing.
It’s a story like being pinched by a fox.

What could being “pinched by a fox” mean? :thinking:

An internet search for - つままれた とは [ what is pinched]
Found a webpage with this explanation. [among others]
「狐につままれる」を英語にすると？
「狐につままれる」は「困惑している」と英訳する。
What if you translate “pinched by a fox” into English?
“I’m pinched by a fox” is translated into English as “I’m confused.”

However, I think the word that translated as confused, also has the meaning of “I was surprised”. As in surprised or confused by something unexpected happening.

https://biz.trans-suite.jp Origin & meaning of “pinched by a fox”

The two sentences about fly fishing , tenkara, and pinched by a fox, were found on this webpage.

https://kakuture.com/tenkara-attracting-attention-overseas/ 日本語

https://kakuture.com/tenkara-attracting-attention-overseas/ digital English translation

When I can’t go fish fishing. I fish for odd knowledge. It’s a character flaw. :crazy_face:

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