Tenkara ambassador and Tenkara USA founder Daniel Galhardo has a piece (Japanese Dreams: “Shower Climbing” in Search of Tenkara) in the newest issue of The Flyfish Journal (vol. 3, issue 3). You can buy the issue directly from Tenkara USA (including some TUSA stickers) – or of course anywhere the magazine is normally available.
The story is very well written. It explores the history of tenkara, the re-emergence of tenkara in Japan and Daniel’s personal tenkara journey. Just as Daniel uncovered tenkara from where it was hidden (in plain site), the careful reader will discover well-crafted and subtle metaphor and imagery in Galhardo’s story. Galhardo’s unsure and potentially disastrous climb up a Japanese waterfall mirrors his personal uncertain path from a successful and secure career to tenkara evangelist and Tenkara USA founder.
I love metaphor in this passage as Daniel describes his difficult climb up the waterfall:
A small overhanging cluster of bamboo far to the left started to seem more reasonable the longer I clung immobilized by the waterfall…I grabbed a bamboo stalk and slowly shifted the weight off my feet. I placed my trust in a root system that was out of sight under a thin veneer of soil.
A very good read – plus great photography. Also plenty of other great photos and writing in the issue too.
Anthony, thank you for reading and providing some new insights on what I was trying to say there. To be honest, the metaphor was not done on purpose, but I really like it and will henceforth say it was a purposeful metaphor.
Daniel – maybe it was unconscious, but I think it was on purpose. Your subconscious was puzzling it out without your conscious mind even knowing it. That’s the magic or writing – things come to the surface that we didn’t even know were there when we started. At least that’s what happens in good writing. Thanks for sharing your story (and for bringing tenkara to us).