We all can read about the "Passion Makes No Borders Tour Summer 2013" by Takatoshi Murase on Facebook. That one, who deosn´t know Takatoshi, in Germany he is near a hero for many of (joug) anglers.
Today the blog of city-angler proudly present you the english Version, or better the "Uncut - Version" of the Interview from Takatoshi Murase to his "Passion Makes No Borders Tour" of Summer 2013, were he comes to Europe especially for us, to Germany. I hope i ask Takatoshi questions were you are interested in. Now i wish you a lot of entertainment to read this interview, lets swicht to it and have fun with the city-angler blog and Takatoshi Murase!
Lets go!
- Interview -
Takatoshi Murase
"PASSION MAKES NO BORDERS
EURO TOUR 2013 SUMMER"
CA:
When did you have first time the idea “PASSION MAKES NO BORDERS
EURO TOUR”?
Taka:
CA:
How long did you plan the Euro Tour for?
Taka:
I planned it for 2 and half months, starting on
July 1st through September 16th. It had to be within 3
months since foreigners are only able to stay in Germany without any type of
visa up to 3 months. But, as you notice 2.5 months is long enough to say crazy.
Not lot of people can do this kind of reckless stuff haha. Obviously I had to
quit all my jobs and sacrifice myself for this tour. Not easy.
CA:
I understand that you slept at private housings not Hotels. Did
you get to know all contacts through Facebook?
Taka:
Haha yea, this is the interesting thing about me. I’m obviously
not a pro angler or anything, besides I have no stable job in Japan, pretty
much always have to find part time work. So, I have no sponsorship to support
my activities and this Euro Tour. Now, whom am I going to talk to? Friends! You
know I have been talking to lots of friends around the globe through the social
network, the best way to contact with them so far). Even way before I started
the tour, I was talking to one of my good friends from a little town near
Hamburg about my tour, and he asked me “Taka, how and where would you stay
during the tour?” And I said “I’m still looking for the place I can stay, but
my financial status wouldn’t be not strong enough to go through 2.5 months of
staying at a hotel.” He went “Okay, I have an extra room you can stay during
the tour.” I was like “You are my Hero.”
That’s how it went, and since he was so kind enough to make me
stay at his place throughout the whole tour, I decided to set on his place as
my home base during the tour.
It helped so much traveling around the different
countries in Europe, going in-and-out Hamburg. Pretty much I have made it
through the whole tour because of his relentless support, which I would never
be able to accomplish the Euro Tour without him. I would say having a home base for this kind of big tour is very
important. You may get tired of traveling all the time and obviously you might
feel going back some kind of home where you can relax or so. It also helped
leaving my extra baggage staying at his place. You don’t want to bring them all
when you travel. I was always able to leave extra ones at his place when I go
out for travel or trip to other countries. I would just take stuff that is
necessary for the trip. Very convenient. But, afterwards all my friends and fam. I visited during the tour
made me feel like being home since they treated me like a part of family so I
had at least no problem with getting homesick or anything like that.
That’s how it went, and since he was so kind enough to make me
stay at his place throughout the whole tour, I decided to set on his place as
my home base during the tour.
It helped so much traveling around the different
countries in Europe, going in-and-out Hamburg. Pretty much I have made it
through the whole tour because of his relentless support, which I would never
be able to accomplish the Euro Tour without him. I would say having a home base for this kind of big tour is very
important. You may get tired of traveling all the time and obviously you might
feel going back some kind of home where you can relax or so. It also helped
leaving my extra baggage staying at his place. You don’t want to bring them all
when you travel. I was always able to leave extra ones at his place when I go
out for travel or trip to other countries. I would just take stuff that is
necessary for the trip. Very convenient. But, afterwards all my friends and fam. I visited during the tour
made me feel like being home since they treated me like a part of family so I
had at least no problem with getting homesick or anything like that.
CA:
Did you have a favorite fish on this Tour? Which one do you like
to angle most?
Taka:
Wow, that’s a tough question. I personally enjoyed every single
species I fished during the tour-Perch, Pike, Dorsch, Chub, Asp, Zander, Brown
Trout, and LargeMouth Bass(Portugal, Spain, Croatia, and Italy). Be honest with
you, I really can’t pick one. I really enjoyed every single game in those
species. To me Perch and Pike fishing were more like fishing bass. Of course
they are still a lot different than bass, but I found lots of similarities in
them. For instance baits. Spinnerbait is a very effective bait for bass as well
as Pike, especially when they come up and hanging out in shallow waters and
covers. So it was not that hard to adapt myself to Pike and Perch. But, Zander
and Chub are the ones I had hard times to get used to. I would say they are
very sneaky, picky, and extremely shy, especially Chub! But like I said, they
are all fun to fish! Always challenging!
CA:
Did you buy any special baits for the European fish or did you use
the same baits you throw in Japan?
Taka:
Not much, I mean I just packed in baits I already had that I
thought it would work for the European predators. Like I mentioned in the
previous question, I knew most of baits I use for bass can apply to most of the
predators there so I didn’t really have to buy stuff before I fly over,
otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford all that stuff after spending so much
money for airplane tickets all the way to Germany haha
Our reader and guest author Nico K. wants to know, on which way do
you find the “fishing hobby” and what makes it to the best hobby in the world?
Taka:
Hi, Nico! Nice to hear from you. That’s a good question!
Fishing is the best thing I found in my life so far for sure, but
you know I don’t consider it as a “hobby”. Hobby is something that you do it
because you simply like it or maybe just killing time during your free time.
Fishing is not like that to me. It’s more like Fishing is a part of my life,
something I’m living for. It’s through my blood. How I ended up loving fishing
so much? It’s a destiny!&Our reader Frank P. wants to know how did you see German fishing
rods, reels, and baits. Is the quality in Germany the same, better, or poorer
than in Japan?
CA:
Our reader Frank P. wants to know how did you see German fishing
rods, reels, and baits. Is the quality in Germany the same, better, or poorer
than in Japan?
Taka:
I actually didn’t get to see much German fishing products while I
was there. But yea, I visited some local tackle shops such as Moritz. My
impression when I went to the shop for the first time was I saw more Japanese
stuff like ILLEX, DAIWA, KEITECH, etc., so I really didn’t pay attention to
check out “German-made” products.
I was just overwhelmed how popular and widespread Japanese products are there. Reminds me of when I go fishing with my friends in Germany and check out their tackle box, everyone would have Squarells and Swimg Impacts, you know what I mean? Anyways, I think in Germany they have a good variety when it comes to soft swimbaits for Zander, Pike, and Perch. I saw so many different sizes and shapes in the tackle shop, almost gives me a headache haha But yea, it’s what makes fishing more interesting and fun having lots of choices in your game, and yes the quality is good as far as it catches fish!! Petri!
I was just overwhelmed how popular and widespread Japanese products are there. Reminds me of when I go fishing with my friends in Germany and check out their tackle box, everyone would have Squarells and Swimg Impacts, you know what I mean? Anyways, I think in Germany they have a good variety when it comes to soft swimbaits for Zander, Pike, and Perch. I saw so many different sizes and shapes in the tackle shop, almost gives me a headache haha But yea, it’s what makes fishing more interesting and fun having lots of choices in your game, and yes the quality is good as far as it catches fish!! Petri!
CA:
We all saw that your rods got broken on the way back to Hamburg
from Valencia, Spain during the airplane transportation. How did you get
replacement for the rods? Did you buy something or did you borrow them?
Taka:
It was probably only what I consider a “trouble” during the tour,
and it was a horrible one. It was the right in the middle of the Euro Tour that
I still had many places to visit for the rest of the tour, and I got this
problem. I was like “How could I catch fish just with a reel?!”
But, fortunately my friends were kind enough to let me use their
rods during the trips, so I didn’t have any problems continuing the tour. I’m
just truly glad to have good people around!!
CA:
What was your best adventure during your Euro Tour?
Taka:
After having so many unforgettable times/moments with good people during the tour, there is nothing like picking the best. Every adventure and trip during the tour was just eye-opener for me. Every experience I went through with them was new, inspiring, exciting, touching, and impressive. But, one thing I found that changed my personal view was when I visited one of my friends who is still 17 year-old kid and lives in a small town near Bremen. He let me stay his house with his family for 2 nights in the weekend. His family treated me just like a part of the family, very kind, warm, and close, which made me feel extremely comfortable and safe even though I had never been in that town and never met them before. Once I made people I can call “fam.”, it was so hard for me to leave Germany finishing my tour. I got so emotional when I had to say a good-bye to them on the day before I had to fly back to Japan. That’s something I didn’t expect this kind of thing would happen during the tour. It wasn’t surely just about fishing, but “connecting and uniting” with people as my motto says “PASSION MAKES NO BORDERS”. The reason I love traveling around the globe, meeting good people and become good friends and even family. I definitely would love to come back to Germany in the near future. I miss my fam. and friends.
I felt very content and happy just spending time with them. To me, they are my family in Germany.
After having so many unforgettable times/moments with good people during the tour, there is nothing like picking the best. Every adventure and trip during the tour was just eye-opener for me. Every experience I went through with them was new, inspiring, exciting, touching, and impressive. But, one thing I found that changed my personal view was when I visited one of my friends who is still 17 year-old kid and lives in a small town near Bremen. He let me stay his house with his family for 2 nights in the weekend. His family treated me just like a part of the family, very kind, warm, and close, which made me feel extremely comfortable and safe even though I had never been in that town and never met them before. Once I made people I can call “fam.”, it was so hard for me to leave Germany finishing my tour. I got so emotional when I had to say a good-bye to them on the day before I had to fly back to Japan. That’s something I didn’t expect this kind of thing would happen during the tour. It wasn’t surely just about fishing, but “connecting and uniting” with people as my motto says “PASSION MAKES NO BORDERS”. The reason I love traveling around the globe, meeting good people and become good friends and even family. I definitely would love to come back to Germany in the near future. I miss my fam. and friends.
I felt very content and happy just spending time with them. To me, they are my family in Germany.
CA:
In Germany the topic Catch and Release is controversial. What do
you think about that? Do you take fish home to eat sometimes?
Taka:
I personally don’t take fish home unless I’m trying to survive out
of hunger. I have heard a lot about it from my friends during the stay in Germany that we are not supposed to release the fish we catch. From my personal view, it’s really about taking a good care of
fish as far as we fish and are dealing with the nature. I wouldn’t hate or
complain about people opposing to C&R, but here is the thing. Catch and
Release is a very mature way to learn and understand not just about fish themselves,
but the great mother of nature. By practicing it, we learn how important taking
care of fish and to be part of the nature where we appreciate its energy, power,
inspirations, resources, and so forth. WE, anglers feel it through C&R.
And, to me that’s the significant factor for us to keep the water nice and clean
as well. Because if you can’t take care of fish, how could you take care of
their environment and keep it nice as it has always been?
Ultimately, I think Catch and Release is the way to closely connect
us to the nature and “learn and appreciate” its resources where we all came
from.
CA:
Last question. Did you
like the German culture and how did it taste German beers?
Taka:
Oh do I have to answer this one?! I actually loved it so much!! Of
course those beers in Germany are so good! I’m actually a wine guy, but after
having so much beer there, it made me a beer guy! It was that good. I had so
many “Prost!” with my people during the tour haha
Along with the awesome beers, I loved all the cities I visited
from North (Schleswig-Holstein) to South (Bavaria), with so much green, historical
buildings, very pretty housings, all that things I saw during the stay were so
inspiring and adding my view completely different perspective about life! I
already miss it! I could live there for sure!
Lastly, I want to thank the readers for reading my interview all
the way through the end and also sharing the passion with me!
Special thanks to my friend Sascha Gerber for giving me a great
opportunity here to spread the passion toward what we all love.
Thank you so much, Danke!
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Takatoshi Murase
Tokyo, Japan
Admin:
The pictures in this interview are
provided through Takatoshi Murase. If you see yourself and you dind´t
want it please let me know and send me an e-mail. The adress you can
find in the "Impressum"
Thanks for your appreciation!