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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.

We headed off this morning, chilly and overcast following a day of glorious weather yesterday, first stop Kase with the hope of hand picking some tosai, despite the fact Kase san had advised that none were available, the tategoi house being 'snowbound'.

Despite our visit Kase san stood firm that no tategoi could be picked through and, with nothing else of interest at the level Jos was looking for we departed, next stop Yamazaki.

First we visited the tosai houses to have a look at the Koi available, Koi we've seen before on Niigata-Nishikigoi.com - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/716.

Jos enquired about whether he could handpick some tosai, Manabu declined and we headed across the road to the new Koi house to look at some nisai.

From left to right, Sandra (Jos's daughter), Jos, Bram Rohan, Marko and, grinning like a Cheshire cat in the background, Manabu san, another of Niigata's great characters amongst the breeder community.

The Koi in question were a bowl of Hariwake and Purachina.  Jos had stated to Manabu san that in his opinion and experience the Purachina from Yamazaki retained their quality longer in Europe than those of Choguro which he feels tend to go 'greyer'.  It was suggested that this is because those have been bred many times over to generate great luster as small Koi, something they cant' sustain.  Alas I've never owned a Purachina so have no experience to comment on personally.

The picture below shows the Koi which Jos decided to purchase, one of which was particularly interesting.

At first glance this may appear to be a little boring, a Koi of 2 halves.

However, on closer inspection you'll see the eyes have perfectly matching yellow rims around the top and it also has matching yellow lips, incredibly unusual.

What is becoming very apparent is that Jos can play a good game when it comes to purchasing Koi.

Having returned to the tosai house Manabu conceded and granted Jos permission to select 5 tosai from one of the ponds, a pond containing many unsorted tategoi.  These Koi would come from 1 single scoop of a net through the pond.

The Kujaku and Kawarigoi on the right hand side had earlier been picked out by Manabu san and were joined by a number of Beni Kumonryu in which Jos was particularly interested.

In the end Jos whittled it down to the following 5 Koi.

Beni Kumonryu are not a variety I'm overly fond of if truth be told, I've always been a fan of Kumonryu however, I long remember seeing my first example in a copy of Practical Fishkeeping magazine well over 20 years ago.  These however were certainly very clean pretty Koi with proper patterns, not the largely red with a few black patches often seen.  The one below was probably my favourite.

Manabu then surprisingly turned around, before the others were returned to the pond, and invited Jos to pick a 6th Koi.  The one at the front in the picture below is one that Jos had really liked apart from one factor, the beni in the pectoral fin.  Manabu explained that he'd rarely known a nisai or older Beni Kumonryu retain this in this manner, normally it shrinks back, as such Jos decided the other positive factors of the Koi made it worth taking a chance.

Jos proceeded to ask about Ochiba Shigure and Karashigoi and Manabu san surprisingly replied that Jos could pick some from another pond, again from a single scoop of the net.  There were some seriously nice Ochiba amongst the hundreds in the single scoop, the pictures below showing a few of I think 11 purchased.

Manabu san cited this Ginrin Ochiba Shigure as being particularly special.

A couple of Doitsu Karashigoi were duly added, along with another Beni Kumonryu, resulting in a box of 20 hand selected tosai, up from 5 that Manabu reluctantly agreed too in the first place.

It was heading well into the afternoon by this point and a quick stop was made at a ramen shop on Route 17 before heading back through Aikawa, the Utogi Tunnel and a stop at Hide Hirasawa's facility, an appointment postponed yesterday - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/728.  Whilst taking lunch it started to snow, real heavy snow, something I was sure was over for this winter.

Only a few nisai remain available, not enough for Jos to justify making up a box so it was then up to look at Hide's tosai.  Entirely my fault, unfortunately Hide's blog didn't continue past his first post last year.  You can see some of last year's tosai here - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/blog/115.

Jos selected 36 tosai from one of the 'for sale' tanks, unfortunately in the cramped Koi house I wasn't in a position to photograph them.

Hide then agreed that Jos could purchase some Koi from the tategoi ponds situated under the family home although it wouldn't be possible today as they Koi were being fed.  An appointment has been made to return on Thursday meaning we'll have Nogami and Hide, plus other visits no doubt.

From Hide's we headed to Marudo with the prime intention of making arrangements to select tosai later in the week, with those made, and the snow still falling heavily, we headed back home.

Tomorrow Jos has appointments at Oya Koi Farm and Matsunosuke.

I wasn't able to join up with Jos and the others from A & C until lunchtime due to other commitments this morning.

Having met at the Gusto restaurant we headed for an appointment at Nogami whose tosai we saw here a week or so ago - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/717. 

As mentioned previously the breeders generally like to stop feeding before netting a pond however a sample was netted out and arrangements made to return to Nogami later in the week so Jos could hand select some of the tosai available.

A 4pm appoitment had been made to visit Hide Hirasawa to look at his Doitsu, for which we were early, a number of other breeders are already scheduled for the rest of the week, and Jos asked where else was worth a look.  Somewhere not on the scheduled list was Shintaro and having an idea of the sort of thing that Jos was after suggested it worth a quick pop up to Mushigame to take a look although to be honest I wasn't sure whether these tosai would currently be offered for sale.

Jos liked what he saw and was interested in picking some to which Saito san agreed.  I'd forgotten it was Saito san's birthday, he was clearly in the birthday spirit.

The pond was netted and Jos and Marco started selecting through, finally settling on 20 Gosanke, Jos delighted with what he saw.

This was perhaps my personal number 1 from those selected.

In the adjacent pond Jos spotted a couple more Tancho Showa and enquired if they were available.  Again Saito san agreed to net the pond so Jos could take a closer look at them and again they were to his liking and duly purchased.  The 4pm appointment with Hide was looking in doubt.

Moving along to pond number 2 containing mainly Sanke and some of the larger tosai Jos again asked if he could pick some from that pond.  I was sure that Jos was pushing his luck now but Saito san agreed that he could pick out 2 Koi.  Jos picked out 3 and couldn't decide on which 2, Saito san agreed to let him have all 3, he really was in the birthday spirit!

Unfortunately a tinge in the water combined with these light coloured bowls which are horrible for photographing Koi means the pictures do the Koi no justice.

Pond number 1 contained 2 Tancho Sanke and Jos enquired if they were available.  Saito san mulled on it for a few minutes and again agreed to net the pond so Jos could take a closer look at them.  Whilst he decided against the Tancho's I netted out a couple of Sanke that me and Jos had been discussing.  I was sure there was no way Saito san would sell these and he'd be cursing me for netting them out.

Jos asked the price on one and much to my amazement Saito san quoted one and the deal was done to purchase this Sanke below, again the water and bowl do it no justice.

Jos wanted to briefly interview Saito san about the bloodlines of the Koi so we took coffee.  On departure Jos very happy with his purchases stated that whilst it was Saito san's birthday he felt like he was the one that had got the presents, Jos happy to have some jumbo tosai in the bag.

I'm unsure where we are off to tomorrow but be sure to check back.

An interesting couple of weeks ahead on Niigata-Nishikigoi.com.

Yesterday evening Jos Aben of A & C in the Netherlands arrived in Ojiya, you may recall I spent some time with them last year:

http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/304

http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/305 

http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/306

I'll be spending some time with them again during the course of the week and documenting their trip here so be sure to check back regularly.

Next weekend Tony Pitham of Koi Water Barn - http://www.koiwaterbarn.com/ - and FP Soo of Yamakoshi Mura Malaysia - http://www.yamakoshi.biz/ - both arrive in Ojiya, first to attend the Niigata Breeders Auction - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/726 - and then to visit breeders.  I'll be scheduling time with both so what with that and the auction some interesting stuff to come over the next 10 days.