|
Koi Carp from Koi Water Garden Ltd. Japan trip Spring 2010 (28th April - 5th May 2010) Keep in touch with all the new Koi we are buying on our latest buying trips to Japan - and reserve your Koi before we even get home!. |
 Phone/Fax 01844 342390 Last Updated 12th May 2010 ** Please note our normal opening Hours - Thursday to Saturday 9.30am - 5.00pm. Sunday 9.30am to 12.30pm. - Monday to Wednesdays inclusive closed - visiting by appointment only.** |
|
|
||||
|
Dainichi's new Koi house |
 Returning from a mud pond with newly harvested Koi at Oofuchi in Niigata |
 Oofuchi Mud pond ready for harvest |
| So today, 29th April, we visited Tamoura, Takigawa, Oyama and Uedera in Hiroshima prefecture. Tamoura had good quality Nisai Go Sanke, Shusui and Shiro Utsuri but so expensive. Much as we liked his fish they proved to be much too expensive. He had noTosai so we moved on to Takigawa. Takigawa produces good Go Sanke, Goshiki and Kujaku. He had limited stocks of Nisai but good stocks of Jumbo Tosai Kohaku, some Sanke and Kujaku - so we bought two mixed boxes. He also had Tateshita, Tategoi that he was willing to sell, but again prices were very very expensive so we did not buy. Oyama, the next farm we visited us was new to me, but his fish were of a very high quality. He breeds Kumonryu, Goshiki and Go Sanke and still had some good stocks in larger sizes. Unfortunately he was not ready to sell Tateshita jumbo Tosai, wanting an estimated further month before he would sell - very late in the season indeed, so we could not buy. The last breeder of the day was Uedera (pronounced Wedera). He again breeds Go Sanke, Shiro Utsuri and Shusui as well as Gin Rin Kohaku. He had limited stocks of smaller Nisai and no Tosai for sale but some fabulous Sansai (three year old) Kohaku and Sanke. I am seriously tempted by the Kohaku female you see below, very expensive, but will decide in the morning after photographing the fish and trying to 'negotiate'. The flowerey pattern on this Kohaku is one of the most intricate I have seen, maybe too much so for some people liking traditional patterns, but perfect for my taste. | ||
 Box 1. Jumbo Tosai Kohaku, Sanke £95 |
 Box 2. Jumbo Tosai Kohaku, Kujaku, and Tancho Goshiki £95.00 |
 Box 3. Fabulous female Sansai Kohaku 58cm - £3650 |
|
The 30th April was basically spent travelling from
Hiroshima to Tokyo and then up to Nagaoka in Niigata by bullet train,
which took about 7 hours in total, so we didnt get to go to any farms.
On the next day, the 1st May, we visited Hoshikin, Dainichi, Otsuke,
Shinoda, Yamezaki, Masaki, Hiroi and Marusaka. Hoshikin was our first appointment and we bought some really super Tateshita Jumbo Tosai Kohaku at 30 - 35cm. His Kohaku are now reputed to be the best in Japan and this is the first time we have had the opportunity of acquiring some of these super Koi. Sorry the picture is not so good, but check out the video clip. We then travelled to a number of farms today, see above and bought some high grade Doitsu Kohaku and mixed Tosai at Shinoda and we are going back to see him again tomorrow for his Tateshita Doitsu Go Sanke - choosing those will be fun! We also visited Masaki for Nisai Asagi, Kujaku and Goshiki and then on to Yamezaki for some of his famed Lemon Hariwake. We also visited Hiroi and bought a stunning Goshiki, beautiful Gin Rin Kohaku, Kohaku and Sanke. Apologies that our narrative is short and sweet today but we have just had another earthquake - and I am sitting on the 9th floor of our hotel with everything shaking so I am going to depart down to ground level smartly! |
||
 Box 4. Hoshikin Jumbo Tosai Kohaku 30-35cm Price guide £495 - £695 - Koi 2nd from right will be £975 |
 Box 5. Hoshikin Jumbo Tosai Kohaku 30-35cm Price Guide £495 (lower), £695 (upper) |
 Box 6. Hiroi Nisai Goshiki and Gin Rin Kohaku 42cm Price guide £495 |
 Box 7.Hiroi Nisai Kohaku and Sanke 42cm Price guide £495 |
 Box 8. Masaki Asagi, Kujaku and Goshiki Price guide £125 to £150 |
 Box 9 Yamezaki Lemon Hariwake and Gin Rin Purachina Price guide £150 - £295 (Hariwake top right) |
 Box 10. Shinoda Jumbo Tosai Doitsu Kohaku, Doitsu Sanke, Gin Rin Showa, Gin Rin Shiro Utsuri Price guide £75 - £95 |
 Box 10a. Shinoda Jumbo Tosai Doitsu Kohaku, Doitsu Sanke, Hi Utsuri Price guide £75 - £95 |
An "r" alongside any Koi pictured denotes that it has been reserved |
|
Today, 2nd May we visited Shinoda again first thing to select Tateshita Doitsu Kohaku and Sanke - see below - he is the best Doitsu breeder in Niigata by far in my opinion. Then we moved on to Otsuke again for Nisai Ki Utsuri and Aka Matsuba which he had kindly reserved for us, Next we visited Torazo for super Jumbo Tosai Kohaku, Sanke, and Tancho up to 30cm. He had just completed his final selection before putting the Tosai back in the mud ponds so here our timing for visiting was perfect. The quality of these one year old Jumbos is really excellent and it is so much fun and so rewarding just sitting by the pond side going through every one to choose the very best. Next we moved on to Kaneko but he had no good Tosai and not much good Nisai stocks either so nothing was purchased. Next we visited Seki - the oldest established Shiro breeder in Niigata, Here we selected a box of high grade two and three year old Shiros, others in our party had three Koi , I purchased a beautiful Female Shiro with snow white skin and a gorgeous light Sumi pattern which I am sure will become a stunning example of the type quite quickly in UK water. Next we travelled down the mountains to see Takano who specialises in Budo and Sumi Goromo and Goshiki. Here I purchased a box of Nisai Goromo and Goshiki with one really sparkling Kujaku and also one absolutely gorgeous 3 year old female Budo Goromo with a near perfect pattern and body shape and already over 60cm! Lastly we visited Iwashita who specialises in more exotic varieties. Here I bought one super 3 year old female Ochiba Shigure and a beautiful female three year old Lemon Hariwake. This was a really hectic day but one which resulted in the purchase of some super Koi - the only real disappointment was that one of our favourites, Igarashi Kazuto had not yet selected his Tateshita, and would not be doing so for another 2 to 3 weeks because of the very cold Spring this year in Niigata - and as a result had no Jumbo Tosai for sale.
|
||
|
Box 11. Sansai Ochiba Shigure and Doitsu Lemon Hariwake. Price guide £895 |
 Box 12. Nisai Aka Matsuba and Ki Utsuri Price guide £95 - £125 |
 Box 13. Nisai Asagi and Ki Utsuri Price guide £95 - £125 |
|
Box 14. Sansai Shiro Utsuri Price Guide £595 |
 Box 15. Shinoda Tateshita Doitsu Kohaku and Doitsu Sanke. Price guide £95 |
 Box 16. Shinoda Tateshita Doitsu Kohaku and Doitsu Sanke. Price guide £125
|
|
Box 17. Nisai Goshiki, Budo Goromo and Kujaku Price guide £150 |
 Box 18. Sansai Budo Goromo Female 62cm. Price guide £1595 |
 Box 19. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Tancho, Tancho Sanke and Kohaku Price guide £225- £275 |
|
On this
page you will se that many of the Koi we buy at this time of year are
'Jumbo Tosai' and 'Tateshita' Lets explain what these are and why we aim to buy them! Firstly Jumbo Tosai are much bigger than normal one year old Koi, which are on average 10 to 12cm. A Jumbo one year old can be up to 47cm more than 4 times longer! But its not just the size we are after - the only reason the breeders produce Jumbo Tosai is to produce fewer, but much higher quality Koi, so the ones that are kept for growing on are the very highest quality and by culling the Koi that dont achieve the highest standards, less Koi are left to grow on in the mud ponds so much higher growth rates can be achieved on a fewer but higher grade Koi.(continued right) --> |
 Box 20. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Kohaku Price guide £225 - £295
|
Commercially the breeder can still attain a higher return by selling
less quantity but higher quality as high quality larger one year olds
command a higher price. What does Tateshita mean? Simply it means a Koi that was being retained as a Tategoi to grow on has been offered for sale - so a Tateshita is simply a Tategoi in the past tense. A Tategoi once sold becomes Tateshita. What is Tategoi - simply a Koi with potential for improvement and normally retained by the breeder to grow on for another year. Breeders will try to grow on each Koi to maximise the value when sold, so true Tategoi are not often offered for sale, and when they are, its normally only in late Spring, and then they become Tateshita - simple! So Tateshita or Tategoi are the highest quality Koi you can buy and of course normally at a higher price. But since the potential for improvement is excellent, these Koi are always much sought after as when they become adults, and the value of such Koi can be very high indeed, as most will be show standard and would be very expensive if purchased as adults. |
|
Today, 3rd May , our last full day in Niigata we managed to visit 8 farms. First to Aoki, then Sekiguchi, Takahashi, Tanaka Shin, Oofuchi, Hosokai, Dainichi and Marusaka. A very full day ! My first ever visit to Sekiguchi who is famed for top quality Showa. Here we selected a box of his excellent Jumbo Tosai Showa and Kohaku. Next was a new farm for us, Tanaka Shin who specialises in Kin Ki Utsuri, Showa, Gin Rin Showa, Shusui and the real bonus - Snow Asagis. Snow Asagis have a brilliant metallic white body (Gin Rin) with the traditional Asagi red belly and cheeks which develop over time as with normal Asagi. However, they do not go dark as with Gin Rin Asagi but the body takes on a metallic light blue sheen as the Koi develops. So they can look really fabulous when mature. Then we moved on to Oofuchi and bought three boxes of mixed Nisai, including Kin Matsuba, Ochiba, Kumonryu and Doitsu Purachina. Next we visited Dainichi for the third time as Mano (the son of the famous man himself) had just selected out Tateshita Showa and we were able to choose from his super Jumbo Tosai which had developed up to 40cm ! Owing to the large size we could only get 4 or 5 even in a large sized box and more importantly could not afford many more either! Dainichi Koi are always expensive, but the opportunity to purchase Nisai size high grade Showas at what is effectively much much lower than the Dainichi Nisai prices cannot be missed - it does not happen too often!! So we ended up with three super Showa to grow on and see just how they develop. In Japanese mud ponds these Jumbo Tosai will be harvested in October as 55cm to 60cm two year olds, bigger than most breeders 3 year olds. In addition you can regularly see Dainichi adult Go Sanke at 85cm plus - a size that most other Go Sanke breeders struggle to attain. So the Dainichi reputation for fabulous Koi is not without foundation. Lastly, at 6pm we arrived back in the mountains at Marusaka. Here I purchased a 'glowing' red Kujaku female, three years old and as bright and clean as a one year old. To go with this in the box I bought a metallic red Beni Kikokuryu - see the pictures - this fish has as strong a metallic red lustre as we have ever seen.
|
||
 Box 21. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Kohaku and Showa from Sekiguchi Price guide: £275 |
 Box 22. Nisai Snow Asagi, Gin Rin Matsakawabake and Kin Ki Utsuri Price guide £150 - £295 (Kin Ki Utsuri) |
 Box 23. Nisai Kin Matsuba, Ochiba and Lemon Hariwake Price guide £150 - £175 |
 Box 24. Nisai Kumonryu, Beni Kumonryu,, Ochiba and Doitsu Purachina Price guide £150 - £175
|
 Box 25. Nisai Kumonryu, Doitsu Purachina and Lemon Hariwake Price guide £150 - £175
|
 Box 26. Sansai Beni Kikokuryu and Red Kujaku Price guide £595 Kikokuryu, £975 Kujaku |
 Box 27. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Showa from Dainichi Price guide £795 |
 Box 27A. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Showa from Dainichi Price guide £795
|
|
|
Well what a fantastic last day of our trip - up at the crack of dawn to catch a bullet train back to Tokyo and then a rapid train down to Isawa to see the famous Sakuma brothers. This year out timing could not have been better, as after growing on a batch of Jumbo Tosai all winter the brothers had just finished their final selections and were offering for sale around 150 Jumbo Go Sanke. These were without doubt some of the biggest Jumbo Tosai we have ever seen - the largest we netted was 47cm!! Thats way bigger than most Nisai Koi and as big as many three year olds!! The quality was there too and it didn't take long to select three boxes ( only 4 to a box at this size) of mixed Go Sanke including mostly Showa, Tancho Showa and Kohaku. The Showa are all Kindai (modern) style, all female and all have superb body shapes and snow white skin even at this age. These are definitely Koi to grow on to adulthood and they will make top class Koi. Again admittedly not cheap but still super value for money when you consider the cost of adult high grade Go Sanke. To round off the day we then visited Hiroi in Isawa - we had bee told he had virtually no Koi for sale, but again when we arrived, he had just selected out a batch of Jumbo Tosai Doitsu Kohaku and Sanke so we quickly chose a box of these to round off our trip.
|
||
 Box 28. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Tancho and Tancho Showa 40cm! From Sakuma Price guide £695 |
 Box 28A. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Showa 42cm! From Sakuma Price guide £795 |
 Box 29. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Showa 42cm! From Sakuma Price guide £795
|
 Box 29A. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Tancho Showa 30cm. From Sakuma Price guide £295 |
 Box 29B. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Tancho Showa 40cm. From Sakuma Price guide £395 - £495
|
 Box 30. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Kohaku 42cm! From Sakuma Price guide £795
|
 Box 30A. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Kohaku 35cm. From Sakuma Price guide £395
|
 Box 30B. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Kohaku 42cm! From Sakuma Price guide £795
|
 Box 31. Jumbo Tosai Tateshita Doitsu Sanke Price guide £95 |
 |
 -
Filter systems, vortexes, pond sieves, protein skimmers, media |
- Get a map of how to
find us ! |
 -
Dedicated to bead filtration. |
 -
Keep up to date with the latest products and News |
 , -
Plus air stones, air line and related
products |
 - Fabulous
Japanese Koi from our latest shipments |
 ,
-
Plus Uvs and related electrical
accessories |
 -
Medications and other pond additives |
 -
Test kits, digital
instruments, microscopes |
 -
How to use medications the correct way |
 -
Bottom drains, skimmers, valves, pipe work and
fittings |
 -
plus auto feeders |
- Clays, Weed treatments, filter starters, and water conditioners |
 -
Plus reactors, injectors,
skimmers, ORP controllers |
 -
Pond maintenance, Nets, bowls,
vacuums, purifiers, holding tanks |
- The hows and whys of using Ozone in Koi ponds |
 -
Liners, pond paints and
related products |
 -
DVDs and Gift Vouchers |
 -
Heat exchangers, electric heaters, heat pumps,
thermostats |
- Granite lanterns for authentic Japanese
gardens |
-
Authentic Japanese Rain Chains for your Japanese Garden |
-
Authentic Japanese Shrine Lanterns
|
-
Authentic Japanese Bamboo fences,& Deer scarers
|
- View a complete build from start to finish |
-
How to choose the correct Filter for your Pond |
 -
Building an Eco friendly Fish house |
- How much, how often and which food ! |
-
The basics of keeping healthy Koi |
-
How to choose the correct water pump |
 -
How to identify
and eradicate them |
 -
How to quarantine your koi |
-
Keep in touch or ask to be added to our mailing list |
- Our History and philosophy |
|
|
|
