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The next shop on the list didn't seem very promising since it's located on the 7th floor of a big mall called "Links" in Umeda area. How big can it possibly be if it's just a shop inside a mall? Anyhow, I had captured this shot of the Links building from maps, and it's easy to spot at a distance once you exit the Umeda subway station. Actually if you leave the station via exit 4 or 5 you'll find yourself standing right next to the building.

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This mall is THE most insane place of commerce I've ever been to....

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Packed full of staggering amounts of goods in a manner that feels chaotic from afar, but it's actually pretty organised and everything is easily accessible despite the messy appearance. 

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Electronics? Camping supplies? Toys? Clothes? Books? Linens? Every single item you can think of is right there, short of a Boeing 747. They had several Boeing 737s though! Well, not really, but it wouldn't have shocked me.

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Even while taking a wee they make sure you're staring at posters featuring the hottest new items and discounts. I got to learn that I could get free delivery on big household items as I relieved myself. 

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It was at this exact moment that another cultural bomb dropped on me; facing the urinal and peacefully spraying in circles and triangles, a female attendant walked in to clean the floors. She was very casual about it, while I froze in utter horror and the stream came to a painful halt, not knowing what to do or whether or not I should finish with a woman standing two feet from me. She wasn't even an older "grandma" type who's significantly less intimidating, but a young woman whom I'd never want to see me doing this sort of bodily function. Seriously, all planes landing in Japan should have flyers informing tourists that females clean male toilets in that country. What if she had walked in as I let out a loud smelly fart? I would've collapsed and died of shame on the spot. Jokes aside though, this takes "high trust society" to a whole different level; I can't see this ever happening anywhere else without the women being, at the very least, flashed or subjected to sexual advances.

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"Bun Bun" fishing tackle is what I'm here for.

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The familiar "reels square" is right next to the door.

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That square is bigger and has more models than any I've seen so far.

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That's a tidy way to do it; flagship Saltigas at the top, both the discontinued 2020 offshore and 2023 inshore models, then right beneath them the second tier Certate SW, both 2021 and 2024 models, and beneath them whatever the shop considers to be the third or fourth grade models since what comes after the two top tiers is debatable in Daiwa's case. 

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Likewise, Shimano's Stella SWs at the top, Twin Power SWs in the second level, then lower models further down. The sign at the top of the display to the left states that the listed prices include the tax for Japanese residents but visitors get a tax deduction on purchases 5500 yen and up.

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Interestingly, a few Penn Authority reels can be seen in the bottom level of this Shimano case. Penn spinners have remained highly respected in Japan since the days of the US made skirted spool Spinfishers, which 30 years ago Japanese anglers would customise with power handles and catch big fish on them. Those old Penns were some of the earliest spinners that I considered to have a "serious" drag unit.

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They also placed a poster near the entrance promoting special deals on those Penn Authority reels. There is no bigger testament to the goodwill Japanese anglers have for Penn's name than seeing them displayed next to the products of the two national behemoths.

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An assortment of rear drag, free-lining, and long cast reels by Shimano and Daiwa.

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Everything is discounted.

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If you look closely you can see the full MSRP in small black font right above the discounted price in red font.

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With these discounts, and the further reduction of tax, it's no wonder that overseas visitors fill their bags for the sake of reselling. This unethical behaviour could very well partially explain why brands sometimes refuse to service reels bought overseas. Can't blame them

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Not my thing, but some eye candy for those of you who like them. Talicas in the middle, and to the right a branded Gouki reel. We've met Gouki at the show in the earlier parts of this article. 

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Even bigger discounts on some electric reels,and they made sure "Made in Japan" is prominently featured on price cards to let people know they're given top manufacturing quality for their money.

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I'm so glad I'm not into these types of reels. I'd be completely broke living under a bridge with nothing but a box of these pricey reels!

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These are raft reels, sometimes called drop reels, or inline reels. A hybrid of various reels types, they multiply the spool rotation, often have a free spool function for deep drops, as well as advanced drags, all in a simple form similar to a fly reel. They are quite popular for ice fishing.

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They come in all budgets, from the elementary to the high performance.

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You know the drill by now. Cheap reels on an open rack, even cheaper ones in buckets below them. This rack featured the likes of Shimano Nasci and Daiwa Revros....

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And the buckets had such basic stuff as this pre-spooled Daiwa Joinus (pronounced Join Us)....

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Or this pre-spooled Azus ProMarine, a branded OEM spinner that is a decent deal, no matter what, considering it only costs US $14.6 or US $13.15 tax free. That's cheaper than the KFC I ate earlier.

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A security tag on this? Yeah, right, because I'm certainly going to risk prison for this generic "Prox Nerost" worth US $25. Or maybe I should risk it? After all this is the upgraded SLJ model with the spherical grip, not the standard Nerost model. I mean how bad could Japanese prisons be anyway? Since I landed I have not seen a single Japanese person who's overweight or even heavy enough to force me to be his "wife" in prison, but yet again with my luck I'd probably be jailed with a retired sumo wrestler who chose a life of crime, and it won't be pretty. Once I reached that conclusion, I decided not to steal the reel and quickly placed it back in the bucket then walked away towards the lures before the temptation overwhelms me.

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A few jigs

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Some Daiwas were very budget friendly.

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Pretty amazing to still be finding brands that I haven't seen in previous shops, like these Galapagos "GA" jigs.

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Stick bait and poppers

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As usual, the pricier ones were behind glass.

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Love those stripes.

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The DaVinci jointed series by DOU for freshwater fishing, particularly bass.

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The Crosride Blade by Major Craft is made for shore fishing, interestingly connects to the line via its back instead of the mouth as usual. I believe this accounts for the shore angler's position, likely standing at a higher level than the water, therefore pulling the lure from its back keeps its head down in a more natural position instead of being raised upwards if pulled by the mouth. I have never personally used them though, just appreciating the design.

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The line section of this store was the biggest and most comprehensiveone I've seen anywhere in my entire life, both in terms of braid and fluorocarbon/mono leaders

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Just a few shots. It would take a dozen photos to show the entire thing.

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Some light braid was in the bargain bin on top of the reels' counter.

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Just a couple of quick shots of the impressively large selection of hooks/assists,

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Lubes and line care products, and in the second photo there is even a rod care spray by Daiwa, which covers a rod with a waxy layer to protect it from saltwater and sun damage. A level of specialisation that blows the mind of a non-Japanese fisherman like myself.

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Just like one would blow the brains of fish with these spikes. These are made to kill the fish instantly, with illustrations showing how the fish will react, essentially with a shocked expression and eyes that scream "Why are you doing this my dude?". Killing a fish instantly is quite useful to end its suffering, to stop it from flapping around in the ice box, certain species taste better if bled, and I sometimes stab a fish in the water if it's big enough to cause trouble and potentially escape while being lifted into the boat. It would also be useful for rock fishing where the angler doesn't have much space and could lose his balance if the fish flaps in his hand.

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A second superlative statement in this one shop; never in my life have I seen as big a collection of rods in any retail location worldwide.

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Left and right.

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Lining a wall and curving with the perimeter of the shop so that their end is not visible from where I'm standing!

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They had a great selection of the 3-piece Grapplers, but not at 50% discount like the previous shop. This one is an offshore caster. The jigging model I was after wasn't there, and again I was quoted a few days to get it for me which unfortunately I didn't have.

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Some lovely Saltigas here too, including the "Air Portable" model which is so beautifully finished with smoothly flexible joints I stood there slobbering all over it, despite being out of my price range for a rod that I can leave behind in a problematic airport without crying. 

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Some highly ornate rods here too. The artisanship is undeniable, but to be perfectly honest if I ever see you walking into the marina with one of these my face would reflexively have one nagging question;

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Not judging, just enquiring.

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Cases for rod transportation.

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Some are really REALLY pricey.

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The section for the "packing" (travel) rods was a most interesting one.... 

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Not because of that section's size. The 4th and final shop which you'll see later had a larger travel rod section....

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And not because of the variety of the offerings either. The final shop had the edge in this too....

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Rather this section was regrettably interesting because all the cases were empty. As mentioned earlier, travel rods are easily stolen because of their size, so this shop took this extra protective measure considering it's located in a massive mall that would attract the same dishonest overseas visitors who ruined the tax-free system, who'd flock there to grab electronics and expensive women's wear and shoes etc. That said, I prefer this empty cases approach to locking them behind glass as a previous shop does. If locked, I would need an employee to unlock it just to be able to read a rod's specifications on the case, but now I can access the cases and make up my mind then only call on an employee when I'm ready to move to the next step of actually handling the ones I'm seriously considering.

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Bun Bun in Links mall near Umeda is my number 1 on the list of 4 shops, with the greatest and most varied collection of them all. The prices aren't as low as some prices in the previous shop, but they are still discounted in line with the other two. A solid 9.5/10 from me, and it would've been a perfect 10 had the final shop not beaten it in a couple of aspects, as you'll soon see.  

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Took a stroll in the surrounding area and randomly arrived at this building, which is partially Osaka train station and partially a department store called Daimaru. Unlike malls, which have a collection of independently owned and run shops, a department store is a more traditional establishment in which everything under the roof belongs to the store itself, and goods are displayed in a tasteful manner with elegantly uniformed employees standing everywhere ready to help. Daimaru would basically be the equivalent of Selfridges or Harrods, except that Daimaru is still Japanese owned whileSelfridges and Harrods are now owned by Thais and Qataris respectively.

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Lovely atmosphere right outside the station/store building. With street music and happy people stopping to listen the whole thing was beginning to feel more like a dream than reality. No one tried to snatch the instruments, no thugs leaned over and took the coins and notes people dropped for the artists, nothing. Tranquillity and civility through and through. 

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Inside, the station is insanely busy but not chaotic. Waves of people flow smoothly in all directions without any slow choke points. A funny thing kept happening in such crowded areas; because the country is extremely homogeneous with easily 98% of people around being Japanese, foreigners like myself stick out in the cowards, and form an unspoken kinship with other rare foreigners. I'd be going with the flow surrounded by a hundred Japanese people, see a foreigner in the opposite flow surrounded by a hundred Japanese people as well, and our eyes would meet and exchange a quick silent greeting that probably goes something like;

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- Hey you're not Japanese

- Yeah you too are not Japanese

- Nice seeing you

- Thanks mate, now bug off

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Station art.

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Let's step quickly into the Daimaru.

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That's too many people. Go home and let me explore in peace, I've only got one day left.

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A heavenly creature was handing out tasters of these prawn crackers, apparently baked with real prawns, and they were mesmerisingly tasty. I jokingly said to her "these are lovely, you must have backed them yourself", but sadly she spoke no English so she just responded with a confused smile. It was then that I truly missed being able to flirt with random women and receive the disappointed eye-roll in return. I can't achieve the full potential of my cheesiness if women don't understand a word I'm saying. Sad. 

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Better get on the subway and find something to eat.

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Now that I've become emboldened to try the local cuisine, no more fast food for me. Let's see what they've got over there.

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I want this, especially with the unbelievable taste of prawn crackers still in my mouth. Unfortunately though the portions looked too small to quell my hunger, so I continued on, seeking something chunkier.

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Bentley! I wonder if they too do the tax-free thing and would knock US $35,000 off the price. 

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Ferrari too. Final glimpses of greatness before they go all-electric and become as bland as every other electric vehicle.

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McLaren as well? That's one posh neighbourhood. 

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Either someone was test-driving it, or an employee was transporting it from one showroom to another. It just sounded amazing, and I will dearly miss the music of a fine-tuned internal combustion engine when they're all gone.

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This shrine was nearby.

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The stone should have information about the shrine's history, but unfortunately I wasn't able to read it.

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A water fountain, approached respectfully and ritualistically by people.

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Pretty charming, despite not knowing what any of it means.

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People quietly and respectfully went up the stairs and pulled that rope to ring the bell. If I am to guess, I would say the place is around a hundred years old, and it's meticulously kept and maintained down to the small bolts of the brass fixtures on the stair rails.

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You won't be exactly shocked to hear that I left this magnificent place feeling depressed, having just seen emotionally-intelligent people showing respect and appreciation for their history and culture and what their ancestors worked hard and fought to create, and contrasted that with the venomous self-loathing and hatred young Westerners harbour for their own culture and forefathers. It's not even based on any defensible principles, rather merely one part of an unjustifiable all-out attack on everything that's meaningful, starting with basic human decency and not ending with biological facts and reality itself. In this particular context, as I left the shrine I was getting flashbacks of Western museums and historical houses that are being methodically wrecked, such as the National Portrait Gallery where some historical paintings were removed and replaced with modern photographs of obese people and contemporary paintings supposedly about "oppression" and "patriarchy" that are objectively hideous. Or even worse, a flashback to this....

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I photographed these stickers in the Natural History Museum shortly after the world lost its mind in Summer 2020, where the custodians of the museum disparage their own collection by calling it "colonialist" and promising to make changes for inclusivity, whatever that means. Basically a vow to manipulate science and fictionalise history in the world's preeminent knowledge, discovery, and research institution since 1753. Colonialism? Yeah, because no one except those pesky Europeans ever colonised another place or went on wars of expansion, right? I mean the Umayyads who ruled Southern Europe for 300 years arrived there via student exchange programs, correct? And certainly the Mongols took over Central Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and East Mediterranean for almost 200 years via elections, right?

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An intellectually mature and emotionally intelligent person would not single out one group of people for the way everyone lived back then, and would instead be thankful that the times of violent conquest are over then live in perpetual appreciation for the civilisation their fathers and grandfathers sacrificed to build for them. Knocking down the pillars of one's own civilisation in a fit of drunkenness on illusions of moral superiority will only hasten our collective careening into the abyss, and ironically those leading the charge now will pay the dearest price once we've reached where they're taking us.  

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Sorry about this digression, but pretty much everything I've seen on this trip sent me through a repeated cycle of fascination followed quickly by a mournful sadness remembering how large swathes of the world used to be like this before they chose to give it up and embrace their own doom. 

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I was no longer in a good mood at that point, so decided to postpone the next venture into the Japanese kitchen to the following day, and instead took a stroll in a covered arcade and picked some packed sandwiches from a 7 Eleven then went home.

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A few picks from that day's shopping. FINALLY found the elusive blue Cuddler 185 (top) and bought 5 pieces of it, got 5 pieces as well of Maria's Loaded 180 (bottom), and only 2 pieces of the DUO Fumble 230 since I don't reach for these larger stick baits often enough. The Loaded and Fumble are Japanese made, the Cuddler is Chinese, all of them are constructed of plastic.

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The Loaded is very well made and has nice detail, which admittedly doesn't affect the bite rate nearly as much as the overall action does, yet I still appreciate the craft. The eyes and gill plates are three-dimensional, how neat is that? It comes with oval split rings, and these do have a practical advantage that I'll explain later.

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The nose ring of the Cuddler is angular, supposedly to maintain the same point of pull for consistent action. Love you Daiwa, but this is nonsense. Too many components in-between with endless variables involved for this bend to make any difference in action compared to a standard circular ring.

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The Fumble's head is also three dimensional, the hologram reflections are crazy, and I have a feeling that this protrusion in the belly is the thick steel wire holding the mouth, belly, and tail rings in one powerful connection. I was disappointed to see small damage in the finish caused by the swinging of the belly's split ring during transportation. A light ring like this should not have enough momentum to damage the finish of a premium lure no matter how many times it rubs against it.

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I was lucky enough to pick the outgoing 2024 edition of the Saltiga catalogue, which is the final edition to feature my beloved 2020 model, along with other high-end products bearing the "Saltiga" name.

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I had also picked the newer 2025 edition at the show, featuring the next generation Saltiga spinner. These are all available in digital format, but I was excited to get the physical copies for my special collection back home....

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This. A tiny collection of Japanese language catalogues of flagship reels and a DVD, going back as far as the 2008 Stella SW debut catalogue. Yep, still a kid at heart, and will never grow up enough to quit getting excited over glossy reel catalogues.

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The fourth and final stop is "Fishing Eight" in Umeda, which is another location for Fishing Eight, whose main shop was the first one featured in this article. The shop is easily accessible from both Higashi-Umeda and Nishi-Umeda subway stations, and it's actually a short walk from the Links mall where Bun Bun fishing tackle is located. I highly recommend taking this walk from one shop to another because the area has countless things to see and places to eat and shop.

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Here it is, with "tax-free" on two big big flags just in case anyone was unaware.

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Similar to their main shop, pre-order discounts are the first thing one sees, right above the now infamous 2025 brand catalogues with their ever-changing pricing from one place to another! 

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Giant lures, with my hand in the shot for scale. Remember the Megalodon from the aquarium?

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Rapala being a Finish company, back in the day the Finns gave these lures to their trading neighbours, the Vikings, in exchange for fur and horned hats, and the Vikings would use these giant lures to troll for Megalodons as a source of food on their long journeys to pillage Northern Europe. It is said that Vikings' overfishing caused the Megalodon to go extinct, but some scientists disagree and say that Megalodons died off because of toxic masculinity and white (shark) supremacy. I know you're thinking that I'm making this up, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Find the source below.

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* Source; vol 15, page 243, Trust Me Bro almanac

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One final look at those racks packed with all sorts of braid and monofilament. Can't believeI'll go back to ordering spools online, if I could even find them, then paying delivery and waiting weeks for their arrival. Sigh.

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The familiar classification of rods using images of the target fish.

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Similar to their main shop, their offerings of premium offshore rods stand out, bearing premium price tags of course.

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For example this heavy duty caster by "CB ONE", a brand I stopped by at the show.

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Lovely debossing on the case.

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Now I'm about to enter the packing (travel) rod section, and simply put, it's unmatched. No place else comes close.

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They had a large number of these travel rods fully assembled for easy inspection.

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With photographs of fishing safaris in their background to get the customers all pumped up for action...

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