Official corporate information lists the company’s headquarters in Tanabe City, Wakayama, with Takanori Hiraiwa serving as its representative.

Takanori Hiraiwa is the central figure behind Gan Craft. Unlike large tackle corporations with diverse product divisions, Gan Craft maintains a strong association between the brand and Hiraiwa’s personal approach to lure design. Product materials frequently identify him as the designer and developer behind the company’s major releases 3. His influence is particularly evident in the development of the JOINTED CLAW; retrospective material marking 15 years of the product identifies Hiraiwa as the developer who continued to fish the lure extensively over many years.

Hiraiwa’s design philosophy prioritises functional movement over visual imitation:

Don’t simply make a lure that looks like a fish; create a lure whose movement itself makes fish react.

This approach explains why Gan Craft products emphasise body articulation, water resistance, swimming trajectory, balance, retrieve speed, and subtle changes in movement rather than aggressive vibration or flash.

The JOINTED CLAW 178 is the defining product of the Gan Craft brand. It is a multi-section hard lure designed around a wide, natural S-shaped swimming motion. Rather than relying on a conventional lip to generate action, the articulated body allows the lure to move through the water with a flowing, gliding trajectory. Gan Craft refers to it as the original S-shaped big bait, noting that its action opened a new approach to big-bait fishing 4. The 178 model is approximately 178 mm long and falls within the 2 oz class, available in both floating and slow-sinking configurations 5.

Significance in Modern Bass Fishing

Traditional bass lures typically relied on established categories such as crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, topwaters, soft plastics, or conventional swimbaits. The JOINTED CLAW offered a distinct alternative by producing a broad S-shaped glide during a relatively slow retrieve, rather than wobbling or rattling aggressively. This characteristic made it particularly effective for targeting large, wary bass in clear water, shallow structure, and pressured fisheries where slow presentations and realistic prey imitation are critical.

The lure helped establish big-bait fishing as a specialised discipline in Japan. Modern practitioners often focus on concepts such as glide, S-motion, wake, rolling, side-to-side travel, and follow-up behaviour. Independent retailers and industry sources describe Gan Craft as a pioneer in Japanese glide baits, with the JOINTED CLAW regarded as one of the world’s most recognised swimbaits.

The Japanese term S字系 (S-ji-kei) translates to “S-shaped type” and describes a lure whose body travels through the water in a repeated S-shaped path (← ~ → ~ ← ~ →) rather than a straight line. The JOINTED CLAW achieves this through its articulated body construction, creating the appearance of natural swimming rather than mechanical vibration.

Subsequent products have refined this concept. For example, the JOINTED CLAW 148 utilises a narrower S-shaped swimming path and faster action than the original 178, allowing for use in tighter cover or against fish that may be hesitant towards larger presentations 6.

Many Gan Craft products carry the designation 鮎邪 / AYUJA, a name strongly associated with the JOINTED CLAW family. The name references ayu (鮎), the Japanese sweetfish, which is a key native prey species and a familiar visual reference in Japanese freshwater fishing. The brand extensively uses realistic Japanese baitfish patterns, including Ayu, Ugui, Oikawa, Hasu, Wakasagi, and gill-inspired designs. The official colour lineup for the JOINTED CLAW 148, for instance, includes multiple Ugui and Ayu patterns 8. This focus distinguishes Gan Craft lures from generic American-style colours, grounding them in specific Japanese forage species.

Gan Craft has expanded the original JOINTED CLAW concept into a comprehensive product family covering various sizes and applications.

JOINTED CLAW 178

The foundational model and most iconic Gan Craft lure. Its relatively broad S-motion serves as the basis for many subsequent models and is used for general big-bait and glide bait presentations 9.

JOINTED CLAW 改 148

A smaller version featuring a tighter swimming trajectory. Measuring 148 mm and weighing approximately 1.5 oz, it is suited for situations where the 178 is too large or has an excessively wide action 10.

JOINTED CLAW 70

An extreme downsizing of the concept at 70 mm. Available in floating (approx. 4.1 g) and sinking (approx. 4.6 g) versions, it demonstrates that S-shaped action is not restricted to large bass lures 11.

JOINTED CLAW MAGNUM

Designed specifically for monster bass, this model exceeds 20 cm to create a significantly larger visual profile and attraction radius 12.

JOINTED CLAW 230

A giant extension of the original concept, measuring approximately 230 mm and falling within the 4 oz class in certain configurations. Special colour versions are also available for this size.

JOINTED CLAW 303 尺ONE

One of the most extreme members of the family, measuring 303 mm and weighing approximately 9.3 oz. It is intended for massive bait presentations and is listed among the company’s major bass products 29.

JOINTED CLAW ZEPRO

The ZEPRO adapts the S-action concept for extremely shallow water. Designed to operate from just below the surface to roughly 30 cm depth, it features an upward-gliding action and creates a wake-like surface disturbance 6.

While the JOINTED CLAW dominates the brand’s reputation, Gan Craft produces a diverse range of other bass lures, including the S-SONG, KAITEN, SCREW BAIT, Z-CLAW, OSA, BACRA, BARIKI SHAD, SHAPE-S, BIG SPIDER, and various buzzbaits and terminal tackle 12.

Z-CLAW

Historically significant, the Z-CLAW is the pencil bait that gave birth to the original S-shaped concept behind the JOINTED CLAW 13. It demonstrated that S-motion could be generated through body shape and water interaction rather than solely through articulation. The modern Z-CLAW was revived through a collaboration between Gan Craft and ROSSO CORSA 14.

S-SONG

The JOINTED CLAW S-SONG 115 is a flat-sided S-shaped lure derived from the original concept. It features a Front Groove to manipulate water flow and tungsten weighting to lower the centre of gravity, facilitating techniques such as straight retrieves, bottom staying, twitching, and jerking 15.

SHAPE-S

The JOINTED CLAW SHAPE-S explores whether the natural S-shaped action of a hard lure can be reproduced in soft plastic. Developed using knowledge gained from hard-plastic lures, it attempts to replicate the characteristic response to small water currents and line tension in a soft material 16. The rear body includes an air hole to allow the lure to remain on the bottom while producing subtle tail movement 26.

Gan Craft has expanded beyond bass fishing into dedicated saltwater applications, covering eging, squid fishing, offshore fishing, saltwater plugs, jigging, and soft plastics 17. Notable saltwater products include:

• 餌木邪 / EGijya: A dedicated squid-fishing egi series available in multiple sizes (3.0, 3.5, Deep, 4.0) and extensive colour selections 22.
• UO-jya: A saltwater-oriented lure series.
• JOINTED CLAW 70 SALT: A saltwater adaptation of the compact JOINTED CLAW.
• JOINTED CLAW RATCHET 184 SW & 144 SW: Dedicated saltwater versions of the RATCHET platform 18.

This expansion demonstrates that the company’s philosophy of creating highly controlled, high-response lure actions is applicable beyond largemouth bass fishing 23.

RATCHET Generation and ROM System

The JOINTED CLAW RATCHET series incorporates the ROM (Range of Motion) system. Components such as ROM dimples, ROM dampers, and ROM tails alter how the secondary joint behaves according to retrieve speed. At slower speeds, movement is restricted; at higher speeds, increased water resistance allows for more dramatic joint action. This enables the lure to transition effectively between slow S-swimming, digital retrieves, fast retrieves, and hard jerks 24.

SHIFT Series

The JOINTED CLAW SHIFT 183 and the larger SHIFT 263 represent further evolution of the platform. The SHIFT 263 measures approximately 260 mm and weighs around 4.8 oz, utilising three hooks to improve landing performance on trophy-sized fish 19. These models treat the lure body as an engineered platform for different speed ranges and conditions rather than merely offering cosmetic variations.

Gan Craft manufactures fishing rods and related tackle alongside its lures. The bass catalogue includes the KILLERS-00 rod series 27. A notable model is the SUPER BRAIN, a heavy baitcasting rod designed to Takanori Hiraiwa’s specifications for powerful presentations such as heavy rubber jigs 4.

The company has also engaged in collaborations with other manufacturers. The T3-MAGO, created for the 10th anniversary of the JOINTED CLAW, was based on a DAIWA T3 reel and customised through SLP WORKS, resulting in a three-company collaboration focused on big-bait application 28.

Gan Craft is associated with meticulous lure finishing, emphasising detailed body shapes, realistic colouration, specialised hardware, and replaceable tails. The brand developed REALIVE FINISH, a printing technology using Roland DG UV printers to achieve highly realistic finishes 20. Colour schemes frequently imitate specific Japanese forage fish rather than generic categories.

Many Gan Craft lures are designed to be tuned by anglers. Variables such as weight, tail configuration, retrieve speed, line angle, and sink rate can be manipulated. For example, replacement tails for the JOINTED CLAW 148 are sold separately to alter rolling behaviour, stabilise the lure at high speeds, or adjust casting distance 25. This has fostered a strong tuning culture among users.

Gan Craft maintains a professional staff ecosystem featuring anglers such as Takanori Hiraiwa, Geki Yoshida, Masaki Onaka, Toshifumi Kikumoto, and Yuya Nakahira 7. Official media channels provide lure demonstrations, development stories, tuning guides, and professional fishing footage 31. This content is essential as Gan Craft products often require specific techniques beyond simple casting and retrieving.

Originally a domestic Japanese brand, Gan Craft has achieved significant recognition internationally, particularly among enthusiasts of JDM tackle, glide baits, swimbaits, and trophy bass fishing. International retailers describe it as a key Japanese swimbait manufacturer 21, and the JOINTED CLAW is widely recognised in the global big-bait community 32. The company maintains a dedicated English-language website to support its international presence 22.

As of 2026, Gan Craft continues to develop new iterations of the JOINTED CLAW concept, with products like SHIFT, RATCHET, and ZEPRO demonstrating the ongoing evolution of S-motion engineering 30.

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