Kuma Eging & Fishing: Osaka Tackle Show Day 3, 4 and 5

Now things started off ok on day 3 but went down hill pretty quick.

I had felt fairly ordinary the night before but just put it down to lots of hours on planes and playing with tackle and not enough hours sleeping so I figured a sleep in was needed as I had seen most of what the show had to offer.

the show entry to one of the halls at 1230pm

I woke up at about 1030 in the morning and slowly made my way over to the show, things were not looking good, I had taken my jacket off and put it back on again about 5 times before I got through the door, I had a massive fever, hot and cold flushes and my head felt like it was in a vice.

I soldiered on for a couple of hours but was invited to sit down and have a drink in behind the Gan Craft stand, that was it for me, in a matter of minutes I was asleep and would not see the show until they started pulling it down around me. Now I dont know how many of you have traveled before but a million things start going through your mind from the basics of where can I get some drugs that I know are safe for me to take through to the will I be quarantined on my way back into the country This is when you realize how important your friends are to you. and how much you rely on the help of people you dont know.

Mr Hiraiwa always pulls a crowd

It was now after 2030 pm and we had collected my bags from the Hyatt and were on our way to Tannabe City with a dinner stop along the way. I needed something with some heat in it to clear my head and also something cool to do some though soothing, I was with a party of about 20 other Gan Craft folks and yes there were some odd looks when I got my soup with a side order of Pizza uncut so I could roll it up like a kabab and my 3 bowls of icecream. LOL give me a break I was sick LOL.

We got to the hotel and by now my body was struggling with fever, I had some pills packed away incase so started a coarse of ibuprofen to regulate the fever and relieve some body aches .

The next day I got a call from Kotaro asking me how I was feeling and yes after a sleep I was feeling better, I took my pills and was picked up ready to face the day. We made a stop to a tackle store as I wanted another Daiwa Ryoga for a rod I have sitting in a tackle store back home and some more size 6 squid jigs which I have only seen in this store. Shopping done we went back to the Gan Craft Office to wait for all of the people involved in the show to join us and we were going to head to the very same restaurant I celebrated my birthday for a post tackle show breakdown and dinner. However this was not going to be happening for me as I took another turn for the worse and found myself back at the hotel passed out until the following day.

Gan Craft Killers rods during production

Although I was feeling much better by the time I received a call from Kotaro the next morning I had run out of Ibuprofen, so Dr Google helped me find the equivalent in Japan and recognize the symbol for what I needed and the appropriate dosage, just as well because if I had of gone in asking for Panadol I would have been given period medication for my cycle LOL. I managed to find what I needed and we again headed for the Gan Craft Office to actually do some work on the web site (more about that later).

A rare oppurtunity presented itself to me again while I was here, last time it was a suprise trip to the factory that makes Gan Craft Lures but this time it was a trip to the factory that builds all Gan Crafts Rods. I have seen and heard many rumors about Gan Craft Rods all coming from Chinese factory, well to my suprise not one single rod comes out of China. They are all built right here in Japan and I can now say that I have been in the factory and seen it for myself. I was not able to take many photo's in the factory for obvious reasons but I managed to get a few shots off so you can see for your self, please note that in the photo's below I have pixulated soem of one of the images out, this could not be avoided sorry.

Shuryku (spelling) my fave place

It was getting late so dinner plans were made at my most fave place in all of Japan. Some of you may remember the Izakaya restaurant I visited last year that belonged to my friend Akio, we also had a massive BBQ in his car park outside his place too. Well we were booked in again to visit his place. When ever any one says to me what is Japan like, this is where my mind takes me as in encompasses everything good about this great place. The food, the company, the comfort and the genuine welcome you feel just by being in the room, I love this joint and the people that make it what it is and wish I could pack it up and take it home with me so I could share it with everyone at home.

Akio, the man who makes the restaurant what it is
doing some magic at the table

Home time again and back to the hotel to get some more rest as I am still not quite 100% right yet and I want to go and cast some stick baits around in the next day or 2 so I need to get better.