After arriving very early on yesterday we spent the day visiting two new farms on the way up to Niigata, both of the new farms proved to be well worth visiting and I will be returning on the next trip to buy Koi there.

Finally got into Nagaoka in Niigata late and were surprised to see that snow had already fallen in one or two places.



















05-11-2009

Today we have been visiting the Farms that are producing the kind of Koi that I like to buy, the first of these was MaruQ. Not someone that most are familiar with but after seeing his Koi from last season it is now the first farm I visit when in Niigata.

He did not disappoint, when the No1 Nisai Kohaku was bowled the body and quality of these Koi immediately becomes apparent. Along with the Kohaku a Sanke with a very strong body structure was also bowled.

Next stop was Isa’s Sansai and Yonsai house. This facility is where Isa showcases his very best Koi.

Isa then informed us that they were just about to bring some Nisai down from the mountain mud pond and would we like to be the first to see? Of course the answer was yes and we headed off to the fish house by the Shinano River where all  the Koi are brought in after harvesting.

It was from here that the first purchases were made. There is nothing like getting first choice at Harvest time!

I managed to get Showa of a superb quality and the best bit was the price, Isa was in a very good mood after selling four very expensive Koi that morning and seemed happy to quote me prices that you hope for, but never get!

The Koi are now priced on the new Japan Koi page on the website.

Whilst we were at Isa we got a call saying that Hoshkin was harvesting ponds of Nisai and Sansai and they would be arriving at his fish house within the hour, so we finished up and headed just over then Shinano River to Hoshkin.
The fish arrived and were in surprisingly good condition considering the temperature had dropped down in the last couple of days.
















After the excitement caused by the Kohaku above being a Koi that was missed out on last year, this year it was snapped up.

We then made the short drive back up the mountain to Shinoda. This farm is always popular as they produce some of the best Doitsu Koi available, as well as excellent Hi Utsuri and Showa and Gin Rin Showa.

















06-11-2009

Once again spent the day in Niigata and have added quite a few Koi to the Harvest Koi Pages.
I had many orders to fulfill and this is sometimes one of the hardest things to do, as there are so many Koi around its very easy to get distracted!
Here are a few photos of today, I will add more details tomorrow as its now 3am!
 




























After watching several Harvests again today we the headed down to Hiroshima and will being visiting around five of six farms in this area over the next two or three days.

07-11-2009

Omosako Shiro Utsuri that needs no description around 70cm and four years old.

Today was spent as Matsue and therefore a day for Sensuke Kohaku.

All over Japan when you ask other Kohaku breeders where their parent stock are from, very often the name of Matsue is mentioned. Their Koi regularly attain 80cm and over, with several making 90cm plus.

09-11-2009

Spent today driving around what seemed the whole of the Hiroshima Prefecture and have seen enough of it to last me for this trip! The first stop of the day worth mentioning was Takeda koi farm.
This farm is one of the few that has the honour of winning the All Japan Koi Show and the Koi there are a supreme quality especially the Showa for which the farm is most famous, although they actually won the Show with a Sanke that shocked the Koi world as it was male!
I had wanted to use this farm for our 2010 Grow Out, but it had proved difficult to nail him down as to whether he would let us have some of his Tosai. Many farms will not sell their best Tosai until the Spring when they make their next grading, just to make sure none of the best are missed and sold too cheaply. It was this reason that has led to many 'no' answers on our quest for the Grow Out 2010 Koi.
I managed to buy 35 of this Summers Tosai Sanke and Showa and I have put the first of these on the web site, hopefully the rest will follow soon.

10-11-2009

A busy day today started with yet another early start for an appointment at Oyamma Koi Farm. Oyamma Showa are famed for being very black with stunning Sumi at an older age.
We had the honour of being assisted the next generation at Oyamma Koi Farm by the very capable Oyamma San Junior!















After Oyamma it was a short ride on the Shinkansen to Okayama where we were to meet up with Daisuke Maeda of Momotaro Koi Farm.
Before we got to the farm we popped in to Michio Maeda's (founder of Momotaro) classic car showroom. His other passion.
He was test driving for the first time his own car that he had built to his own spec, using mostly imported English parts (nice to see some goods going in the opposite direction to the Koi!)
My customer on the trip Mick Preston was invited for a spin in the V12 720bhp monster!




























Back to Koi!
Earlier in the year Mick Preston bid for one of the first Mako Bloodline Showa at the Koi auction in May . The bid made by us on his behalf was successful and the Koi had been grown during the Summer and this was Mick's  first chance to see her.
Originaly she was 40cm as jumbo Tosai and had grown to 57cm at 17months old, with excellent white ground and a superb lustre and shine. 















A couple of very nice Sanke from the Yondan Mako line (100cm parent) were also bowled.














10-11-2009
A very busy day in the Aichi Prefecture today and started well with a whole pond of  Matsunosuke Sanke arriving from Isawa. It was nice to be able to select again from a recently harvested pond.




























These Koi were purchased by a Japanese trade dealer and were un-selected by the breeder and the price is the best bit; £269- £395!
After this it was a short drive to see some Showa from a breeder who is making some of the highest quality Koi in Japan, the name to remember is Koi Doraku.
These Koi are Nisai and between 65-70cm!























Finally after eight days we arrived at Koi No Yohei where there were several customers Koi to see.
First was Mick's Hybrid Showa purchased at last years Harvest, now 26 months old, built like a tank and 60cm. The Sumi is coming and what is visible is deep and glossy as is the Beni!
Next to her is a wonderful Tancho owned by Frank Collins.
















 






I have other customers Koi to put online and will do them when time allows, dinner with Mamoru and Yohei is arranged with little time, but I will post the photo of the best Kohaku seen on this trip. 73cm and 26 months old this Koi is unbelievable!
 
































































Last year during the spawning of his Yamabuki a few very special Koi were found, these were Gin Rin Yamabuki with a very unique trait. Normal Gin Rin scaled Koi only have the Gin Rin scalation on the top, these Hybrid Gin Rins have it all over. The only way to describe them are as swimming 'glitter balls'!
























In addition to the All gin Rin Yamabuki I have also purchased several other Yamabuki Ogon, all with exellent body conformation.
Tomorrow morning I will be going through this years Hybrid Tosai and will be selecting from the best, hopefully I will have the details of this available on tomorrow nights update.
Currently I have put the pictures of the Sanke below on the Club Nishikigoi forum   http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy16/selectni/yosankesansai.jpg
to show the Koi's development from Tosai, now with this picture Sansai. 26 months old and 73cm.

This Koi will make 90cm very easily and from then on; who knows?
At the moment the Beni is a little stretched, but as the growth slows down with age this will strenthen.
The Sumi looks a little scattered, but like the Beni should now have the time to develop consistantly. Sumi can come up and down due to many factors, such as growth, water conditions and temperature,etc, etc.
I now have to decide whether to ship her or leave her out here for one more year to get to 80cm?









11-11-2009

On our last day as we finally come to the end of a great Harvest Trip, Mick had a very special Kondo Kohaku bowled.

The 68cm Kohaku is Kondo’s No 1 Sansai as featured in last months Japanese Koi magazine Nichirin.

What a fantastic way to end the trip with a Koi of such stunning quality.

We will be heading off to Kansai International airport for the flight home this evening and I hope everyone has enjoyed seeing what we have witnessed. We have travelled over 1000 miles whilst  in Japan and I don’t always get time to get all the images and details online, but I hope what you have seen has been of interest!