A day with Van Keulen - 1st stop Marudo

Today was another Koi filled day, this one spent with Jeroen Van Keulen of www.koicentrum.com, someone I've got to know pretty well over the last 18 months or so on his numerous visits to Niigata during that time.

Having rendezvoused at New Plaza Business Hotel at 8.30am we headed off for the first of the day's appointments at Marudo, somewhere I'm much more familiar with than most of the places visited yesterday.

The pic below is of course the 'new' Koi house constructed in Summer 2008 which now houses the main Gosanke stocks.

Hisashi san was just finishing off some work at the original Marudo facility in Nigoro, near the Utogi tunnel, so we took coffee in the house.  When he arrived Jeroen explained he was after a circa 75cm Karashigoi, as detailed in Issue1 of Niigata Nishikigoi Digest - http://www.niigata-nishikigoi.com/node/344 - these are something he breeds as a 'hobby' due to his love of large Koi.  These are becoming more and more popular and Hisashi san explained he planned to increase production.  He also explained breeding good large ones is difficult.  The blank canvas of single colour Koi makes minor imperfections stand out like a sore thumb.

We headed to the Koi houses adjacent to Route 17 which now house most of the Kawarigoi and metallics and Hisashi san set about bowling some examples for Jeroen's perusal.

This is the extremely clean example that Jeroen settled on, circa 75cm.

The adjacent Koi house contained some excellent Purachina which another of the party was looking for.  I commented to Jeroen that the Gin Matsuba, not a variety that would normally attract my attention, looked very good and Jeroen asked for some to be bowled.

The 2 below were purchased, both exhibiting lovely clean heads, good lustre and neat even defined matsuba scaling.

Earlier in the week Jeroen had bowled and photographed some large Koi at Marudo to fulfil a request from a customer.  With the customer having confirmed purchase of the Koi they were again bowled for final checking and photographing.

As Toshi san is confirming above, the Kohaku is 5 years old and already 78cm.

The Shiro Utsuri below was also purchased by the same customer, this Koi again 5 years old and 80cm in length, a very nice example for sure with excellent shiroji and sumi.

I've written much about Marudo over the last couple of years and nothing has changed my opinion from October 2008 that it is, in my opinion, the number one Koi farm in Niigata - http://yamakoshi.blogspot.com/2008/10/maybe-just-maybe-now-niigatas-best.html