Quote Originally Posted by JohnnyV View Post
the faster the action, the lighter the line. 8:2 being the fastest action tenkara rod being produced right now is designed to cast the 2.0-2.5 lines.
Actually it is the other way around. The softer the rod the lighter the line it will cast. In order to cast a line easily, the rod tip needs to whip forward after you stop the forward cast. An 8:2 rod won't give you much whip so it needs a faster casting stroke and works best with a heavier line. A very soft 5:5 rod, on the other hand, will give you a pretty substantial forward whip with even a very light line. For both rods, a lot of the forward whip is caused by the inertia and momentum of the rod itself because a size 2 or 2.5 line is too light to load the rod.

Quote Originally Posted by JohnnyV View Post
Diawa, Shimano, Nissin, and Sakura all make rods specifically designed for level lines and rods in the same model and length for taper lines.
Daiwa, Shimano and Nissin do have models that offer different stiffnesses and lengths. Sakura doesn't. They do offer different lengths in each model, but not stiffnesses. Their Kongo models are only offered in 7:3 and the Seki Rei model is only offered in a 6:4.