March, 2010

Having posted yesterday that the snow was coming a thing of the past all through the night rain fell and I awoke to quite a bright day outside, as such I decided to head up to Yamakoshi.

Waiting for the midday bus the sun started breaking through to reveal some blue sky, it seemed like it might turn into a nice picture day.

On route it first started to drizzle with rain which then, in Mushigame turned into fine snow.  Around the village it was apparent that an inch or so of fresh snow had fallen overnight.

Sitting in Shintaro's living room having a chat and coffee the sun again broke through revealing some blue sky, it was short lived.

In Ojiya this evening we've had real proper snow again, something I was sure we'd seen the last of, and the sprinkler system in the road is again running to wash it away.

It seems it's forecast for the next couple of days.

This afternoon was spent with Danny and Michelle of Danny's Koi Cafe - www.dannyskoicafe.com - who've I've known for several years now, they have been on www.koichat.com during that time and were one of the original advertisers on www.niigata-nishikigoi.com when it launched.  Usually we only meet up at Koi shows here in Japan so it was interesting to spend some more time with them today, as I hope to do over the next couple of days.

We met up at Dainichi this afternoon, I arrived on bicycle anticipating I'd be able to hitch a lift for the rest of the day, unfortunately they had 3 customers with them filling the Toyota Prius hire car.  Luckily Ryuki Narita was also with them in his own car giving me access to a ride.

First we went into what I'd describe as the main Koi house, then the tosai house which I've visited several times over the last few weeks. 

Danny and Michelle were after a 'special' sansai, something to leave to grow on, and Ryuki arranged with Shigeru Mano for us to visit the fabled 'secret Dainichi Koi house'.  Whilst the location of the 'secret' house is perhaps the worst kept secret in Japan, it was the first time I'd actually entered inside.  The value of the Koi contained within this small ramshackled Koi house doesn't bare thinking about, amongst them some of the farm's oyagoi, more of which later.

Several Showa were bowled first, all from the farm's Kokugyo oyagoi.

One of the Showa in particular was significantly different to the other 2 in several ways.  First up it's sumi and beni were less developed than the other 2.  In addition it was somewhat larger than the other 2, somewhere around 68-70cm.  All 3 Showa are sansai.  Shigeru stated that whilst the one in the centre of the last picture above was the show Koi for now, the one below was the Koi for the future if left in Japan.  Sharp eyed may notice some damage to the pec on the right as you look from the head.  It had indeed broken the lead ray, something which has been cut and sewn, and Shigeru anticipates a full recovery.

An option has been taken on the Koi.

Next up some Kohaku were bowled, all of X-Jr bloodline, a number of Koi from that line had also been displayed at the Dainichi OB Kai event back in December - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/619.

For me the most refined pattern was on the one at the top of the picture above although it's body frame was way short of the other 2.  While these 3 Koi were in the bowl Hisato Nogami arrived and it was interesting to earwig the conversation between him and a member of Dainichi staff.  The member of staff also felt the same Koi was best and believed it's body would fill out.  Maybe we'll see the Koi again some time in the future.

One of the stand out Koi at the 2010 All Japan Show for me was undoubtedly the Ginrin Showa that took the overall Sakura Prize and Best in Variety Ginrin A, a Koi bred by Hiroi Koi Farm and supplied by Danny's Koi Cafe, you can see it here - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/680.

It transpired in conversation with Danny that this Koi had actually been purchased from this Dainichi Koi house, Futoshi having bought it from Hiroi, both of whom are members of Sannichikai, something you can read about in issue 2 of Niigata Nishikigoi Digest (coming back soon)  - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/344.  Interestingly their own website is now in English too - http://sannichikai.com/index2e.html.

From Dainichi we headed with Hisato Nogami to one of his Koi houses, again to check out some sansai Kohaku.

The 4 below were bowled up, unfortunately photographing 4 sansai of 60+cm in a bowl is near impossible, certainly with a view of doing all of them justice.

This Koi house contains some serious quality Koi, there is no doubt. There is often talk about the best water in Koi houses in Niigata, as you can see from the pictures below this is truly pristine!

An option was again taken on this Kohaku below, unquestionably a totally unique pattern with awesome qualities to boot.

Danny and Michelle own another of Nogami's Kohaku, one of the 90bu females at the All Japan Show, you can see it here - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/671.  Ryuki Narita commented that the above Koi shared all the same qualities.

At around 4.15pm Danny and Michelle's day drew to a close and they headed back to their hotel in Nagaoka.  I hitched a lift with Ryuki and Shigeru to collect my bicycle before heading over to Torazo for a quick meeting with Tsuyoshi san.

On my way back home I bumped into Maruhiro outside Marusei's Ojiya facility - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/692.  Over the last couple of days building work has started to constuct a new Koi house, I'll return later this week to get some pictures.

Been a hectic few days but not with anything blog worthy apart from the auction which of course took place on Monday.

We arrived at Yamakoshi Branch Office around 8.45am.  I was surprised to find that the auction was taking place inside one of the halls in the sports facility as opposed to outside. All the Koi were placed in show vats in order that prospective purchasers could see them properly for the first time as opposed to the pictures that had been available previously - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/726

The Dainichi Showa below was one particular Koi that had caught my eye in the pictures, having seen all the Koi this remained my favourite for achieving the highest price of the day.

The 62cm sansai Isa Showa which again had caught my eye on the pictures before the auction.

I mentioned a couple of Hiroi Goshiki had caught my eye from the original pictures - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/723 - however this Otsuka Goshiki below was undoubtedly the star Goshiki, expect to see it feature somewhere at the forthcoming Wakagoi Show - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/720 - I suspect it may well take a Sakura Prize.

At around 10.30am the breeders started placing the Koi in bags in which they would be auctioned, below Futoshi Mano (Dainichi) netting a Koi under the watchful eye of Kenji Tani on the right.  A few more familiar faces from the UK can be seen in the background.

A couple of Niigata's crazy characters, Ryu Mano, son of Senichi Mano (Izumiya), on the left and Jobu Kataoka, staff at Izumiya, on the right.  Ryu's face was purely for the camera!

At this point there was a real buzz in the air, certainly more so than the previous 2 auctions that have taken place - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/357 and http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/557.  This may have in part been due to the fact it was indoors but also it was obvious there were more bidders including big spenders Ryuki Narita and Kenji Tani.

However, before the auction got underway everyone took an early lunch of local Yamakoshi soup.

At around 11.30 everybody started to take their seats either side of the aisle down which the Koi would be pushed on trolleys.

As the first lots were wheeled down it seemed like a case of de ja vu, the prices were not exactly racing high, although there first lots were small Koi.

Ryuki Narita taking a close look at a prospective purchase.

Good to see Geoff Kemp back following his KHV problems last year.

Tony Pitham of Koi Water Barn - www.koiwaterbarn.com - placing a bid.

On the right Soo of Yamakoshi Mura Malaysia - www.yamakoshi.biz -

After a while the bidding started hotting up and generally the prices were much higher than the previous 2 auctions.  The Dainichi Showa above was actually the 3rd most expensive lot of the day, the Kohaku next to it in the picture narrowly the 2nd most expensive.

The honour of the most expensive Koi of the day fell to the Isa Showa, purchased by Kenji Tani.  I expect we'll see this Koi at the Wakagoi Show too.

First stop this morning was an appointment with Taro Kataoka at Oya Koi Farm to pick up some tosai.  Unfortunately the grade on offer wasn't what Jos was after and Taro wouldn't allow a pick through his tategoi, not the hoped for start that was hoped for.

Jos was after some high quality tosai Asagi so we stopped just down the hill at Otsuka to ask if he would sell any, he declined.  Things not going to plan!

From their we headed up to Masaki who we've seen a number of times on the blog:

http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/696

http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/687

Jos was confident that Masaki san would have something for him having picked up tosai in previous years.

First up Masaki offered some Kumonryu to pick through and a number of tosai were duly selected.  Next Jos asked for some Asagi which Masaki again offered a selection to pick through, whilst not the size Jos was after they were again purchased.

In the same Koi house were 3 fiberglass tanks containing Masaki san's tategoi.  Jos asked if he could take a look under the covers.  At first Masaki san stated they were tategoi and not for sale.  Reluctantly he agreed to first lift the covers, then eventually gave in and allowed Jos to select some from 1 of tanks, then the 2nd and then the 3rd, resulting in a very nice bowl of small, but excellent tategoi including Beni Kumonryu, Shusui, Shiro Utsuri, Tancho Showa and a Tancho Beni Kumonryu, along with the earlier selected Asagi.

You can view a video of the tosai below, the video is in high definition, click the full screen icon to view in real detail.

Masaki Tosai Selection from Nishikigoi.TV on Vimeo.

With business concluded at Masaki we headed off to lunch before taking the journey to Hosokai in Wakatochi.

Two yonsai Showa, the first 67cm, the second around 65cm were bowled and duly purchased.

Jos then started to go through one of the nisai tanks initially looking for a couple of Koi to fill up a box with a Ginrin Maruten Ochiba Shigure purchased but of which I don't have a picture.

Jos ended up selecting 12 Koi, of which the Sanke and Showa below were my personal favourites.

Some Nisai in another pond also attracted Jos's attention, 7 bowled initially and whittled down to the 5 below. 

It was 4.30pm by time we were finished at Hosokai and time to call it a day and head back to Ojiya, a frustrating start to the day turned out good in the end.