So, you may be asking, where exactly in Japan did you go?

We spent most of our time in the Itoshiro River, which is located in the Gifu province, and what we may call the "tenkara capital" of Japan. We also visited the Mazegawa, which was a beautiful river, but a bit high when we came. Gifu has a enormous variety and number of streams that are "tenkara-perfect". See the interactive map below for exact locations where our pictures were taken.

Japan presents a few challenges for travelling, mainly the language and signage, which in some places is completely in Japanese characters. However, that is a minor detail in light of the best public transportation system in the world, and the fact that most people are very willing to help. Of course, in this trip I had the help of a good friend from Japan and Dr. Ishigaki was driving us around. To get to that area we took a Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya, from there a subway ride to meet Dr. Ishigaki near his University, and a 3 hour car ride to the Itoshiro.