Over the past few weeks there have been four actual examples where Eric units have been recently installed on new Koi ponds.

Mark Miller installed an E3 unit in Essex.

His brother Steven Miller installed two E4 units, again in Essex.

Susan Campbell started up an E4 unit in Montpelier, France.

Sam51 installed an E3 unit in Holland.

Mark, Steve and Sam have known all about NPS through other filter systems they have used but in Susan’s case, this is her very first Koi pond.

Here are some of their comments posted on ‘Them There Koyas‘ forum – I have highlighted the important parts in red.

Re: C’mon, E owners, out with the truth!

In a nutshell, what all four are reporting and questioning is -

• 1. They all have never had any real ammonia readings and wonder why?
• 2. They ALL have ridiculously high and so-called ‘lethal’ nitrite readings.
• 3. Their Koi live in these so-called ‘lethal’ readings totally unaffected by them.

In short, they are all wondering exactly why NPS has passed them by when using Eric units?

OK, I’m going to explain exactly why, knowing full well the explanation will also offend and rile many out there.

There will also be others who will not exactly relish reading it – but I’m also equally sure there will be many others who will thank me profusely for it and they are the ones who really matter after all.

NPS is simply a myth handed down from aquarium technology; it’s an abbreviation for ‘New Pond Syndrome’.

This describes a period between where a pond is started up for the first time and the time it takes for the biological filter stage to ‘mature’.

All newcomers are warned well in advance that there will be nightmare readings of both ammonia and nitrite in the pond water which are positively dangerous to the Koi in the pond if these readings are allowed to continue.

So they are then given instructions as to how to dilute these harmful effects by reducing feeding and changing huge volumes of water.

Talk to those who have experienced it all and they’ll confirm it can last for weeks or even months on end and some will also describe how many Koi were damaged or even lost directly because of the dreaded NPS.

NPS does exist but it’s not an abbreviation for New Pond Syndrome – it’s an abbreviation for ‘NAFF PHILTER SYSTEM’ and it’s about time the myth is exposed for what it is.

Here are some of the most popular filter systems that are all guilty in producing these nightmare water conditions -

1. These units are known as bead filters and the manufacturers would have us believe that the arrows shown denote how they operate to supply incoming water to the bead media.

When in truth, this is what’s taking place. Pumped water doesn’t ‘bend around curves’ it takes the shortest route to the exit and that’s a straight line. The water in the curved areas went in on the first fill and that’s where it will stay until the unit is drained.

2. These are square, rectangular or circular single chamber or multi-chamber boxes that hold a static media such as filter mat cartridges. And the arrows shown is how the manufacturer thinks they operate in getting incoming water to the media surfaces.

When in truth, this is what’s actually taking place – either by pump or by gravity. Water rises evenly on first fill but doesn’t ‘hang a left 90 degree angle’ or ‘hang a right 90 degree angle’ when it reaches the surface in order to get to the exit! Again, the water surrounding the tracking line went in there on first fill and will remain there until the box is drained.

3. These boxes are identical to those in 2 above but instead of static media these are filled with moving media driven around by aeration. Once again the arrows denote how the manufacturer thinks they operate in getting incoming water to the media surfaces.

When in truth, this is what’s actually taking place – again, either by pump or by gravity. Andy
In these three most-popular examples, the water tracks directly from inlet to outlet as it must do in any upward-flow box and the amount of media surfaces it actually ‘contacts’ on its travels is precious little when compared to the amount of media that’s actually inside the boxes.

All three examples are little more than useless in getting the incoming toxic pond water into contact with any more than the smallest area of media surfaces but 1 and 2 at least have a static area that the tracked water passes through.

This is not the case in 3 where random pieces of media pass through the tracked water only very occasionally before being dragged into areas of dead water – think about it!

Now, whether the reader wishes to thank me or wishes to crucify me for mentioning all of this means little to me, but the reasons as to why the myth that is NPS takes place in these boxes is simply because there’s so little actual media contact with the water passing through.

As a result it takes an ‘age’ for any real signs of a biomass large enough to mature the pond water and when it finally does, it’s destined to be always balanced on a knife-edge – especially in times when medications need to be added!!

But DO heed the warnings given regarding NPS because high ammonia readings in the water that are allowed to continue unchecked are extremely dangerous to the Koi in the pond.

Now check back to those who are making the comments at the start of this article and ask yourself why there’s not one single mention of NPS there?

There’s no mention of it because, in those boxes, it doesn’t happen – ever.

And the reason for this is simply due to the total coverage of ALL media surfaces by the incoming water – right from the very moment the filter system is started up, after this it is in permanent contact.

Water temperatures do play a part in just how quickly it takes for the first brief blip of ammonia to come and go – and it does – but there are very few Eric owners who actually witness it!

And the Nitrite readings?

Oh yes, there’s plenty of that as you can see from the comments and some of the levels of 2.0 are said by many out there to be positively lethal to our Koi.

Even levels of a mere 0.3 are said by some to be absolutely intolerable for our Koi.

Check the posts above again – carefully.

Even at a howling 2.0 nitrite content, the Koi in these ponds don’t even notice it – they don’t scratch, they don’t jump, they don’t sulk and they don’t die – they just carry on feeding and then go looking for more!

A reminder – it’s 2012 right now; I reckon it’s about time we woke up to reality!

Waddy 09/05/12.

Footnote.

I watched all the postings made on these matters as they were actually happening and also knew the outcome well in advance from previous installations.

Had there been any concerns on my part regarding ANY problems along the way I’d have contacted the owners immediately – be assured, there were no problems – only superstitions and fears resulting from flawed and hopelessly outdated bad advice.

In many parts of the world right now we are in the winter season, which is an ideal time to check out our filtration systems.

It’s true still the vast majority of filtration systems used by Koi keepers today come under the general heading of ‘upward-flow boxes’ (link opens to ERIC Pond Filters).

There are many cases where these filters appear to be fine visually to the casual eye, but more often than not, this is not the case and I have also explained the reasons why this catches many Koi enthusiasts unaware.

Please check this one out. (link opens to ERIC Pond Filters)

If you need further evidence to consider regarding the ultimate water flow-pattern in Koi pond filtration units also then please check this next link out.

How water actually moves forward constantly as a ‘block’. (link opens to ERIC Pond Filters)

Please be assured, it makes very good sense!

Waddy.

The first time I actually witnessed this being carried out was in Hiroshima in spring 1983 and have watched it take place on countless occasions since when the breeders do carry out cosmetic surgery on some of their tosai.

However, please don’t point the finger at the breeders; it’s the collectors who are to blame for all of this.

Many years ago it was the collectors who first said –

‘We don’t want males’.

‘We don’t want Koi with deformities’.

‘Lesser varieties should be cheaper than Go-Sanke’.

‘Beni should not fall on the dorsal fin’.

‘Loose areas of beni are not desirable’.

‘Menkaburi patterns are not attractive’.

‘Beni should not fall on the eyes’.

And many other similar statements, although we have all seen shots of All-Japan champions with beni on the dorsal, beni on the pectorals and several that have had beni over one eye.

The collectors set these ‘rules’ originally, the breeders merely listened and the very clever breeders obliged – hence the start of cosmetic surgery.

There are still a tiny minority of breeders who refuse to ‘interfere’ with their production but, as far as Go-Sanke tategoi are concerned I’d have a guess that 85% to 90% of the ones you see on the photos have been ‘tweaked’ when they were tosai.

As to the vast majority of Japanese Go-Sanke seen for sale throughout Europe today, don’t worry, they have not been ‘tweaked’ – a breeder doesn’t waste his time and energy with those Koi that have very little end value to him.

It’s also worth pointing out that in terms of ‘numbers’ of Japanese Koi produced and sold, only 0.5% to 1% have been ‘tweaked’ – if that.

Incidentally, this rarely is carried out on Koi older than tosai.

In the overall picture it’s really not that big a thing to consider when there are untold millions that end up like this.

It is interesting studying some Go-Sanke tosai tategoi just before they are placed in the field ponds for the second year.

In ’99 I persuaded Toshio to let me buy a few (not cheap) and bring them home to show customers the truth of it all.

Each and every one had a gaping hole right through one of the gills where unwanted beni had been removed with this stuff.

Some wounds were even infected with algae.

Of course, the breeders know, that by the time the harvests come around, that 95% will show no signs of any past damage because everything will have regenerated in the warm water by then – everything except the ‘loose’ beni that is.

I think I brought ten of these back to the UK and placed them in a separate pond – even the guys who worked with me were horrified and some customers believed they had been infected with an unknown ‘gill worm’ that would transmit to the other Koi.

It was only after explaining to my guys and others that these ‘damages’ were really perfect trademarks and absolute guarantees that the Koi themselves were valuable and thus ‘costly’ – that it did eventually register with some.

Some days later, four guys came in from the south coast and paid my asking price for all of them. They said they had a large portable swimming pool set up with good aeration and a constant trickle of water going in.

The Koi were placed in the pond and the water turned pea green; water readings were monitored closely as the feeding rates were high.

In autumn one of the guys rang to say that one Koi’s gill was so badly damaged they had to put it to sleep but the other nine were absolutely perfect and also very beautiful.

If these ‘dirty deeds’ are carried out properly – and, believe me, it is an ‘art’ – then there isn’t a Koi judge in this world who can say, with hand on heart, that any Koi HAS been surgically modified or HAS NOT been surgically modified.

I’ll mention one more thing, all these modifications are made to enhance the pattern – not the ‘body’, the ‘skin’ or the ‘pigmentation’ and still the majority of Koi judges are taught that ‘pattern’ is not important?

No one seems to be horrified with boob jobs, lip jobs, nose jobs, tummy tucks – don’t even mention tattoos to me please.

Even Bobby Dylan reckons he still can’t tell a real blonde from a fake!

Waddy.

If we go back to pre-WW2 days in the mountainous areas of Japan’s Niigata Prefecture – (and exactly ‘how far back’ has not really been determined with any real accuracy) – but it certainly was the ruling Samurai classes who owned the vast majority of the land in those very early days.

The mountainous areas to the left of the road that joins Nagaoka to Ojiya cities, then known as Nijimura (20 hamlets) and later to become Yamakoshi was an area where few outsiders ventured.

Only the peasant farmers working for their Samurai landlords eked a meagre living for their families in those territories.

It was then an inhospitable area made up of mountains, rock escarpments and valleys and whilst trees and grasses were abundant, the harsh, deep winter snowfalls put paid to any thoughts of keeping and farming cattle, pigs or sheep.

The only food items, aside from poultry and eggs, that could be produced in this area with any success were rice and vegetables but only in the spring to autumn months.

Whilst it was possible to supplement their vegetable diets in the summer months by way of sea fish that had to be eaten immediately before they rotted.

Alas, Japan’s native species of river and lake fish rarely exceeded 9” long and the majority of these were not easily found in areas such as Yamakoshi.

The peasant farmers concentrated on rice production by carving out flat areas on the mountainsides and forming them into paddies in all manner of shapes and sizes. As the mountainsides continued downwards and into the valley below, the rice paddies also followed this downward path. The intensely warm summer months hardly produced sufficient rain that was vital in order to irrigate and grow the rice and so huge, deep reservoirs were excavated at the very tops of the mountains.

The winter snows filled these reservoirs to the brim after it melted in late April and a series of wooden gates controlled by unreliable wooden ‘monks’ could be lifted when necessary to release the vital waters down into the paddies below.

Now here’s some guesswork on my part but I would doubt very much if any of these peasant farmers had ever heard the word ‘magoi’ in their lives? So how magoi actually arrived in Yamakoshi must either have been by way of ‘those in the know’ – presumably the landlords who had travelled to distant parts or agricultural suppliers in the cities?

Magoi, the black carp, were not indigenous to Japan and thus had to be imported live which must have been almost impossible back then, in view of the fact that transportation was by way of wooden containers (that leaked and had to be constantly topped-up) and the fact that there was no supplementary aeration possible other than by splashing surface water by hand or by pouring from a jug.

However and whatever – magoi eventually found their way into Nijimura for one reason and one reason only and that was to provide fish for the peasant farmers in order to supplement their vegetable diets.

Once again carp were introduced to Nijimura in order to provide food and that’s all.

The peasant farmers who hitherto specialised in rice and other crops, then also had to become food fish farmers something totally alien to their traditional way of life.

Did someone teach them how to produce fish eggs or did they just bumble through it all and eventually come up trumps? I really have no idea – but they did manage to breed their parent stocks and produce some fertilised eggs.

These precious eggs were allowed to hatch in the reservoirs mentioned earlier, they fed on the infusoria and insect life in the water after it had first been enriched with liberal amounts of chicken manure.

Over the hot summer months, the carp fry grew in the reservoirs and by late autumn they needed to be harvested before the winter temperatures set in. At harvest time they varied in size from 2” to 4” maximum and all met the same end by suffering a slow death encased in salt, the only preservative readily available in quantity at the time.

These small salted carp were eaten with relish – eyes, bones, intestines, fins and flesh throughout the winter months and were praised as being a true delicacy and, as experience in carp production increased, so too did methods of keeping parent stocks alive throughout the winter months in order to breed them again the following spring. Excavating ‘ponds’ in the earthen floor of the dwelling houses did much of this after filling them with spring water and then providing aeration throughout winter by hand.

Incidentally, small magoi can still be purchased for food today albeit now sealed in sterile plastic bags and preserved in oil.

Once again, this only revolved around the production of black carp for food but now follows ‘the mistake’.

The mistake was that the magoi farmers had no idea that there were so many different ‘strains’ of magoi, nor were they even remotely concerned just as long as the males and females continued to produce eggs that could be grown.

Mucking around with different strains of magoi resulted in messing up the gene pool although no one knew it at the time and as the interbreeding continued by mistake so too did the gene pool continue to ‘mix’.

Some years later, at harvest time, there were some magoi showing coloured scales and whilst most were eaten as usual, a few people became mystified with these cuties and decided they’d take them home to keep as pets.

And that was the very early but also the very true tale surrounding the birth of Nishikigoi.

Many years later when questions were first raised (far too long after the event) as to where coloured carp came from, many experts opined that it was the mixture of ‘Asagi Magoi’ and ‘Tetsu Magoi’ that was responsible.

Personally, I believe there is a lot of ‘conjecture’ involved here!

Who is still alive today who really knows the truth of it all?

Nothing was documented officially apart from a few short sentences in the records of the Yamakoshi village office.

However, as the years progressed, the humble black magoi was transformed into a very colourful creature that became FAR more valuable to TREASURE than to EAT!

From Mistake to Mystique!

21/11/11

As mentioned at the start, this trip was a holiday for me plus a chance to meet up again with friends I have known for at least 30 years – and that’s a long time!

So, to Toshio Sakai, Masaru Saito, Tsuyoshi Kawakami, Seiji Hiroi, Mitsuo Hasegawa, Daisuke and Toshinori Ishihara, Fujio Oomo, Makoto Tanaka, Seniichi Mano, Hisashi Hirasawa, Shigeo Tanaka, Miya Seiichi, Isao Hashino, Hajime Isa, Kazuto Igarashi, Seiji Tomono, all at Seitaro, all at the Grand Hotel and all at Nomole and others – thank you all sincerely for your usual, wonderful welcome.

For Marco, Andy and Susan, all avid Koi enthusiasts, this was the first time they had ever visited Yamakoshi, the place where it all started.

Every day I did try to explain where we were and where we were going and so did Hilary but, for first-time visitors, it is all very confusing and hard to take in.

Thankfully everyone returned with hundreds of pictures to remind them of the visit.

On several occasions I was asked to guess prices of certain classy Koi before asking the breeder and my guesses were all near the mark, several were even bang on the nail.

For me, it’s the very first time I didn’t have hours of paperwork to do after a day in the mountains and that was a welcome bonus!

Some had mentioned how much Koi Japan had changed since my last visit but the only changes I noted were the increase in footbaths that no one used; the fact that you need an age-verification card before you can buy fags from a machine and the hitherto unimaginable new rule that there’s no smoking allowed on all trains!

Of course there were several other parties from the UK and Europe who made it back for the harvests.

There were both dealers and enthusiasts in these parties but I’d hate to have the job of buying any Koi for resale at the current exchange rates – I certainly couldn’t even consider it.

Moving on……of course the other reason for going back was the Koi! Here are some of the ones that caught my attention – excuse the photos.

A beautiful sansai Kohaku at Marusei.

Nisai Showa at Isa.

Sansai Shiro Utsuri at Yagenji.

Gosai Jinbei Sanke at Izumiya.

Yonsai Sanke courtesy Toshio.

Wonderful nisai Kohaku at Yagenji.

Remember this at Hansuke?

And this gem at Shintaro?

Sansai Showa at Isa.

Showa oyagoi at Marujyu.

Tategoi – another from Toshio.

Shiro Bekko – yes, Shiro Bekko at Yagenji.

Last, but not least 22cms tosai Showa at NND – what do you think?

Of course there were many others but, as they say, all good things come to an end.

All that was left was to face the flight home, remind me never to use Virgin Airlines ever again!

I hope you all enjoyed the journey though, Sayonara!

Waddy.

The interview was recorded and the others in the party listened in.

It was a significant investment to build the new facility at NND and one of the main reasons for this was to be able to get more indoor water space after having rented many more mud ponds from Yoshinori in Yomogihira.

This takes the total of mud ponds at NND to a massive 170 and all these have to be managed!

He explained that his real goal is to produce Koi in Yamakoshi that can become larger than the norm and also be able to achieve this quicker than the norm.

There were many Go Sanke tosai at the farm; some were 26cms long and still only five months old. He reckons by adding heat to the indoor ponds in the winter and feeding them correctly, they can be around 42cms before they are placed out in the mud ponds next June.

If this dream is achieved he sees no reason why he cannot harvest some 60cms nisai in October 2012.

60cms and only 17 months old – is this really possible?

Makoto has already produced several Sadazo/SFF Sanke at 58cms and they are only 17 months old.

And then he pulled out his large hand-drawn plan to show us the real aim of it all, which is to produce some 80cms Koi in 36 months from birth!

The food he uses is no different to the budget-priced food that’s commonly used by many breeders in the area.

I asked Fujio if he had a large enough customer base to sell all his Koi to after producing them and he mentioned that his customers some years ago were all based in Europe and the USA but now he has new customers from many other parts of the world including South East Asia.

Every Koi house has footbaths to walk through before entering with signs such as this.

There are similar ones at most breeders in the area. I asked Fujio the significance of these and he mentioned that he felt it important to be aware of the possibility of disease transmission from other buildings.

‘Are you saying that this liquid can destroy a virus that may be on one’s shoes Fujio’? I asked.

‘No, Peter san of course not’ he replied.

‘Presumably you dissolve some of the disinfectant into water before filling the baths, do you know the concentrations Fujio’?

‘Not really Peter san, different breeders use different concentrations’.

‘Well what’s the point of it all then, or is it simply to show visitors that you are being careful’?

‘Yes it is, especially with the past problems of KHV’.

‘When was the last time you saw or heard about an outbreak of KHV in this area Fujio’?

‘I never witnessed it Peter san but heard there was a new outbreak around two years ago. I have never heard it mentioned since then though’.

I mentioned that on my previous visits, this time of the year would see the mountains alive with overseas Koi dealers and collectors but on this visit I did not see anywhere near the same numbers.

He confessed that his autumn sales were currently 10% down on last years at this moment but expected many more to visit before the end of November.

‘What are your thoughts on fewer visitors coming to the area today than they were before Fujio’?

‘Well, the biggest problem is the exchange rate that visiting buyers have to face today, it’s a big problem for them and also for Koi breeders like us, surely this is a big concern for you Peter san’?

‘Of course it is Fujio, do you think the world recession also plays a part’?

‘Not so much as the exchange rate Peter san’.

‘OK Fujio, let me put another question to you. Do you still see anywhere near as many wealthy collectors coming along to find and buy special individual Koi at prices from one million to ten million yen each like the many wealthy customers who came here with me from 1998 to 2003’?

‘No Peter san, this is true although some of these special Koi now are bought by collectors from South East Asia’.

‘Why do you think this is Fujio, very wealthy collectors will not really be that concerned with world recession and exchange rates will they’?

‘Do you have thoughts on this Peter san’?

‘Yes I do Fujio but first may I ask if the top Japanese collectors still continue to leave their very best show Koi with the breeders they bought them from instead of keeping them in their own ponds’?

‘Yes of course they do, this hasn’t changed as far as I’m aware’.

‘Do the Koi bred here and those that are left here by the collectors produce traces of hikui and shimi Fujio’?

‘No, not that I’m aware of, certainly ours do not’!

‘Well Fujio, I have visited many ponds owned by Japanese enthusiasts and many overseas enthusiasts over many years and many of their Koi are covered in hikui and shimi which really makes them almost worthless’.

‘Ah yes, on a visit to England I visited a pond where there was much hikui on most of the Go Sanke. The owner told me he never changed any water like we do, he said his filter system did not need water changes; I tried to suggest he should make some water changes’.

I paused and Fujio looked at me.

‘Peter san, are you saying that hikui and shimi are the main reasons why many wealthy collectors no longer buy expensive Koi’?

‘I am saying exactly that Fujio!

Now, here’s another important question Fujio – what are your reasons as to why the breeders here do not produce shimi and hikui and yet the ponds owned by the collectors do?

Incidentally, I have never seen hikui and shimi in ponds that have been running for less than 30 months’.

‘I don’t really know Peter san so I can’t comment especially since most of the collectors in Japan use ponds and filters almost the same as the breeders use’.

‘Yes Fujio they do but there is a difference, a very big difference. The collectors have to run their ponds for many years but once you place your Koi into the field ponds all your indoor systems are cleaned and even sterilised. If the truth is known, the breeders have no experience in keeping Koi in a re-circulating system that’s more than nine months old’!

I’m almost sure I heard a penny drop somewhere in that room……………?

Believe me, NND is WELL worth a visit!

More soon.

13/11/11

The Nishikigoi Niigata Direct (NND) outlet was originally formed some years ago by Fujio Oomo owner of Oomo Koi farm, Makoto Tanaka from Marusyo Koi farm and Yasuaki Kaneko from Kaneko Koi farm.

This year the company has expanded with a brand new large facility close to route 17 between Nagaoka and Ojiya and have also added a new member of staff Tamikazu Kobayashi mainly to handle the paperwork side of the business.

Because Fujio speaks perfect English, and after he’d got over the shock of seeing me back in Yamakoshi, I asked him if he’d let me conduct an interview with him and also let the others in the party listen in.

He readily agreed and a date and time was arranged, this gave me some time to think of questions I’d like to ask him.

(A little background is needed here first.)

I first met Fujio in ’93 in Nagaoka where he owned a very high class Kimono and accessory store at a prime location on the main street. He had lived in Nagaoka all his life, only a short drive to Yamakoshi but rarely visited the area although he mentioned he did like Koi and kept some in small ponds on the rooftop of his store.

Fujio seemed genuinely amazed to learn that I had visited Nagaoka for so many years to find Koi and ship them home for re-sale.

1993 was also the first year (of many to follow) that Dennis Wordsworth came to Japan with me so it was necessary for me to teach Dennis the routes to take to all the breeders in and around Yamakoshi.

Fujio made it a point to come to Nomole with us almost every evening and found it fascinating that I knew the surrounding areas so well. On one of those evenings I mentioned we had to make an early start the next day to select 100 nisai Kohaku from Hasegawa in Ojiya. Fujio was fascinated and asked if he could come along with us to see what was involved.

The three of us arrived at the Hasegawa home early the next day and it was obvious that Fujio had no idea where he actually was and the small facility had no signs to let anyone know there were Koi for sale there.

I had been buying Koi from Hasegawa since 1982 so I knew the ropes and also the care needed to find the 100 best patterns from around 4,000 nisai in a very tiny pond without damaging any other Koi. It’s a slow business requiring much patience; the Koi selected were placed in a blue bowl and after five had been selected they were checked once more and then photographed before taking them to another pond to await shipping.

Fujio was visibly shocked when he saw so many Koi in such a tiny pond and started asking questions such as ‘Why did you select this one, I’d like to learn’?

By the end of the day we had our 100 nisai Kohaku in the other pond when Fujio mentioned he would like to buy one of them from me. I told him that he’d been a great help that day so I would let him select one at no charge.

He thanked me profusely but mentioned he had no idea which one to select and asked us for some assistance. I explained to him that in the pond there were 100 nisai Kohaku, one was the best, one was the worst and the others all had a place somewhere between but he should select the one he liked the most.

If I recall correctly the three of us stood there until the light began to fade discussing the finer points of Kohaku appreciation. In the end Dennis recommended one to him and Mr. Hasegawa packed it for him to take to his home.

On the way home Fujio asked if he had the best one, I just shook my head.

We’d spend all October and November finding Koi in the area and in spring spend all April locating tosai. When we returned in spring ’94 Fujio announced that his ‘Koi teacher’ Shoji Tanaka of Marusyo in Yomogihira had built (at Fujio’s cost) a pond at Marusyo specially for Fujio’s personal collection of Koi.

I found it hard to understand that even in 1994 Fujio still had not paid visits to other Koi farms that were all around him.

On one occasion (late ’95?) I asked him to come with us all the way to Isawa in order to translate an interview I’d arranged with Toshio Sakai. He looked at me as if to say – ‘Is it true, you also know Toshio Sakai’?

By 1997 there were many guests accompanying us and some were buying Koi at prices Fujio could not believe, he’d follow us around on some days and our visitors took to him readily. Fujio has a bubbly personality as well as a very good sense of humour and a genuine desire to assist if needed.

As an aside here, his name is pronounced O-O-mo not who-mo. One of his famous lines is – ‘My name is Fujio O-O-mo but I am NOT one of them’!

I think it was around 1996 when he first started to guide foreign Koi visitors around the area and in 1997 he mentioned that he was looking for land to build a Koi farm on as he wished to become a Showa breeder!

At first I thought he was joking, I asked – ‘Do you realise how many fine Showa breeders are in Yamakoshi, do you know how much time you will have to spend at the Koi farm’?

No, Fujio wasn’t joking and by then he knew just about every breeder in Yamakoshi who all needed him from time to time to translate for them.

In 1998 Fujio opened ‘The Oomo Koi Farm’ on some land he’d bought near to the Nogami Koi Farm. Hisayaku Nogami then became Fujio’s next Koi teacher and advised Fujio to breed only Showa initially as they would take much less time to cull.

Fujio’s experiences in breeding Koi escalated with Hisayaku’s expertise and together with his own enthusiasm and income earned from his growing overseas customer base his business became very profitable.

In 2003 he formed NND with the assistance of Makoto and Yasuaki and now this has expanded to what we see today.

The actual interview follows next………………

11/11/11

I have known Johan Leurs for some years now, Johan is an avid Koi keeper but he also produces a lavish Koi magazine in Holland simply named ‘KOI’.

Johan contacted me before I left for Japan to say he would be in Yamakoshi around the same time that I would be there and he wished me to answer some questions regarding the early days I had experienced in the area that very few others will know.

The reason for this interview is that there will soon be the 100^th edition of ‘KOI’ magazine but this will be a hardback BOOK rather than a magazine.

Here’s an advertisement Johan has prepared for this book.

As you can see, Johan doesn’t exactly ‘skimp’ on things – if it’s going to be done then it’s going to be done PROPERLY!

Anyway, we made some loose arrangements that we’d bump into each other somewhere in Yamakoshi and make final arrangements after that.

To be honest, after spending some days in the mountainsides I had forgotten all about this until we happened to be visiting a Koi show in Takezawa when another old chum tapped me on the shoulder and mentioned that Johan was also there attending the same show.

My other old chum was none other than Martin Symmonds who has lived in Ojiya for some years now and operates JKX – Japan Koi Export.

It turned out that Martin had also been asked to contribute to the 100^th edition as had another friend Michel Capot who also lives in Ojiya operating as an agent for overseas Koi visitors.

The idea of wasting valuable time in giving the interview to Johan didn’t sound so tempting to me but just as Martin pointed my eyes over to Johan, some distance away from me, I noticed a VERY good reason for me to waste my valuable time…….

This is another Koi enthusiast named Dominique who came over with Johan but I could tell by her face that she was a little ‘confused’ with all the magic of Yamakoshi.

A maiden in distress?

Of course, as a true gentleman, I offered my services to carry out the interview immediately at any venue and at any time, providing, of course, that Dominique would also be there to learn more about this wonderful hobby.

Back to reality Waddy…….

The three-hour interview was carried out and recorded in the restaurant of the Grand Hotel in the presence of Johan, Martin, Dominique, Susan, Marco, Andy and Hilary.

Johan had prepared pages of questions to ask me about the early days in Yamakoshi but when I started to answer some of the questions, other experiences followed which led to many other questions and many other experiences from those times.

Only minutes after the interview had started, all the pages of questions prepared by Johan were thrown out of the window!

At the end of it all I think it was Martin, a very seasoned Koi person, who got the most from my replies and the stories.

Of course, it was all the gospel truth but hard for many to grasp, thankfully Martin had also heard similar tales from others.

Johan has a hell of a job ahead of him to translate all this into Dutch, and then there are also the interviews given by Martin and Michel for Johan to translate.

I reckon this 100^th edition book will be well worth a read.

Martin, Waddy & Johan.

I prefer this shot….

I wonder if I should fly over and ask Dominique to personally translate it back to English for me to share with you all?

More soon, after I’ve cooled down………

9/11/11

We were leaving for Narita on Sunday 30^th October to fly home on the 31^st so Saturday 29^th October was the last day in Niigata.

The No-Gyo-Sai show was a ‘must see’ but when we arrived around midday very little of the judging had been completed. However we were allowed to walk around around the show to take some shots of the entries.

It was a very warm day with glorious sunshine, which makes a change, I think this was the 28^th time I have visited the same show and generally it rains!

The show is sponsored by the Agricultural department of the Ojiya local government office to tempt the breeders to display the best Koi they have produced in order to promote their businesses and further the hobby at the same time.

Needless to say, there are better Koi kept by the breeders but these will not be displayed until next January at the All-Japan show.

Here are some of the entries we photographed, here’s an entry pond with some unusual varieties.

Doitsu Sanke.

Tancho Kawarigoi.

Gin Rin Showa.

Yes Please!

Peacock.

Lovely quality.

Reunion with Hashino san.

Gin Rin Tancho Kohaku.

Two dragons.

Beautiful!

Kikokuryu.

Gin Rin Kohaku.

Orenji Matsuba.

Shiro Utsuri.

Gin Rin Showa.

Goshiki, lovely pattern.

Susan likes Hi Utsuri.

Shiro Bekko.

Rain on autumn leaves.

Lovely.

Chrysanthemum Flower.

Tancho Sakura Ogon.

Big girls.

Gorgeous!

And another!

Oh well…..

Large Hegeshiro.

Two at once!

Mmmm!

Last of the show shots.

I didn’t get a chance to study the smaller entries but the overall quality of larger entries was definitely the best I’ve seen at this event.

Hope you enjoyed them, more soon.

8/11/11

More Koi today………..

Torazo – yonsai Tancho!

Is that Eric?

Wot – no prancing plastic?

They are so old-fashioned………..

New Seijuro facility.

Bringing the harvest home…

Nisai Showa.

Pure gold – Izumiya..

More serious stuff….sunglasses help.

OOOH!

AAAH!

He’s done it again.

Shigeru Mano, Dainichi.

Large nisai Showa at Dainichi.

Miyako, the traditionalist….

Another Miyako Goshiki Showa.

Miyatora, superb new facility at Budokubo.

‘Excuse me Ma’am, do you mind if I take a shot of the monument commemorating the birthplace of Nishikigoi that’s standing right here in your garden’?

‘No, go ahead…are you Koi Kichi’?

Sansai Goshiki – Yozen.

Tosai at Tomezo.

Beautiful nisai Showa at Isa – Tategoi!

Shiro Utsuri here….

Best view of Mushigame from Yagenji.

Superb Yagenji nisai.

Large nisai, Sadazo Sanke from Makoto at Marusyo, Yomogihira.

Finally for today, more Sanke from Shintaro – enjoy!

Don’t forget my party trick……..

More soon…..