Ryo Watanabe

My guest this time is with aquascape lover and YouTuber Ryo Watanabe. Ryo has gained notoriety for his Japanese aquarium store tours, though his channel @RyoWatanabee features a lot of entertaining and useful videos about his own aquariums and his evolving fish room. Being based in Japan– the birthplace of Takashi Amano's Nature Aquarium style of aquascaping– Ryo has access to the hundreds of aquacaping-centric retail aquarium shops throughout the country. Showcasing these stores to a worldwide audience gives hobbyists and fellow aquarium shop owners alike a glimpse into the setups, systems, and practices of the huge Japanese aquascaping market. And Ryo's unassuming and endearing style makes his videos truly fun to watch.

In our conversation we discuss his humble beginnings in the aquarium hobby, ADA (Aqua Design Amano) in multiple contexts, Hakkai Stone, the current scene around the hobby in Japan, and of course plenty about Japanese aquascaping shops.

You Tube: Ryo Watanabe @RyoWatanabee

Instagram: @ryowatanabee