Precision Casting

Most weeknights after dinner, Ash & I settle ourselves in the living room and flip on the television. Although I’m normally not an advocate of having the tv blaring 24/7, having shows blather on in Japanese has actually been a great help in my efforts to comprehend the spoken language… or at least, in actually hearing different syllables and words instead of blinking rapidly at the streamline nonsensical babble it used to be.

In addition to being a tool of language practice & acquisition, our television gives us a glimpse into the Japanese culture. We’ve seen some pretty awesome things, some rather disturbing things, some boring, meaningless things, and some downright strange things. I would like to share one of the latter with you.

Come with me into the wild world of “Precision Casting”! Remember, it’s the level of dedication and attention to detail that separates the mediocre dabbler from the triumphant Champion! Cash prizes, trophies, and fame are yours for the taking! It’s truly a manly man’s sport.

How it works:
1) Obtain specialized “fishing pole”- preferably one approved by tournament officials.
2) Tie an official-approved white weight where the hook normally resides.
3) Set a small wooden “target” on the ground.
4) Stand at a specified distance away from the target (this distance can increase or decrease, depending on the difficulty level attempted).
5) Cast the line, exactly like expert fishermen do.
6) Objective- Hit the wooden target with the white weight.

For you advanced casters out there, the objective is slightly different.
1) Set a can behind the wooden target (which should be standing upright).
2) Make sure the caster’s view of the can is effectively blocked by the wooden target.
3) Objective- Bounce the standard white weight off the grass at a certain angle and knock the can over… without touching the wooden target.

There are tournaments for this sort of thing. Seriously. Needless to say, the excitement factor reaches ‘mildly amusing’ on a good day.

But I have to admit, I was interested. You see, my brother and dad are avid fly fishermen. And so, this seemed like a sensible way for fishermen to improve their casting skills & accuracy when they’re not blessed with abundant locations to actually put their techniques into practice. They could be assured that on the rare occasion they actually made it to a river, they wouldn’t be having a bad day on account of their inability to cast their fly into the “right spot”.

But I was wrong. That’s not what “Precision Casting’ is for. There’s no hint that anyone would ever participate for any reason other than competing in its specialized tournaments.

Bottom line- This sport is completely unaffiliated with the wide world of fishing, besides sharing some commonalities like, you know, equipment and stuff.

Silly me.

So what does this mean? Just that there are a bunch of Japanese guys running around with the casting skills of a master fisherman, who have never set foot in a river or lake.

Freshwater fish are safer than they will ever know.



Disclaimer: This entry is simply one observer’s view on the sport. The sport’s official name, rules, and regulations are unknown to the author, who did try to find out more about it, but was thwarted by websites purely written in Japanese.