Can you identify this rod?

[gpwhitejr]

I have this bamboo fishing rod that I think my father bought at a yard sale. I believe it is a convertible rod, which can be used as a fly rod or spinning rod. It has five sections, including two identical fly rod tips and a spinning rod-type tip section. It seems to be in pretty good shape. There are a few Japanese characters on it, but no other identification (unfortunately I don't read Japanese). In case anyone can identify this, here are a couple of pictures (provided I have figured out how to work the photo attachment process):



By the way, I have done some fishing with this thing. I tried a 4 weight line, which seemed a little light. So I tried a 6 weight line which seemed a little heavy. I do not have a 5 weight line, so that's probably the correct one (of course I'm not a great caster so take it for what it's worth).

 

[Ard]

I'll leave this one to Rip Tide, I've never seen one finished black.

 

[sweetandsalt]

I could not possibly ID this but the middle depicted section appears to convert this from a three piece fly rod with spare tip to a two piece gear casting rod!

 

[Rip Tide]

I'll leave this one to Rip Tide, I've never seen one finished black.

I've never seen one like that either. Obviously it's Japanese, but it looks a lot spiffier than the normal $3 ones that you usually see.
I think that you'll find that a 5wt line might be a little light as well. Rods like that are meant to be 6wts

 

[Ard]

I'm curious about the black finish, that is black isn't it? If so it (given the vintage) would have to be either lacquer or shellac right?

 

[falcon53]

Covert! you pay extra.

 

[gpwhitejr]

I could not possibly ID this but the middle depicted section appears to convert this from a three piece fly rod with spare tip to a two piece gear casting rod!

That is correct.

It is indeed black. My brother (a professional archival carpenter/furniture restorer) says that it is lacquer. It is pretty much flawless. I did try it with a 6-wgt line and that seemed heavy, but it might just be my modest skill level.

 

[gpwhitejr]

By the way, I made a nice case for it out of PVC and some green paint. My wife made me a rod sock with five separate compartments out of some leftover fleece fabric. It is excellent protection (thicker and softer than the commercial ones), as long as you can get past the lime green background and pink flowers.

 

[littledavid123]

Difficult to see but the ferrules may be of a higher quality than normal for Japanese rods and with the black lacquer this may have been a dressed up presentation rod (still doubt that is has much monetary value). The only thing that really matters is does it cast well and do you like it.

Dave

 

[gpwhitejr]

Oh, Ididn't think it had any monetary value, I was just wondering what it is. I found this on a different forum (if it is inappropriate to post quotes from other site, I apologize):

"For the last time, Japanese rods were made by the millions, they are worth about $75-$100 in excellent condition. They make excellent display pieces, but are not great fishing instruments. Most of them came in wooden boxes, and they were combination rods, meaning they came with two fly tips and a bait/spinning rod tip. (I will delete any more postings requesting information about Japanese rods made from 1945-1965.) This is not to say that modern Japanese rodmakers do not make excellent rods. The examples I have seen, are equal to any rods being made worldwide."