Today we celebrate 10 years of building Tenkara USA and sharing tenkara outside of Japan. It is an incredible milestone, and this journey has been filled with incredible experiences, milestones we never could have predicted, and a lot of hard work to accomplish all of that. And, of course we wouldn’t be here today without your support for these many years. So, THANK YOU so very much for the continue support, for sharing tenkara, for enjoying it, and for allowing us to be here today!
Little did I know that Tenkara USA would give rise to movement so passionate and that it would bring such enriching experiences into the lives of so many people. When I launched the company, I was not, as the famous fly-fishing author John Gierach wrote in one of his books, “unaware of the difficulties of introducing something small, quiet and simple to a country that likes things big, loud and complicated.” Indeed, the introduction of tenkara outside of Japan had its challenges. Starting at business in the fly-fishing industry in the midst of a Great Recession and betting all my savings into it was quite a bit scary(this was way before the launch of funding websites like Kickstarter by the way). I was also leaving a secure and promising career to pursue something I believed strongly that people should get to know. It is amazing to look back at 10 years of existence, and see how far we have come as a company. That we have not only been able to overcome challenges but create a thriving business has been quite a validation of people’s cravings for a simpler experience in the outdoors.
So much has happened in the last 10 years that I figured the best thing to post here today would be our interactive timeline, which I try as best as I can to keep updated as milestones are reached in the business (and of course, today is the last day of our 10th anniversary sale, so check that out):