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…..

7/11/11

I have forgotten to mention that the people who joined the party are all owners and users of my Eric filter systems although I hasten to add this was not a requirement by any means.

One of these people was Susan Campbell who lives in Montpellier, which is in the south of France and enjoys a warm climate all year round.

Koi of any quality are difficult to find in France and Japanese-bred Koi are even rarer.

Susan wished to buy a Koi as a reminder of her first visit and I suggested tosai may be the best way to go about it in view of the climate and the growth potential there.

Buying tosai is always a gamble as one never really knows if they are males or females and body-shape is downright impossible to give any clues at this size.

Susan is starting out in the hobby so costly tategoi should be considered after some experience has been gained.

Add to this that freight charges are costly and the best way to maximise on the value of her purchases would be to send as many tateshita that the box would safely accommodate.

In view of this we decided upon an 80cms box that would contain 30 Go-Sanke tosai averaging around 23cms in order to get the best value for Susan’s money.

We’d seen some nice tosai at the new facility of NND and bearing in mind Fujio can also ship Koi, it seemed logical to buy the Koi there.

Of course there were also some lovely tosai tategoi there in a separate pond – only five months old and already 26cms. I spotted two that were easily worth 150,000yen each but decided not to ask the prices. Here’s Marco also gazing in that pond.

Fujio mentioned he had the best selection of Showa there but suggested we select 10 Showa and then drive to Marusyo where Makoto had a better selection of Kohaku and Sanke.

This was the pond where the 10 Showa would be selected from.

‘How much will these cost Fujio’? said I.

‘Who is selecting Peter san’? says he.

‘Susan san will select with a little help from me’ says I.

‘How much help Peter san’? – says he.

‘Not much’ I lied.

The usual banter…..and so it started with Susan looking on.

‘But that is an expensive one Peter san’

‘No it’s not Fujio – it’s deformed’ I lied.

‘That’s ten already’ said Hil, time to check….

‘Yes, these are fine Fujio, how much are they’?

‘Do you wish to put that one back and select another Peter san’?

‘No’.

I will decide a price on the way to Marusyo Peter san’.

So off we went….

The Kohaku and Sanke at Marusyo were around 26cms, larger than the Showa.

Just like the old days….

Job done, time to see what we have….dunno where the doitsu Kohaku came from? But they look OK.

Sanke next….

After much to-ing and fro-ing between Fujio and myself, they averaged 3,500yen each, (£31.00) I think Susan was a happy girl?

Everywhere we went from then it was……

‘Do you all know that I have bought thirty tosai’?

(Andy & Marco had heard it all before!)

More soon…………