I want to engage in activities that allow me to face fish more deeply! Angler Yusuke.
Nice to meet you!
Nice to meet you, I am Yusuke Ota, a member of the Onagawa Town Community Revitalization Cooperation Squad and an angler. (An angler is a fisherman!)
I am currently working as a member of the Cooperation Squad on a remote island in Onagawa Town called Izushima.
In this space, I would like to write about my deeper thoughts, such as how I came to join the Cooperation Squad and what kind of activities I want to pursue, as well as the future I envision. I hope those who love nature and fishing will definitely read this.
Self-Introduction
I was born in Sendai in 1997 and am 26 years old (turning 27 in November). Although I am from Sendai City, I was born in the mountains, so my home was surrounded by forest, and I have been playing in the woods since I was about three years old.
I graduated from Miyagi University. I lived in Sendai for 22 years, and after graduating from university, I traveled by bicycle while fishing, and was drawn to the charm of Hokkaido, where I eventually moved. I spent three years in Hokkaido, and in October 2023, I began working as a member of the Onagawa Town Community Revitalization Cooperation Squad.
I have many hobbies, but the ones I have continued for a long time and have now gone beyond just being hobbies are fishing and snowboarding. Having spent much of my childhood playing in nature, I still love spending time in the great outdoors.
Student Days
In high school, I didn't have anything I particularly wanted to do, but I liked making things, so I took the entrance exam for an architectural design university. For the first year and a half after enrolling, I lived an ordinary life, focusing on clubs, hanging out with friends, and going out for drinks. Even though two years had already passed, haha. At that time, I was just thinking that it would be fine to get a job at an architecture firm and work there.
Meanwhile, I had the opportunity to visit a guesthouse at the invitation of someone. Not knowing what a guesthouse was, I just tagged along, and found a space where anyone, regardless of gender, age, or nationality, could enjoy meeting people and talking. Having always been interested in overseas, I became deeply immersed in guesthouses. (At this time, I still didn't have the courage to go abroad myself.)
Then I realized, if I come here, I can practice English! Later, through a university class, I encountered a guesthouse in Sendai called Umebachi. As ignorant university students in a group work class, we were rude to Umebachi in a certain way, and they stopped helping us. (Please go stay at Umebachi and ask them about this "certain thing"!) However, personally, I was deeply impacted by the words the owner said to me there.
So, I went back to apologize personally, talked with the owner again, and after that, I was allowed to continue visiting Umebachi.
At Umebachi, I listened to various stories from working adults and spoke with people from overseas in English, and within two years, I was able to hold conversations in English. That was the turning point that made me decide to go abroad. It was around the middle of my third year.
Although it wasn't an English-speaking country, there was a study abroad program to Barcelona at that time. With the encouragement of my seminar professor, I took on my first solo challenge abroad. I participated in an architecture program in Spain, and it was also a study abroad trip to find my future direction.
The learning and the flow of time in Spain were a series of shocks. I realized there was so much I still didn't know. Actually, my job hunting was almost finished before I went to Spain. However, the experience of living abroad made me feel that it would be a waste to just take a job.
After graduation, I set off on a journey.
After returning from Spain, the first thing I did was contact the company that had offered me a job. It might be a big decision for most, but at that time, the words "Could you please cancel my job offer?" came out easily. Thinking back now, I think I was just an idiot, haha. Even so, I still have no regrets about that decision.
After that, what I wanted to do was go to an English-speaking country. I decided to use a working holiday visa to go to Australia, finished the preparations, and was just ready to go!
Then, one week before my departure, the borders closed due to COVID-19. I worked part-time at the internship place that had taken care of me before, and waited for a year, but there were no signs of improvement. So, I decided to travel around Japan by bicycle. Since it's a long story, I will omit the details of the trip. If you are interested, please ask me and I will tell you. Simply put, it was a "journey to find a new place to live while eating the fish I caught."
And, in the middle of my journey, I became captivated by Hokkaido.
Moving to Hokkaido and Changes in My Approach to Fishing
In Hokkaido, I had many encounters, there was plenty of delicious food, and it was a comfortable environment for me since I don't like the heat. And above all, I was surprised by the richness of nature. In this land, I was able to encounter truly rich seas, mountains, forests, and rivers. This nature was very harsh. In winter, -15 degrees Celsius was common, and there were brown bears everywhere. Foxes carried echinococcus, and fish had various parasites. That's why it's good. "Harshness and richness are proportional." This was a great lesson. I fished year-round in such fields, and the number of fishing trips exceeded 250 per year. Fishing in Hokkaido is busy because the seasons change rapidly, allowing you to target various fish species. There are many types of fishing I learned in Hokkaido and many fish I encountered for the first time in Hokkaido.
A truly rich forest cannot be described by beauty alone.
As I continued fishing like that, my original motivation—which was to encounter big fish and enjoy the tug-of-war with nature—began to change.
By encountering many fish, I began to see their individual personalities, their beauty, and I became captivated by the charm of the fish themselves. Because of this, I sometimes felt a dilemma about fishing, which ends up hurting the fish. (I will talk about how I found the answer to this dilemma later.) At the same time, my desire to face fish more deeply and to face fishing more seriously grew stronger.
I want to do work and activities related to fishing and fish.
I want to do work and activities related to fishing and fish. As a first step, I thought I needed to raise my profile and become an angler recognized by fishing tackle manufacturers. So, I started posting every day on Instagram with the goal of getting 1,000 followers and a corporate sponsor. To post every day, I needed to have fishing results every day. Therefore, I would go fishing even during my one-hour work break or in 30-minute gaps. This is also thanks to Hokkaido, where rich fields are close by.
As a result, I posted every day for over half a year, gained over 1,000 followers, and was able to get a sponsor from a fishing tackle manufacturer.
Tap to go to Instagram!
And, to put it simply, this title is the reason I wanted to become a Community Revitalization Cooperation Squad member. While thinking about how I wanted to give back to the community and convey the appeal of fish more effectively during those activities, I found the recruitment for the Onagawa Town Community Revitalization Cooperation Squad. This was the catalyst for my decision to move to Onagawa Town.
My base of operations is Izushima, Onagawa Town
It has already been a year since I moved here and started working as a member of the Cooperation Squad. For this past year, I have mainly used Izushima as my base for activities. As for what I mainly do, it is creating tourism content utilizing fishing and maintaining the fishing environment. This is truly difficult. I want to create a fishing culture that is completely different from the fishing culture we have had until now. It is not just fishing as a leisure activity, but a fishing culture where you face nature and face the fish. I am working with the desire to aim for a sustainable fishing environment on Izushima.
This is because the field of Izushima in Miyagi has had little human intervention so far, and its natural richness is preserved.
I really struggled with how I should carry out my activities this past year, and I repeatedly tested things while refining my plans many times.
"Face the Fish" is, just as the name suggests, a project to face the fish!
I will talk about the background of how I arrived at the Face the Fish project again next time when I write an article.
Also, you can visit the website and Instagram for "About Face the Fish" via the links below!
It is a project proposed by anglers who love the sea and fish to create a sustainable fishing environment for both fishing and nature! I would be happy if many people, whether you like fishing and fish or not, would take a look!
That is all for this time!
