Tenkara HooksThey do exist! Tenkara hooks! Designed specifically for tenkara. Do you absolutely have to have them? Of course not. You can use any hook you want. However, just as rods were designed specifically for this type of fishing, and lines were designed specifically for this type of fishing, there are indeed hooks designed specifically for this type of fishing. Owner, a well known maker of hooks in Japan, has two different hooks that they label as "Tenkara" or rather as テンカラ. Or, to be a bit more precise as 本流テンカラ, or Main Stream Tenkara and 桑原テンカラ, or Kuwabara Tenkara (Gentatsu Kuwabara is one of the oldest tenkara fishermen in Japan and Owner designed a hook to his specifications). 
The Main Stream hook has a shorter shank and a very wide gap - although not nearly as wide as some of the bait hooks that we've all seen tenkara flies tied on. The point is angled up to provide positive hooking. It has a micro barb and a very slightly turned down eye.The Owner Main Stream hook has a slightly differnt shape but is about the same size as the size 14 Daiwa 1130. Owner Main Stream Tenkara Hooks 
The Kuwabara hook has a longer shank and also has the point angled up for positive hooking, but does not have the wide gap of the Main Stream hook. It actually looks a bit like the Eagle Claw hooks I used as a kid.The Owner Kuwabara hook has a different bend shape, but is about the same size as a size 12 Daiichi 1550 wet fly hook. Owner Kuwabara Tenkara Hooks Eyeless Hooks
It turns out that the hooks I have been selling as Owner "Yamame" hooks are in reality the Owner "Super Yamame" and the company also makes a regular "Yamame" which is described below.The Super Yamame hooks are the normal bronze color and have a shape that is not quite as radical to Western eyes. These hooks are eyeless but they do have barbs. Owner Super Yamame Hooks 
A while ago I got in some "Amago" hooks made by Gamakatsu. Well, it turns out there are "Yamame" hooks as well, although these are made by Owner instead.Like the Amago hooks, the Yamame hooks are eyeless, and like them, they are also bright blue. It turns out that the hooks I had previously described as "Yamame" were actually the "Super Yamame" and at least for now I will carry both. These hooks are barbed. Owner Yamame Hooks 
The Gamakatsu "Amago" hooks may look a bit strange, but it seems a many tenkara flies in Japan are tied on bait hooks like the Gamakatsu Amago or the Owner Yamame. It is said that the hooks provide more positive hook ups because the tippet is attached to a flexible eye fashioned from silk cord or a bit of mono rather than a hard hook eye. These are barbless hooks, but because of the shape, or the flexible eye, or possibly a combination of both, they hold fish better than the standard barbless "J" shaped hook.Gamakatsu Amago Hooks
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