September 13 2012
China, Day 4 – Yamame and more
Today is day 4 of spending time with our factories in China. It was a very productive day. Margaret joined me in evaluating working conditions at the factory that makes the Yamame rods for us. She provided a keen eye for detail; requesting that workers put on their mask even as they may not like doing it and those are available to them. A good portion of the day was dedicated to teaching tenkara to our rod engineers and evaluating rod designs and processes to ensure good quality control going forward.
I don’t have a whole lot to write about today. Normally this would be a quick writeup with pictures posted on our socialnetworks/microblogging platforms, but unfortunately I do not have access to those where I am. I will leave it at that so I don’t lose access to this blog as well.
Hi Daniel,
I have enjoyed following your journey this trip. It is wonderful that you take the time to educate those that produce your rods. I also like that you, through your company, are making American jobs. Small business owners rule!! Keep up the excellent work!
Have a safe trip home.
-Tom
Tom, thank you for the comment. I think it is important to make a point, through a concrete example, about how work with China can help create jobs at home too. I once heard someone next to me saying that he wouldn’t buy a fishing rod made in China, not knowing about my business. I wish I had taken the time to point those things out to him.
thats right, without the ability to use china there is a good chance that Tenkarausa would not be here today. and I find that prospect unthinkable.
by the way, what rod is that in the picture that your instructing the gentleman with? I like the color
Ummmm, what rod is that in the 1st picture.
TJ
Thank you Matt.
The rod is a prototype we have been developing for sometime. But, if the rod is released the color will likely be different. I had specified the color sometime ago but now there is another rod out there that resembles this one.
Funny, and I know what rod that is. hehehe. I saw it and did a double-take.
I like the bamboo kind of color but, oh well.
Since fish like purple, maybe that is a choice. Or red.
tj
Perfection breeds disappointment
Imperfection is happiness
Be happy
LOL
I know! It is tough to be a perfectionist…that’s why I let those typos go by 
Don’t see any streams in China! What part are you in? I have always wondered if china has any good tenkara fishing (i lived in japan for 6 years and there is some fun fly fishing there!).
Steve, I’m sure there must be some tenkara fishing in China, but it seems very difficult to find. The consensus among every person I speak to here is that there is no fish in any of the streams I point out in maps near the major cities. The vast majority (as in almost all) rivers here are polluted or have been overfished. However, when I was living here I did go to one pretty remote area in Northern China (ChangBaiShan), which is right on the border with North Korea (as in I could have walked into N. Korea), and the streams were clear and could probably have trout. I didn’t have a fishing rod with me then unfortunately. Also, the mountains in Yunnan should have something. I do want to come back and visit different areas here in search of trout one day.