We all know that Japan has some of the coolest, strangest, and most effective lures for catching bass.
Some of them look awesome, some of them look very weird, but many of them catch tons of bass.
So let’s look at the 9 best Japanese bass lures that you need to try.
Japan takes bass fishing very seriously. And even more than that, they take fishing innovation very seriously.
Pete Przepiora said that, “The United States is in the stone age compared to them in bait innovation”.
A lot of the baits, lures, and techniques that are popular here in the states originated over in Japan.
So simply put, Japan is always ahead of the curve when it comes to fishing tackle and techniques, so their lures are often the best.
The Deps Wakasagi has recently become one of my all time favorite lures, so I had to put it as #1 on this list.
This lure is described as a finesse twitch bait. It is very small, very subtle, and has minimal action.
But that is what makes it so good. As you twitch or slowly reel the Wakasagi in, that minimal action is incredibly natural.
If you have ever seen a small minnow or baby bass swimming around, it doesn’t really have much action.
It just kind of darts or glides forward very subtly. Because of this very subtle and finesse design, the Wakasagi is definitely a clear water lure.
In muddy or even stained water, bass just aren’t going to know it’s even there. But in clear water, it is absolutely killer.
When the bite gets tuff and bass don’t want to commit to more aggressive lures, the Wakasagi is an incredible choice.
The Jackall Riser has actually begun to gain a lot of popularity among pro anglers here in the states.
From Japan with love, the Jackall Riser Bait 007 delivers a one of a kind, panicked action that recreates the movement of a baitfish as it skitters across the surface in an attempt to evade predators.
This action looks exactly, and I mean exactly like a real baitfish that is trying to excape.
Designed with a precisely angled, upward metal lip, the Riser jumps to the surface almost immediately, and generates an erratic skipping action that triggers explosive topwater strikes.
Backed by two sticky sharp Japanese treble hooks that provide unparalleled hook penetration, the Jackall Riser Bait is the new James Bond of topwater fishing.
The shad spawn and the fall are the two best times of year to fish this bait, as bass are dialed in on smaller baitfish up on the surface.
An innovative new approach to the exciting world of buzzbaits, the Jackall Gargle Buzzbait will take your topwater game to a whole new level.
Featuring a unique new blade design, it is built to create an enticing sound and blow-up inducing surface commotion.
In addition to the outstanding attraction properties, the blade is constructed around a free-swinging arm for an increase in casting distance and accuracy.
My favorite part about this buzzbait is the way the blade moves the head and skirt.
The free swinging blade causes a kind of pendulum effect on the lure.
Similar to how a lot of paddle tail swimbaits wobble and bend side to side, the Gargle does the same thing.
Traditional buzzbaits buzz through the water and remain completely straight. But the Gargle sways and wobble side-to-side while buzzing.
Small in size but big on action, the Duo Realis Shinmushi Cicada Bug delivers a strong-wobbling topwater presentation that attracts bass.
Its soft rubber wings catch water, creating a steady oscillation and wake, and also act as a braking system, allowing minimal forward movement when paused.
Built with a hard body and flowing silicone appendages, the bug features a detachable back for easy customization.
Detailed from end-to-end with a premium finish, molded accents, realistic eyes, and a feathered treble, it’s offered in several vibrant colors, delivering impressive action in a compact package.
The name is obviously a bit goofy, but it is also a pretty accurate description of the body style.
Poop baits are a soft plastic bait that was originally design and created in Japan.
Over the past few decades, Japan has become the forefront of bass fishing innovation and is regularly creating new, effective bass lures and techniques.
Poop baits are kind of like a very short, thick Senko style worm. And we all know how effective Senkos are.
They are made to be much denser and heavier than traditional stick baits, which causes them to sink very quickly, and cast very far.
This is incredibly useful because one draw back of a Senko style bait is that it is very difficult to fish in deeper water because of the slow sink rate.
I have a full article breaking down how to fish with poop baits, so if your interested in them I suggest reading that.
As you can see, the Driftfry is essentially a soft plastic minnow with a built in bill.
Designed for fishing the mid-strolling technique to target bigger bass, the is built with a fixed soft plastic lip that keeps a consistent depth and a tail fin that causes an extremely attractive twist-roll with added flash.
The Driftfry is essentially a compact, finesse version of the scrounger head jig.
Because of the finesse design, the Driftfry works very well in ultra clear water or when bass are very finicky.
Designed with the input of famed Lake Biwa fishing guide, Yuho Ito, the Geecrack Bellows Gill Creature Bait is an exciting new soft plastic bait concept that mimics the unique swimming action and broad profile of a bluegill.
Molded with a ribbing from head to tail to give the bait a natural feel once the fish bites, the Geecrack Bellows Gill Creature Bait displaces a tremendous amount of water for its size and creates a lifelike swimming action that is sure to fool the smartest bass.
The biggest advantage of the Bellows Gill is that the ribbed design allows you to rig it up on a standard EWG hook.
Most bluegill profile soft plastics are very difficult to rig because the tall, wide body shape doesn’t allow enough gap for the hook.
But with the ribbed body, the bellows gill will collapse on itself when you set the hook, much like a hollow body frog does.
It also comes in a paddle tail version that can be used to cover a bit more water.
Now, I’m going to be honest. I have no idea why this bait works so well. But for whatever reason, it does.
The OSP Saikoro is one of the most trendy baits out right now, and is sold out pretty much everywhere.
Again, I don’t know why it’s so good, but every strange looking bait that comes out of Japan seems to produce.
Designed in collaboration with OSP pro-staffer and renowned sight fishing angler Yuki Minemura, the OSP Saikoro is an extremely unique and powerful lure for converting stubborn bed fish into biters.
Maybe it’s because it looks so strange and unique, but yeah, it catches bass. You can even make them yourself to some degree.
Created for fishing over vegetative cover with the signature walk-the-dog style action, the Jackall Bounty Fish Soft Jerkbait allows anglers to fish a topwater in areas that simply can’t be done with hardbaits.
This soft jerkbait-style lure features a heavily ribbed body section to grab water and slow down your retrieve, so it’s easier to keep the lure in the strike zone longer and trigger aggressive bites.
An innovative Net-Joint system doesn’t just allow the Bounty Fish to walk with ease, but it also enables its fork tail to flutter and quiver erratically even on a dead stick.
For increased versatility anglers can also add a nail weight to the nose so it can be fished with a slow sink when the fish are less eager to breach the surface under a mat.
The Bounty Fish is also skips incredibly easily, which further adds to how good it is for fishing shallow cover.
Although these lures probably won’t revolutionize your bass fishing, they can definitely get you some extra bites.
Sometimes this is because the baits are just plain better than ours. And other times it is because the pressured bass have just never seen them before.
But whatever the reason, I highly suggest that you try out some of these baits.
