1984. Miyako Koi farm – Araya village.
This farm is only a minutes walk away from Miyatora up the steep concrete banking and is a much smaller outlet altogether.
On arrival, there were three small outdoor concrete ponds and one small indoor Koi house, little has changed here over the years.
The owner, Seiichi Miya is a a very outgoing and sincere individual who always comes over to me as happy and contented.
On one occasion our truck becamed bogged down in mud high above the Miyako farm. We saw Seiichi below us and shouted to him. He spotted us and waved to say he had seen us, within minutes he came to us with his truck and a tow rope. He pulled us out of the mud after a few minutes, smiled and then returned to his farm.
Seiichi produces limited stocks of Sanke and Kohaku but I have sometimes found and purchased the odd rarer variety here.
I have also picked up pieces of Nishikigoi history here such as early forms of water heating that he demonstrated to me.
My first impressions – ‘happy and contented with his lot’.
