Time to say good bye
Posted 13 Apr 2009 - 00:45 by Mark Gardner
Farming/breeding/selling any livestock has a strange bond between 'commodity' and something you care for I guess.
I remember way back to 1980. My grandmother, on my fathers side, came from a farming family in Northumbria, on the border with Scotland. During the war my grandfather was riding a motorcycle and sidecar when he had an accident which smashed his leg. The lady that would become by grandmother was his nurse. They were to become married and move back to Grays, Essex, the town my grandfather came from, and in which I was born and lived before coming to Japan.
In 1980 we undertook the journey to Northumbria for a holiday to stay on the farm run by my grandmothers sister, 'Aunty Joan' who sadly passed away a few weeks ago, and her husband 'Uncle Robbie'.
On our arrival at the farm we discovered a lamb that had been rejected by her mother. She was being bottle fed. At the same time we also discovered, I was 8 years old at the time, lambs going to market. During our stay at the farm we would be responsible for bottle feeding the stray lamb, Mary. It was only when we left that, as an 8 year old, it dawned that Mary would soon go to market and meet mint sauce.
So, what does this all have to do with Nishikigoi?
Since June I've been heavily involved with Shintaro tosai. We've waded through 100's of thousands in the process of coming to what he has left now.
On Wednesday 25th March I checked in on the tosai in the main house, that with the best tosai. On 26th March I left Ojiya for the Wakagoi Show in Kyushu.
On my next visit to the tosai house a whole lot of changing had gone on. It transpired a whole load of tosai Sanke had moved from pond 2 to pond 3, the Showa pomd. The reason? Darren from Absolute Koi had bought them.
Last week those tosai Sanke made their way from Mushigame to Worksop, England. The pictures below show Saito-san packing them.
The tosai in question are part of Absolute Koi's grow and show competition for 2009. Saito-san described them to me as excellent tategoi for hobbyists.
Contrary to other livestock farmers, the product of Nishikigoi breeders contines after it's sold. Darren has 30 tategoi Shintaro Sanke available, I look forward to seeing how they develop.
For more details visit the Absolute Koi's Shintaro Grow and Show web page.
