January, 2009
Some more pictures from today's judging at the All Japan Show
Posted 30 Jan 2009 - 22:40 by Mark Gardner
Just some general shots taken during judging today, click on any and it will offer the option of a slide show.
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And the 2009 Grand Champion is.....
Posted 30 Jan 2009 - 16:02 by Mark Gardner
Well, before naming it, I'll run through the morning's events.
The judges filed in promptly at 9.30am and assembled in their groups before making there way around the vats in which all likely GC candidates were held. Normally this doesn't take a huge amount of time, today it seemed to take forever.
Finally they assembled to cast their individual votes for Grand Champion. Assuming there is no majority winner from the first ballot the 5 Nishikigoi with the highest number of votes are placed in adjacent vats for a 2nd ballot.
For some reason there was a delay and some discussion taking place after the votes were counted. It transpired that 2 Koi, the 5th and 6th, had tied on votes. Whether the rule book covered such an eventuality I'm not sure. Anyway, in the end the heads of the 12 judging teams, along with Diet Member Nagashima San, would vote between the 2 Koi to decide which was 5th and which was 6th and therefore out of the running.
The 2 Koi there were choosing between were this Kohaku below and the Kohaku that won the 2008 Rinyukai Show. It would be the Kohaku below that would take the 5th vat.
With regards to the other 4, they were the ones that I had put in my top 5. I was quite pleased to have picked 5 of the top 6 placed Koi.
The 2nd ballot saw the Kohaku above, along with Nogami's Nogyosai winner rejected. Normally this round goes down to the final 2 Koi however, on this occasion there were 2 Koi with the 2nd highest number of votes.
The 3rd ballot would either find a winner by gaining majority vote or, the one with least votes would be rejected.
It was to be the Momotaro Sanke that would fall at this hurdle meaning that it was between the Dainichi Kohaku and the Yamatoya Showa.
As the ballot slips were seperated into 2 piles it was pretty clear there was very little between them.
With 44 votes versus 41 votes, the Yamatoya Showa was crowned All Japan Grand Champion 2009.
A note regarding images, if I may. Should you wish to place images from this website on any forum then you are welcome to do so. This is done with one proviso, a link MUST be provided directly to www.niigata-nishikigoi.com.
Judgement Day
Posted 30 Jan 2009 - 08:09 by Mark Gardner
Well folks it here, judgement day.
In a few minutes I'll be making the short journey from my Hotel to the Ryutsu Centre.
Judges briefing commences at 9am. The judges enter the show hall at 9.30am and shortly after judging will commence.
Normally by around 10.30am the Grand Champion will be known.
I can't wait to find out, I hope you can't either..........
My top 5 contenders - the video
Posted 30 Jan 2009 - 01:48 by Mark Gardner
You can now download a 3 minute video featuring the 5 Koi I predicted as contenders for the 2009 Grand Champion title.
To do so please click here
2009 All Japan Nishikigoi Show - Contenders
If the video doesn't play smoothly then please right click this link and select 'save target as....'
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My top 5 contenders
Posted 29 Jan 2009 - 19:53 by Mark Gardner
Just back from the Ryutsu Centre where most of the Nishikigoi for the 2009 All Japan are in.
I have to say GC is tough call this year, some of those posted yesterday could be discarded straight away.
Thereafter there is nothing that is particularly clear cut, it could go a number of ways.
Here are my personal top 5 contenders for GC.......
Electricity
Posted 28 Jan 2009 - 22:58 by Mark Gardner
I have to say, thank goodness they don't charge as much for electricity in hotel rooms as they do for making phone calls!!
Tonight my hotel room has as many flashing lights as the street outside with chargers plugged into ever available socket, inlcuding UK and Japanese extension leads, as everything gets powered up for the show this weekend.
Thankfully the very speedy Internet connection is also free. As well as using more than my share of electricity I'm sure I'm using far more than my share of bandwidth on the Internet connection.
Stay tooned.......
24 Gosanke in 90bu
Posted 28 Jan 2009 - 21:51 by Mark Gardner
According to the sheets of paper on the side of the vats there will be 24, yes twenty four, Gosanke in 90bu, that's over 85cm!
It's very hard to believe that anything under 85cm is going to challenge, let alone win, the title of Grand Champion.
The entries include:
- 2008 All Japan ZNA Grand Champion
- 2008 All Japan Rinyukai Grand Champion
- 2008 Nogyosai Grand Champion
That's right, the Grand Champions from the 3 other most prestigious shows in Japan are all coming head to head at the most prestigious!
Other entrants include
- a Showa which was nominated in the top 5 last year, this year, at least according to the picture, it's sumi looks superb!
- a Kohaku which I recognise the photo of as being a major 2007 winner, maybe the Rinyukai, I'm not sure.
There is also another Sanke and, if my memory serves me correctly it is entered by Momotaro and is very close to being 1m in length. It was photographed in a recent edition of Rinko I believe, along with other circa 1m Momotaro Koi. At the time of seeing it, based on the photographs, I felt sure it had to be an All Japan GC contender. At this stage I have to place it as my tip for the top.
Below are pics taken of the vats card pics of all 24 90bu Gosanke. There are many other 90bu non Gosanke. There are even more 85bu Gosanke. I'm not sure the world will ever have seen so many Koi of such size in one place ever!
TIP!!! - Clicking on any picture will open a larger version enabling you to easily click through all 24 Koi.
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It's here folks - the 2009 All Japan Show
Posted 28 Jan 2009 - 19:38 by Mark Gardner
I just couldn't resist, I had to hop on the train and monorail and visit the Ryutsu Centre this evening for a look at what was going on.
This year is a special show being the 40th staging of the event.
View of the show hall
New posters of the previous winners are displayed, along with previous show posters
The poster from the first All Japan Combined Nishikigoi Show
A display of Nishikigoi themed fashion
Of course, my real reason for going there this evening wasn't just to get the shots above, it was to get a look at the pictures showing which Nishikigoi would be in which vats.
Stay tuned for a first preview, anywhere, of some of this years GC contenders!!
A sincere thank you
Posted 27 Jan 2009 - 22:57 by Mark Gardner
Back in December 2007, when I embarked on my 'Yamakoshi Year', and launched my 'old blog' I had honestly no idea how much interest it would generate, as I've said before it was only really ever intended as a diary, both for myself and friends.
Interest in the blog simply grew and grew, in all corners of the world. It became clear that people were interested in so many aspects of Niigata life, not just Nishikigoi.
I regret that time constraints have meant that I've never been able to complete my review of 2008. I don't know i'd ever have been able to summarise it in manageable chunks anyway!!
I guess the first time the 'value' of the blog, beyond being a simple diary, became apparent was when Wes from Causeway Koi contacted me. It was his first time to stay in Ojiya and he'd been searching for the New Business Plaza where they were staying. The only English link he'd found was the blog, and the map on it. We subsequently met up at a dry goods day held by Miyaishi. Thereafter I meet Rene of Miyaishi on a regular basis for a beer and just to catch up.
The blog grew to attract people from all over the world, of course the majority with one common interest Nishikigoi, those viewers include Nishikigoi breeders, something of which I'm particularly proud and honoured.
It became apparent that something bigger and better was needed, a more orderly body of information, than just my oft rushed and garbled blog. That is what I hope www.niigata-nishikigoi.com will become.
I would like to thank all those that have taken time to provide feedback, the way the site is built is incredibly flexible. Things are easily changed and adapted. Let us know what you'll like to see. I realise the look is very different to the old blog which you maybe looked at daily. If there is a feature you miss, let me know.
The next weekend is a big one, not just for Niigata-Nishikigoi.com, but also for the whole Nishikigoi Industry. If you can't make it to the All Japan Koi Show this weekend then please visit here. Coverage starts Thursday evening with a preview of the challengers for the title of Grand Champion!
