Complete Set: UKIYO™ Rod + Kit

While I could go on about TenkaraUSAs quality gear and robust warranty commitments, I’d like to speak to their customer service. Work with TJ for the past decade has been a dream. TJ’s been positive, kind, fair, and prompt in very instance I’ve reached out. Honestly, this is a major reason for my long-term commitment to the company.

Edited post - earlier one had a lot of typos

Overall - great small backpacking rod where a very short length is acceptable

I really like the keiryu-style grip over cork on the ukiyo. Daiwa and Suntech have done this for many years on better quality non-Tenkara rods. I’ve been fishing Japanese keiryu and seiryu corkless rods for nearly a decade and prefer the feel - and the sensitivity is far greater (you can feel a beadhead when it taps a rock and you can feel fish take your fly much better). After many years of using both I wish I could more rods like this - even euro nymph rods please ? However the market in Japan and the US likes cork handles so I guess Tenkara will remain corked for some time.

The ukiyo has nice graphics on the handle and tube. The finish is high quality; the rest of the rod sections have less resin which lowers weight and you can see the carbon weave slightly, but just enough to protect the sections, a good manufacturing technique.

It is a little shorter than I prefer - I often use longer rods (12’ or even 13’) in very tiny streams for their reach to pockets over boulders (and stealth)

The ukiyo’s action is quite nice for the shortness though - it feels softer in the top than the 11ft iwana (I have two of the first release iwanas still) which is surprising for such a short rod that is advertised and looks like all carbon rather than a carbon-fibreglass mix. It’s also surprising as the tip sections is quite thick at 1.0mm (cf an iwana at 0.78mm). So I imagine the tip will also be robust. As a result it uses heavier Lillian than the iwana or most Japanese rods. The Lilian is 35mm long - but the end isn’t melted just cut, so you need to carefully melt it with a cigarette lighter or it will fray. An unadvertised bonus - I think the cord in the two tip plugs is actually the same Lilian, so you have spares. The Lillian is glue direct to the tip end, no rotating swivel - again, having used many high end Japanese rods with swivels, I’ve found this to be inessential and fail point with wear and tear. I think the direct glue onto the tip is a more long term robust solution (I don’t see any line twist and so don’t see the need for a swivel).

It casts an unweighted Kebari/wet/or dry fly with a 9’-13’ #3 (0.286mm) fluorocarbon level line - but it needs an assertive wrist snap for this weight line to deliver the fly accurately. It casts better with a #3.5 (0.30mm) line where the rod just pushes the line out easily for a waft down to water. (Note - check your line diameters yourself as Japanese Tenkara line manufacturers have a wide range of tolerances, and note whether the line is pure fluorocarbon or a mono fc mix - this drops the effective weight by a half).
The ukiyo also casts weighted nymphs with 2.5mm tungsten beads really really well, and only struggles a bit with beads 3.5mm and over which needs lobs - however as it is short it can do it easily and accurately

The short length also allows for very effective hook sets.

It has strength in the butt for playing fish, but I felt this rod starts to max out on >12” feisty rainbows- larger rainbows become a challenge - and also require a net (below 12” a net isn’t essential but helpful).

The butt plug is plastic and it looks like the screw thread in the handle is plastic or carbon (not metal). Extra weight in the handle is not needed as this rod is well balanced and light - it feels like it has very low rotational mass. The tip plug holder in the plug is a really great idea and innovation that was long overdue - once you use it on a Tenkara USA rod, it’s hard to not have it now.

Overall - great small backpacking rod where a very short length is acceptable

I really like the keiryu-style grip over cork on the ukiyo. Davies and Suntech have done this for many years on better quality non-Tenkara rods. I’ve been fishing keiryu and seiryu corkless rods for nearly a decade and prefer the feel - and the sensitivity is far greater (you can feel a beadhead when it taps a rock and you can feel fish take your fly better). After many years of using both I wish I could more rods like this - even euro nymph rods please ? However the market in Japan and the US likes cork handles so I guess Tenkara will remain corked for some time.
The ukiyo has nice graphics on the handle and tube. The finish is high quality; the rest of the rod sections have less resin which lowers weight and you can see the carbon weave slightly, but just enough to protect the sections, a good manufacturing technique.
It is a little shorter than I prefer - I often use longer rods (12’ or even 13’) in very tiny streams for their reach to pockets over boulders (and stealth)
The ukiyo’s action is quite nice for the shortness though - it feels softer in the top than the 11ft iwana (I have two of the first release iwanas still) which is surprising for such a short rod that is advertised and looks like all carbon rather than a carbon-fibreglass mix. It’s also surprising as the tip sections is quite thick at 1.0mm (cf an iwana at 0.78mm). So I imagine the tip will also be robust. As a result it uses heavier Lillian than the iwana or most Japanese rods. The Lilian is 35mm long - but the end isn’t melted just cut, so you need to carefully melt it with a cog lighter or it will fray. An unadvertised bonus - the cord in the two tip plugs is actually the same Lilian, so you have spares. The Lillian is glue direct to the tip end, I rotating swivel - again, having used many high end Japanese rods I’ve found this to be fail point with wear and tear and is I think the direct glue onto the tip is a more long term robust solution (I don’t see any line twist and so don’t see the need for a swivel).
It casts an unweighted Kebari/wet/or dry fly with a 9’-13’ #3 (0.286mm) fluorocarbon level line - but it needs an assertive cast snap for this weight line - it casts better with a #3.5 (0.30mm) line where the rod just pushes the line out easily for a waft down to water. It also casts weighted nymphs with 2.5mm tungsten beads really well, but struggles a bit with beads over 3mm and needs lobs - however as it is short it can do it easily and accurately
The short length also allows for very effective hook sets.
It has strength in the butt for playing fish, but I felt this rod starts to max out on >12” feisty rainbows- larger rainbows become a challenge - and also require a net (below 12” a net isn’t essential but helpful).
The butt plug is plastic and it looks like the screw thread in the handle is plastic or carbon (not metal). Extra weight in the handle is t needed as this rod is well balanced and light - it feels like it has very low rotational mass. The tip plug holder in the plug is a really great idea and innovation that was long overdue - once you use it on a Tenkara USA rod, it’s hard to not have it

The feel, finish, color, graphics, and presentation of the UKIYO are all excellent. We have more than 2 feet of snow here in Vermont now and I'm not fly fishing anytime soon, but I will keep you posted when I do

This is a do it all rod. I've used several rods from various other Tenkara companies. This is hands down my favorite. Super lightweight, compact, and can put the beating on heavier fish (even though it's designed for the little guys). Super sweet design and the performance is unmatched.

I've landed large Carp, buffalo, bass, catfish, several species of sunfish and trout.