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Gallery • Spring 2008 • Back
Arrival

The flight seemed to go quickly this time and with good train times we got o Nagaoka well before schedule. I called Fujio at Tokyo station and he picked us up 30 minutes after we got to the hotel.

Later that night Fujio informed me they had to pack a shipment and i asked if i could help and Fujio said 'yes my apprentice i would be very happy to have a free worker again'. So after a rest at their facility i set to work with Oomo, Kaneko and Kobayashi. I mainly spent my time socking koi and moving them to the packing area, packing a few boxes and transferring the boxes to the truck. It was great to do this again in Niigata as the last time i experienced this was when i was 13. Then back to the hotel ready for a chaotic first day buying.

Day 1

Started off at Nishikoi Niigata Direct where i spent a lot of time sorting the koi for Clint moving them from the bowl to tank whist he took pictures then measuring each koi for Fujio. He was impressed i told him each size in Japanese. After we moved to Oomo Koi Farm. Whilst i was here in January he told me he had a pond of Jumbo Tosai to grade very soon, i asked if he would save it until i arrived and he agreed. The Tosai range from 25cm to 40cm and the quality is impressive. The koi have the potential to grow very large, quickly. I very quickly began selecting after they were netted and got 21 great koi.

After lunch we tried several other breeders but they were not available so we went back to Oomo Koi farm to negotiate to buy some of the smaller Tosai Tategoi. I thought he would only agree to sell one like he has done with other guests but he allowed me a total of 5. The jumbo tosai i got are good but these are just mind blowing!!! Tomorrow i am selecting at Nogami where i already have 10 high grade pieces reserved. We will see what surprises the rest of the day brings.

Day 2

What a day. the very first stop was Nogami where he had made me a special selection of 10 pieces before anybody selected through his ponds. As i walked in i found 20 koi in a holding net that blew my socks off. Fujio was telling me that he bought these koi but it transpired they were for me to pick my 10. I simply couldn't turn anyway so made the big investment and purchased all of them. The grade of Nogami koi this year is unbelievable. These are koi that just didn't make the Tategoi grade and are better than most quality breeders own tategoi. He informed me one special Showa was put into my net because i am his good friend, this shoud however be growing in his mud pond. I am going back tomorrow to select Tancho and bigger Tosai Kohaku.

We visited some other farms but i didn't purchase because there was no hand selection available. A quick stop at Sakazume found gold. He allowed us to select Tosai Goromo which doesn't normally happen.

After spending some time at NND whilst Kobayshi medicated some ponds with potassium. Then a journey up to Yomogihira to select Tosai. I got my hands on some great young Sanke of the Sadazo bloodline. 3 Doitsu koi i selected were Tategoi and Kobayashi tried to put them back, however i got a quotation and kept them. A very successful day i am very, very pleased. Hopefully more unusual varieties tomorrow.

Day 3

The first stop was NND where Hiroi Seji a famous koi dealer and Murata who created the Murata bloodline were looking at koi. They were there trying to purchase the high grade Tategoi but Fujio didn't allow them. Seji san also tried buying Oomo's best ever Showa which we supplied to one of our customers so Oomo san had to refuse him again. Hiroi Seji is famous for buying and selling some of the finest Tategoi around and for him and Murata to want to buy a koi i supplied was great.

Next was back to Nogami where all of the koi had already been netted upon our arrival. Selecting began and my main aim was to get the Tancho and jumbo Tosai. I did stumble across some very good koi whilst selecting and when i had finished Nogami san quoted higher prices for several pieces. One Kohaku in particular got a very high quotation and Nogami hoped i would say no so he could keep it. I bought this stunning Sandan Kohaku which was the best koi in the fish house and should have been kept in Nogami's Tategoi. Needless to say he was not happy at all.

We then moved to another famous breeder who only allows me to hand select his Tosai. I was very disappointed with the first koi i saw so he took me to another secret koi house where i hit the jackpot. I selected 30 top class Sanke, Kohaku and other mixed varieties. His Sanke are of Sadazo lineage and show a world class skin lusture.

Final stop of the day.....Kaneko, one of my favorite farms. Kaneko is a very good friend of mine and great to deal with. Straight away i went to his Tategoi tank where i know some of the best koi are. It has a NOT FOR SALE sticker on the front. After some joking around and negotiation he agreed to sell 15 pieces. I was delighted with this. I had an issue to resolve here from last October. In spring 07 we purchased his No.1 Nissai Tategoi Kujaku. The following October once harvested it tuned out to be a male koi. Kaneko offered to replace the koi but i thought the same standard would be hard to find. After a while he bowled a top Nissai Tategoi which ticked all of the boxes for me. He informed me that to anybody else this koi wouldn't be available. I also purchased i beautiful Nissai Tategoi Shiro Utsuri to grow on in the UK. It was a very successful day which compliments the superb few days i have had in Niigata.

Day 4

Just one stop today, a long journey to Koshiji town to Kase koi farm. We negotiated very hard to try and get a hand selection here but he didn't allow it. We did however offer him a high price to select the best koi for us and i bought Doitsu Kohaku, Kikusui and Doitsu Yamatonishiki from him. He promised to select very high grade so hopefully these fish will meet my expectations. The day ended with me up to my neck in paperwork......fantastic!!

Please click on the images below to view a larger image
Oomo netting selected koi for shipment.
Counting the koi into the bag.
Ricky packing koi into the bag.
HAPPY!!
The breeders let me pack the whole box.
Almost finished and on the way to holland.
Oomo san packing Nissai.
The temperature controlled truck.
Moving boxes onto the truck.
Kobayashi and Oomo netting jumbo Tosai pond.
Note the use of the foot to move the net.
Ready...set....go!
Kobayashi had to net the one that escaped.
Jumbo Tosai around 30cm.
Oomo Jumbo Tosai. Around 27-32cm.
Jumbo Tosai around 25-29cm.
The big ones 30 -40cm Tosai Showa from Oomo.
Same bowl as before....beautiful.
Jumbo Tosai 28-32cm.
Same as before, the Kindai Showa this year are impressive.
30-40cm Jumbo Tosai. Great skin quality.
Mud ponds in Muichaichimachi.
Boxes on the truck. pre-paring for another shipment.
Tategoi Showa 1
Oomo Tategoi 2
Tategoi Showa 3
Tategoi 4
Tategoi 5. Each of them have super potential.
Our Showa will leave in the green basket until shipment!
I love it, the breeders love it, the koi love it!
Nogami bowling his special selection he made for me!
All the following are the special Tosai selection from Nogami.
Nogami Kohaku
Nogami Kohaku...out of this world!
Nogami Kohaku. All have superb beni.
Nogami Sandan Kohaku
Nogami Sandan Kohaku, has the structure to grow big.
Nogami Kohaku, show grade!!
Nogami Kohaku, deep beni.
Nogami Kohaku, will get better as it gets bigger.
Nogami Kohaku, white skin is excellent.
Nogami Kohaku, will have top class Sandan pattern when bigger.
Nogami Kohaku.
Nogami Kohaku, very good pattern.
Nogami Kohaku, razor sharp kiwa.
Nogami Kohaku, well balanced.
Nogami Kohaku, super sandan maruten pattern.
Nogami Showa. WOW, Nogami wanted to keep this. World class.
Nogami Showa, huge potential.
Nogami Showa, awesome.
Nogami Showa, great beni pattern.
Nogami Showa.
Nogami Showa, nice skin.
Yozaemon Tosai!!
You must do this at most breeders now.
Selecting at Sakazume.
Selected Goromo from the specialist breeder.
Moving my selection to the holding net.
NND jumbo tosai feeding.
Adding potassium to the pond via filter.
Dinner in preparation at Marusyo Koi Farm.
Netting Tosai at Marusyo.
Tategoi Doitsu Sanke & Doitsu Showa. Show grade.
Sanke selection at Marusyo with some Doitsu Kohaku & Doitsu Sanke.
Previous selection, another picture.
Our koi in the basket before shipment.
Nogami tosai netted for selection.
Nogami Kohaku, No.1 in fish house.
Nogami Showa, superb.
Nogami Kindai Showa, awesome skin.
Nogami Kindai Showa, strong body.
Nogami Kohaku.
Nogami Kohaku, over 30cm a jumbo tosai.
Nogami Kohaku, almost 40cm a real jumbo tosai.
Nogami Kohaku, over 30cm a jumbo tosai.
Tosai Tancho Kohaku from Nogami.
Nogami's method for photographing.
Nogami, Murata and Kobayashi releasing the koi.
Super Sanke selected at a well known breeder.
Superb Sanke selected, Sadazo bloodline.
Kohaku and Gin Rin Kohaku hand selected.
Mixed varieties selected.
'NOT FOR SALE' We shall see about that!!!
15 pieces from Kaneko's tategoi.
Kaneko Tategoi close up.
Kaneko sorting my koi fro pricing.
My holding tank at Kaneko.
Just for me!
Shiro Utsuri from Kaneko with huge potential. Great white skin.
Yasuaki Kaneko netting Kumonryu & Gin Rin Hajiro
Komei Kaneko doing maintenance.
Checking and measuring our Sansai. These were grown in JP for 1 year.
World class Sansai Shiro Utsuri, 55cm.
Top Nissai tategoi Kujaku, 49cm. Incredible koi by Kaneko.
Look at that...WOW!!
Tosai Kumonryu, Hajiro and Gin Rin Hajiro selected. Very rare.
Yamakoshi.
Tategoi Nissai Shiro Utsuri from Kaneko. Very good potential.
TAZ100 (SOLD)
MSK114
OTS106

 
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