John,
As Heritage Angler said, welcome to the world of tenkara. Although tenkara won't do everything, you'll notice more and more places where it will work just fine.
When you demo the 12' Iwana, be sure to demo the 11' one as well if you do any fishing in smaller streams. If they don't have one in stock, ask them to order one at the same time they order the 12 footer. It is one sweet little rod. I wouldn't take it out looking for 20 inchers, but up to about 15-16" would be fine. An Ayu for bigger streams and 11' Iwana for smaller streams is a very nice combination.
Also, at some point you might want to try a light level line for your Ayu. It will cast a lighter level line than the Yamame, and you can fish a line longer than the 10.5' furled line.
quivira kid,
If by telescopic "cane pole" you mean the crappie or panfish poles, they're not really comparable. Before Tenkara USA opened its doors last year, I bought a number of telescopic panfish poles, both fiberglass and graphite, to try to get as close as I could to a real tenkara rod. A tenkara rod is designed to cast an unweighted fly using just a furled leader (or level line as light as 0x fluorocarbon for an Ayu) as the "fly line." Panfish poles are designed to cast either a weighted jig or a worm, split shot and bobber. They're not nearly sensitive enough (plus they're a lot heavier). Even the Yamame, which is considerably stiffer than the Ayu, has a more sensitive tip than a panfish pole.
I've written a lot about tenkara rods, but I can't give you a link. Google knows where to find me.
Edited to add: They're great for 'gills, too!
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