Devin opened the sale of his Jumbo Tosai before I did in Minnesota and my father flew in to help out at the Koi Acres’ Spring Sale, which was a very successful event thanks to all the hobbyists and friends who made it possible!  Hobbyists from all over the country-from Minnesota to New York-came to appreciate and take part in the annual open house at Koi Acres.

The Filipino Koi Community was not to be left behind as one of kOis & pOnds’ own purchased one of the very special jumbo tosai from Devin to be put in his mud ponds as a possible contender at future American Koi Shows.  Mr. Dennis Sytin is a force to be reckoned with not only in the Philippine Koi Keeping Community but in Japan as well.  This year he decided to possibly enter a more global scale of Koi Competition and purchased a couple of beautiful Tategoi from Devin’s Jumbo Tosai Selection this year.  Personally, they are among my favorites:

Aren’t they beautiful?

They have been put in the mudponds as this is being written, and I am so excited to see all the fish come out in the fall! There should be amazing nisai, sansai and yonsai this year, especially since there are more mudponds now than the year prior. Yipee!

My brother and I came to the Philippines to open the sale of our very special Jumbo Tosai Shipment this Spring/Summer of 2012. This shipment is very close to my heart as this is the first time that I went to Japan to select Koi solo flight as has been documented in the previous blogs.

Before anything else I would like to thank the Filipino Koi Hobbyists not only for such a warm welcome, but also for appreciating the collection that I selected. It means so much to me and I am truly grateful to everyone who stopped by to take a look.

As can be expected, one always has their favorites in the bunch, and this bunch is no exception.  Devin and I almost always talk about fish, and we usually tell each other which one is “our pick”; some days we agree, some days we don’t.  Well, this is an example of the latter.

It’s Mikki vs. Devin time!

These photos were taken just today, and this is a raw file-absolutely no editing done.

This is my pick:

and this is Devin’s:

Both are from Isa.  Thoughts, anyone? Which one do you like more? I personally think they are both very beautiful fish, so it’s a tough call.  But I made my decision.  What’s yours?

[Side Note: That Goshiki beside my Showa is pretty awesome too... Devin and I like it.]

It will be interesting to see how these fishes develop over the next year. I hope that I get to see these fish compete against each other at the next Philippine Koi Show/kOis & pOnds Cup in 2013! Very special event as we will be celebrating 20 years in the Koi Industry! I hope to see everyone there again!

At the moment I am writing this on the plane heading towards the bright California sunshine where I will be staying for a couple of weeks before returning to Minnesota. The quiet drone of the airplane has allowed me some time to gather my thoughts appropriately and organize a culminating entry of what I have discovered about Koi these past two weeks.

The first, as I had already mentioned, is that Koi is not a summation of its parts, but an aggregation of the whole. Regardless of whether a single Koi is completely excelling in one aspect (say, for example, unbelievable body conformation) at the sacrifice of another aspect (such as skin quality), then the value of the fish is considerably lower than that of a Koi who has balanced proportions as well as good skin quality and an appealing pattern.

The second is that Koi is one great waiting game. It is probably closely related to the lottery and good friends with Russian Roulette. No matter how many lottery tickets you buy or how much money you spend, it only increases your odds of winning the jackpot but it doesn’t guarantee you a winning ticket. Sometimes you can pay so much more money for a promising Koi that everyone else wants and you end up shooting yourself in the foot when a seemingly “Ugly Duckling” Koi comes around two years later that magically became a beautiful swan.

The third, and possibly most important, is that one must always remember what you are shopping for. If you are looking to buy a dress for the prom but end up finding something fantastic that you don’t need, then you just end up taking up more space in your closet and decreasing your spending ability. The same goes for Koi; are you looking for that one magnificent Yonsai Gosanke that will just be the gem of your pond or do you want to find a few special Jumbo Tosai that you want to watch grow and study how they develop? Are you looking to compete at shows? What size category do you want to win and which show do you want to enter?

There are so many things to remember, but when you return to your references and bear in mind that you have specific Koi in mind, it greatly  helps in thinning out Koi.  At the end of the day, everything always boils down to two questions:
1. What are you looking for?
2. Do YOU like what you found?

I recall what my dad would tell people when asked how to pick fish. He would say that it would almost be easier to look at a Koi, take it as a beautiful (granted that the fish already initially appeals to you) and count the good points of the Koi rather than to focus on its bad points. It is always better to see the glass half-full rather than half empty.

This reflection was best illustrated by the selection at Marudo Koi Farm and the events that ensued.  Myself, along with all the members of the Hirasawa Family and Devin Swanson took apart the Koi and discussed each one in great detail; and while everyone had a consistent opinion about the pool of Koi, the difference lay in which Koi each person would personally keep for themselves.

If we were judging a Koi show today and these are our five entries, everyone agreed that Koi # 2 would win as Grand Champion.  Skin quality was fantastic as there is a luminous luster to the skin.  Sumi on the Sanke is also already quite visible, which makes pattern-guessing less of an abstraction.  Furthermore, the shiroji of the Koi and a strong , even hi plate made it the Koi most ready for a Koi show.

Koi numbers 1, 4 and 5 have very heavy Beni patterns and deep Maki (literally translated, Maki means “wrap” and refers to how far the beni of the Koi goes down along its side) that this is tosai you would definitely be purchasing for its future potential as then eventually “grow into” their patterns while still maintaining the proportions of the beni to the body.  Heavy patterns such as this is typically best suited for larger Koi, and that is why it would be quite interesting to watch them grow.

Koi number 3 has the cleanest and best shiroji (white) out of the bunch and is best suited for people who prefer seeing more white on a Koi than a heavy pattern.  Furthermore, the underlying sumi promises to come out just around the edges of the beni, which give is a very good balance of white, black and red.

Sacho and Toshi said that the Koi they liked the most was #4 because of the fantastic body line, the strong, consistent Inazuma pattern and the clean tail tube with just enough shiroji in between the last step pattern and the tail.  The sumi placement is also beautifully placed as it is closer to the edges of the beni and is evenly distributed along the Koi’s body.

Tani-san and Keiko-neechan choose Koi #1 because this Koi has the best skin quality in the bunch and the underlying sumi placement promises to come out just right at the edges.  Keiko thought the pattern on this Koi is very “cute” and Tani-san liked very much that it is a Maruten Sanke.

Devin, Kasumi-san and Okasan liked Koi #2 the best because they both feel that it already shows promise now and will continue to grow big and beautiful as it both has size and luster to it’s skin.

“And what of the two other Koi that was not selected?” I asked Sacho.

“They are all beautiful Koi, and still very young.  They all show potential and perhaps in the future those two will show more potential than others.  Today, these three show the best potential.  Tomorrow or in a year when they have grown in size, girth or their skin quality develops more, then perhaps they will become the less promising Koi.”

So was it that everyone choose a Sanke? Simple:

“So, what is the favorite variety here are Marudo Koi Farm?”  I asked everyone at the dinner table.

“Sanke” was the unanimous response.

It is interesting how everyone went in different directions without discounting or disagreeing with the other’s choices.  They all carried the same assessment of each fish, yet choose differently because different things appealed to them.  Each person had a different idea of how each Koi would develop and truthfully, it really is anybody’s guess which fish will become the best fish at different points in time.

All of the Koi I have selected for Manila have underlying sumi waiting to come out.  This is mainly because water quality in Manila tends to encourage sumi to manifest quite well.  It is always important to remember where you will be raising your Koi and understanding the conditions that you will be placing it in so that one would have a good idea of how you can expect your Koi to grow.  At the moment, the sumi coming out on the Koi is something that everyone is looking forward to seeing-and is a crucial deciding factor as to which Koi will turn out to be the best.

I have started this entry on a plane to California and I now end it as I sit on my parents dining table in California.  I am so grateful to the Hirasawa family for their incredible hospitality and passion for Koi that they have generously shared with me.  Marudo Koi Farm is one of the premier sources of Koi in Japan, and they are one of the most professional farms in the area.  Their system of packing and shipping Koi is one of the best I have seen and they take special care in making sure that the Koi purchased arrives at its destination in the best possible condition.

I would also like to thank Kenji Tani as well for so graciously accommodating me as I went on my first Koi buying trip sans my father.  I very much appreciate his gentle guidance and confidence that he showed me while we were going around the different farms in Japan.

Many thanks as well to my wonderful husband, Devin, for urging me forward and allowing me to be by his side both to help him pick out his own fish for Koi Acres and allowing me to write about it on my blog.

And last, but most certainly not the least, I would like to thank my amazing family, without whom I would never have discovered the wonderful world of Koi.  Thank you to my sister and my sister in law who has been a strong support for me while I was away at the office and helped me so much in making sure everything was running smoothly when I couldn’t be around to take care of certain things myself; thank you to my brother who encouraged me and gave me some pointers to remember when choosing Koi; and many many thanks to my parents for trusting me and relentlessly urging me remain confident in my knowledge of Koi.  They all have made this trip possible and I appreciate so much the confidence they have in me to go to Japan on my own and experience what it really means to be a professional in this industry.  I am truly grateful for this opportunity and I cannot say “thank you” enough.  I hope I have made them all proud.

While this trip to Japan is over, it is most certainly not the last as I believe I am slated to return in the Fall for another Koi buying season.  I look forward to blogging about it again then!  In the meantime, I will be continuously blogging about all the Koi events between then and now.  I have a special update tomorrow about a certain world-renowned Koi hobbyists who has already bagged two of the finest Tategoi in America!

Until next time… ~Ja, Mata Kondo!

Our “After-Wedding Wedding Party” was so much fun! The whole Hirasawa family (Sacho, Okasan, Keiko-oneechan, Shoko-chan and Shinji-ojichan) and Marudo staff (Tomo-san, Daiki-san and Shohei-kun)  went out with us to a Yakiniku Restaurant where we ate and drank till meat was coming out of our ears.  I cannot say how much I love Japanese Food (especially Japanese Food from Japan! ;-P).  Everyone was in a fantastic mood, joking around and laughing during the whole dinner.  After the last order had been called and everyone’s stomachs had had enough, it was time to move the party to another bar.  No Japanese party is complete without Karaoke, and that is exactly where we all headed to not only sing but dance as well!  When the clock struck one, the crowd thinned to just me, Devin, Tomo and Shohei (both staff at Marudo) and we decided to visit “Devin’s Homeground” where Devin was a regular customer during his stay here in Japan and on some occasions would play bartender when he was a good boy.  We intended to have ramen to cap the night off, but everyone was too exhausted to even try to go across the street for ramen (and Devin was falling asleep in his seat).

Yesterday I was slated to receive special Koi lessons from Sacho himself about the finer points in Koi, but the day all of a sudden became incredibly busy that we had to reschedule for the next day (today).  Devin and I had some last minute purchases to make before we headed back home to America (alright, alright, it was really just me who had some purchases to make) and because we were going a little further than usual, we decided to have dinner at a restaurant near the shopping center.  OKONOMIYAKI!!!!!!!  Devin made a mean Okonomiyaki and Gyoza for me.  Kinda nice to have an Iron Chef as your guide.

In any case, it worked out better that I ended up receiving the lesson the next day as it also happened to be the day that I got to select Jumbo Tosai for Manila. Sacho, Tani-san and I had selected nine Jumbo Tosai and had placed all nine in a large bowl.  While peering over the selected Koi Tani-san turned to me and said, “Which one do you not like? We are selecting 5 Koi today.” With both Sacho and Tani-san by my side and Devin about 5 feet away from me, I took 4 fish out one at a time until we had 5 fish left in the bowl. It is very rare that you get the luxury of time when selecting Koi in Japan, and I had a total of about 10 minutes to assess, visualize and select the Koi that I wanted to keep and the ones that I could do without.  It wasn’t easy, but at the end of the exercise I received the Japanese way of saying “Good Job.”  A silent, approving nod and a smile on their faces.

Eagle Eye

Searching for the perfect Koi

My Tito Kenji!

All Smiles! Koi Selection must be over!

Peace Out!

Sacho had to entertain more guests that afternoon while Devin and I had to take care of our travel arrangements at the Niigata City Train Station for our departure the next day, so Sacho and I agreed that we would talk more in detail about the Koi selected over the dinner table when we all returned home.  There was not much time for photography due to the number of guests, but I was able to get a couple of group shots of the Koi from Kasumi-san’s camera.

Special “Glamour Shots” Will be taken of the fish and posted in the near future, but Sacho decided that since they were not slated to be shipped immediately, it was better to keep the fish in the best possible condition with the least amount of stress at the meantime and take the photos as they are prepped for shipping to minimize hazards. All this Koi will be shipped to Manila and this is just a sneak peek into what we can all expect in a few months!

Tonight we discussed in great detail the merits of not only each individual fish, but also about Koi in general.  Because the discussion was over the dinner table, it was not only Sacho who shared his knowledge, but also Okasan, Keiko, Toshi, Kasumi, and of course Devin.  As I sit here digesting all the information gained tonight, I realize that what I learned is basically a summation of what I have discovered on this trip to Japan.

Kindly indulge me for a short while and forgive the poor photos as I would like to share the same experience that I received today.  We picked fish in the morning and it was about 8 hours later when we were able to discuss the merits of each Koi, so I would like to share the same experience with my readers.  Tomorrow morning, I will post in detail all I have learned, but I will give an insight to what Sacho said tonight just after dinner, bearing in mind that all these Koi are Jumbo Tosai.

Sacho said that when you are selecting Tosai, pattern becomes one of the strongest factor in deciding which Koi you want to get only because there is very limited you can see from both the body and the skin of a young Koi that would indicate future potential.  Regardless, one should always bear in mind that the Koi’s body and conformation weighs heavily on quality of Koi in the future, so it is important to always first look for possible signs of deformities and/or indications that the Koi has poor skin quality or lacks a luster to the skin that should be present in it as a tosai.

Selecting Nisai is slightly different as the fish is a little more mature and there are more tell-tale signs of the potential of the Koi through bone structure.  Skin Quality is also apparent at this stage, so these two are heavier deciding factors over Koi pattern.  Pattern still cannot be discounted because it affects the overall appearance and presentation of the Koi.

All these being said, the standard of Koi is not like a typical “point system” wherein despite one fish having extremely low scores in one aspect, the strong point of another aspect makes up for its weaknesses in points.  Selecting Koi is looking at the overall features of the Koi as a whole.  Koi is the marriage of all the things that is supposed to make it beautiful and a great Koi must have all aspects for it to be considered the best.

Tomorrow I will most definitely share our discussion with everyone, but for now I feel I have to digest and arrange everything in a manner that will best be understood by all.  If there is one thing I learned about Koi on this trip, it would be that there are just some things in Koi that cannot be explained-it must be experienced.

Every time anyone I know-whether it be my father, by brother, or Devin- comes to Japan, they say that there is always something new to be learned.   This trip is very special for me because this is the first time I have actually been under the pressure of selecting Koi without my father by my side.  I am very grateful for the gentle guidance and trust of Kenji Tani and Hisashi Hirasawa on my road to this discovery.

I’m sure everyone is looking forward to my post tomorrow, but for now I suppose I’ll have to be a little hidoi and leave everyone hanging!

~Ja, Mata Ashita!

Keeping it All in the Family.

As I wake up everyday to the view of the beautiful mountains and the peaceful tranquility of countryside Japan living, I find myself growing more and more envious of the time Devin spent here just enjoying everything on a daily basis for three years.  I’ve already mentioned how wonderful the food is, but apart from that, Niigata is just absolutely beautiful and the people couldn’t be any nicer.

The other day, Devin and I went driving around for about two hours delivering packing slips to the different farms that the fax didn’t go through to.  We had to go through the mountains and decided to take the long way home.  I was completely stunned by how beautiful the view was.  Unfortunately, it took my breath away so much that I forgot to take out my camera to share it with everyone.  I suppose that just means you all have to make the trip out to Japan to enjoy the view live! In any case, I don’t think any photo would be able to capture it’s true beauty.

Buying Koi doesn’t usually take fifteen days to finish, but Devin acts as his own agent and takes care of putting together all his shipments.  My company has always had the luxury of having our own agent in Japan take care of it for us, so we were never bothered with the intricacies of logistics.  I have to say I have come to appreciate the work that Mr. Kenji Tani has done for us over the past two decades. Because he does such fine work taking us around, arranging all the shipments and consolidating all our purchases, our only concern was enjoying Koi and learning more about them.  I never realized how intricate the process is in reality.  So much has to be dealt with and so much information has to be passed on to so many different people that it is much more stressful than I anticipated.

At the moment, I am staying with Devin’s Japanese family here at Marudo Koi Farm, and everyone has been absolutely wonderful.  Yesterday and Today is pretty much a paperwork day for Devin, so I had the chance to spend a good amount of time with the people here at the farm.  It is so obvious how much love and care they give Devin (and by extension, me) that it is truly heart-warming.

The Hirasawa family seems to truly enjoy how much I love Japanese food and last night they took me out for sushi.  Because I had never tried conveyor sushi in Japan before, that’s where we decided to go.  It was soooo incredibly good! I had never seen sushi with melted cheese on top and I must say whoever came up with it is an absolute genius. We all had a good time and I have a photo to prove it:

We thought we were done eating....

Apparently, we needed a few more plates. I think the total came up to about 60 plates.....

The amazing part is that those plates were only for 5 people, which wasn’t the total number of people in our party.  Toshi-san (Sacho’s second child) and his wife Kasumi-san along with their three children sat in the table opposite of us, and I believe that they came a close second to the number of plates we accumulated.  Hontou ni Oishiikatta!

After dinner, Keiko took their cousin (she is here in Niigata from Chiba for Spring Break) along with Devin and I to Karaoke and some rounds of darts.  I had no idea Keiko was so good at singing! And she plays a mean game of darts.

We called it a night at midnight, as there was still work to be done at the farm in the morning.  I am so grateful to the Hirasawa family for their wonderful hospitality and I couldn’t be having a better time with them.  Everyone  wanted to come to Las Vegas last June to see Devin get hitched, but of course the farm couldn’t be left untended, so Sacho came on his own.  Tonight, though, they are throwing us a wedding party and we are all going out together: both the family and the staff.  I’m super excited as they are all so much fun to be with!

Ja~ Mata Ashita!

As we counted the number of years I’ve known Mitsu-oniisan and Futoshi-oniisan (I usually call them “big brother” at social occasions), I came to realize that we have been friends for nearly half my life!  At least 12 years has gone by since I first met them when they first came to Manila, and I believe that might be a conservative estimate.  My father started his love affair with Koi when I was only five years old, and started our company two years later.  Nearly two decades later, I am so happy to have been able to build such a deep friendship with some of the most respected Koi Breeders in the world through the efforts of my dad.

Master and Padawan

The next day, Devin and I were up bright and early to start picking our Koi from our most generous and kind host, Hisashi Hirasawa san from Marudo Koi Farm.  His collection of Jumbo tosai this year is extraordinary as there are not only a few beautiful koi, but many excellent tategoi.  The rule of thumb with Koi breeding is usually you have to breed a million Koi to get 20 good ones, but I think the trend is changing.  I had the opportunity to watch Sacho cull through his Koi, and I am most certain that at least 90% of the Koi that he went through got thrown into the Tategoi pond.

Devin picked out a few special Jumbo Tosai, and I found my favorite out of the bunch:

Me likey!

I almost hope it never gets sold so that I can be selfish and keep it for myself to watch it grow….but I don’t think Devin would like that very much…

There are so many ponds to go through that this will not be the last post about Marudo Koi Farm.  While we were hanging out at the Marudo Koi House in Nigoro, Sacho turned our attention to a pond adjacent to the Jumbo Tosai gosanke.  He has recently begun breeding Shiro Utsuris, and it is definitely worth mentioning! While there is really only a few Koi (perhaps he was just seeing how it would turn out?), I feel it would be very interesting to watch how his Shiro Utsuris grow.

For lunch, Sacho and Okasan (mother in Japanese.  That is what we call Marudo’s wife, Yoshie-san) took Devin and I to soba. I can’t ever seem to get enough to eat! Japanese food is just so amazing, and even more so in Japan! Nihon ryouri daisuki! (I love Japanese Food!)

Father and Son

After lunch, we headed out to Nogami Koi Farm, and we were greeted by Hisato san and his son Chikara who was home for Spring Break from studying in America.  I must say, Chikara speaks excellent english.  More often than not, when I speak english to a Japanese native who learned how to speak English, I have to slow down quite a bit and speak with bad grammar.  Chikara needed none of those as I tried to see if he would understand me even if I spoke in my regular speed, strange mutt-like accent. Daijoubu! Chikara speaks and understand English so well, he almost forgot how to speak in Japanese as he tried to translate what we were saying to his father! Gambare, Chikara-kun!

What I love about visiting Nogami is that Sacho (Sacho means president or big boss) has such a kind heart and a warm, welcoming smile.  I had to ask Chikara if it was even possible for him to get mad as it seems he couldn’t even hurt a fly! He is so much fun to be with and is always in bright spirits that it is always a treat to spend some time with him.  Doesn’t hurt that he breeds such fantastic Koi, and that his fish are no strangers to the major trophies given at Shows not only in Japan but also all over the world.

I promise this was totally candid.

Nogami Koi has become quite famous over the past few years, and last year he won Reserve Grand Champion at the All-Japan Show with his splendid yon-dan Kohaku and of course how can we forget how he won Grand Champion at the Nogyosai Koi Show twice?  Despite the numerous awards he has already garnered, Nogami is strangely still a relatively small breeder and is pretty much running a one-man show.  Regardless, his Koi is definitely not a reflection of the size of his operation as he proves to be producing some of the highest quality Koi money can buy.

Jumbo Tosai

Can you see Devin and My reflection?

Forgive the poor photo quality as there was too much glare that my little point and shoot camera wasn’t able to filter much of it.  We should be able to get better photos of the Koi we purchased when we return stateside.

That afternoon, we phoned Sir Mark Gardner to see if he could fit us into his very busy schedule.  He was slated to depart for Manila in a few hours, but he very graciously took a couple of hours off to have a drink with us. We met up in Ojiya and talked a little about our favorite subject: Koi.  Kois & Ponds is very grateful to all the support that Mark has shown us as he will be giving a talk in Quezon City about his experiences living in Japan, Koi Breeding and just basically sharing with everyone what he has learned about the Koi hobby.

Please do come join us at Kois & Ponds in Quezon City on March 31st of this year to share Koi thoughts with Mr. Mark Gardner.  We hope to see everyone there!

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to be here in Japan for this trip and have the awesome job of seeing all the special Jumbo Tosai that are being offered up for sale by some of the finest breeders in the world.  I have it on good authority that some of the Koi that I have been eyeing this trip will be seeing Manila weather in the summer.  I hope everyone will once again join me in Manila in June to view our very special collection of Jumbo Tosai to be shipped soon!  I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted on this as plans develop.

For now it’s time to visit more farms and treat myself to more Koi viewing!

Ja~ Mata ashita!

Snow!

Yesterday was such a bright and warm day that I couldn’t help but be remiss in updating my blog and just enjoyed the weather.
The other day I updated my blog right after we returned from Kan’no Koi Farm selecting some special Jumbo Tosai Goshiki for Koi Acres.  I’ll leave it up to Devin to post the photos of all the Jumbo Tosai selected, but I will give everyone a sneak peek into the caliber of Koi that they can expect at this year’s Koi Acres Spring Sale.

I wonder who will be the proud owner of this fantastic Goshiki?

While Kanno is best known for being a Goshiki Breeder, it isn’t the only variety that he makes as he has recently invested a lot on very good Oyagoi to breed Showa and Sanke.  Devin and I took a peek at the tanks, and I managed to get a photo of the tategoi:

Kanno Tosai Pond

Did you see it? Unfortunately, without bowling any single fish and taking the time to photograph each and everyone, there is really no good way of photographing koi in a tank.  Sumimasen….

After visiting Kazu-kun (Kanno Koi Farm), we went to visit Mistunori Isa (Isa Koi Farm) and I was pleasantly surprised by a familiar face who was also at Mitsu-san’s brand new greenhouse when Devin and I arrived. Another Ikemen breeder with a million-dollar smile named Hisato Nogami greeted us with a warm handshake as we entered the building.  The new greenhouse is something anyone would envy as it had a state of the art heating system along with a much wider walking space in between tanks. Most definitely a luxury in Niigata.  They also housed pretty amazing fish as I got to see the Showa that won Kokugyo in the 50 bu division at all Japan Show this year.  I can’t wait to see this Koi again in a few years!

Kawaiiiii! ;-P

That night, Kazu-kun took Devin and I to dinner.  We had Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba, and I must say that it was most definitely the first time I had yakisoba that didn’t have the name Nissin in the packaging!  It most certainly tastes a lot different from the cup noodles, and while I absolutely loved it, Yakisoba cup noodles and I have spend many a late night together cramming for tests and college papers due in a few hours.

Speaking to young breeders is such a nice experience as there are many things we can relate to.  Devin and I are both young in the industry and Kazu-kun is exactly the same age as Devin.  There was much we could relate to and much we were able to share with each other about Koi and being in the Koi industry.  Kazu-kun would wake up at 5 am everyday in the Winter and 3 am everyday the rest of the year to go around his ponds (both indoor and outdoor) to feed and check on his Koi.  One thing we all agreed on was that Koi is most certainly a lot of work, and without passion, there is no way that we would still be doing what we are doing.

Okonomiyaki!

The following day, we were scheduled to return to Marusaka Koi Farm as Devin had still another fish to pick out, and this time I got to see more than just their beautiful Koi.

Marusaka mostly breeds Doitsu Kawarigoi, and in recent years this variety has grown in popularity.  I usually don’t see Midorigoi grow big, until yesterday.  Not only did this midorigoi have quite a bit of length to it, it also had a pretty good girth.  The skin was beautiful and even from head to tail, and the same shiny skin quality not only held true for this midorigoi, but for many of the Koi in each tank.  They also have some Sanke that is most definitely worth mentioning as the quality is quite impressive for them being a relatively smaller breeder.  Did I mention that Tero-kun also speaks English?

[I promised I would do this: "Hello Tero-kun!!!!!!!!!!! ??????????"]

Apart from Koi, Teroyuki and his family are very much into bullfighting as a hobby, and I got to see the two bulls that they care for in the barn.  I was most certainly a frightening experience at first, but I eventually gathered enough courage to pet them.  Despite their imposing facade, they can actually be quite tame creatures (just don’t try to ride them like a horsie).

Feeding the Bulls

Teroyuki told me that he would take them out for walks when the weather is good so that they could get some exercise.  Apparently, bullfighting is quite a popular hobby in this area that walking  a seven foot bull like a dog is no big deal among the neighbors.  Wonder what my neighbors will think if I decided to keep bulls?

Tomorrow morning will have a very interesting set of photos as today we picked out jumbo tosai from Marudo Koi Farm and Nogami Koi Farm and we got to spend some time with Hisato-san and his son Chikara-kun.  I would love to tell you all about it and show you more peeks in to the Spring collection of Koi Acres, but it is time to eat dinner and I feel it would be a crime to keep really really good Japanese Food waiting.

Ja, mata ashita!

Yesterday we visited Teruyuki from Marusaka Koi Farm.  He is unable to work lately because of a ski accident that left him with a broken pelvis and hand, and it seems it will be about another couple of weeks before he is able to return to Koi farming.  Thankfully, though, it was his pelvis and not his back that was injured as that would put him permanently out of work.  Because of his injury, we mostly spent the afternoon catching up on things other than Koi, but later in the week, Teruyuki promised he would show us his beautiful Koi.

While having afternoon tea with Teruyuki, his longtime girlfriend Aya, arrived to pay him a visit. She is the sweetest thing ever! She was very shy at first, but she eventually warmed up as we began “girl talking”.  What I love about visiting different farms in Japan is the incredible warmth that you receive at each place you go.  I honestly have no idea how they all stay so skinny as it seems there is an endless supply of sweets in each household!  Every place we have thus far visited have greeted us with this:

And you know what? The cake tastes even better than it looks! oisshiiiiiiii!!!!!

The television was also turned on in the room, and the finals for Sumo wrestling was being featured.  I find sumo wrestling to be such an interesting sport! I never appreciated it until I took the time to sit down and watch an actual match. There are so many intricacies, ranking, ceremony and what not involved in it that I simply could not get enough.  Surprisingly, sumo is not only popular in Japan, but also in other parts of the world as there are quite a few gaijin sumo wrestlers in the major leagues.

After Marusaka Koi Farm, we headed out to Otsuka Koi Farm and this time I got to see some Koi.  Koi is such a beautiful art form that is continuously growing and developing.  Each year, the Koi not only grow just a little bit more in length and girth, but the number of varieties being produced is also growing just as much!  Can anyone guess what kind of variety this Koi is?

What about this?

The first Koi is a Goshiki Showa, and the second one, which is something that I would personally like to keep in my own pond, is called a Kage Shiro Utsuri.  I want one! (I must apologize for the poor quality of photos… I didn’t want to stress out the fish too much)

Otsuka san was so kind as to net me these interesting Koi, and even bowl the Goshiki Showa for me.  I truly appreciated it, and I was completely fascinated with the marriage of both the unusual and beautiful in Koi.

My father, Michael Hernandez, has just e-mailed me photos of the Barstow Koi Farm/Mystic Koi Mud Pond Pull and it seems everyone had a grand time.  I’m sorry I missed it, but Devin and I will definitely be in California to see all the Koi harvested in person!

Today we went to Kanno Koi Farm and in a little while we will be heading to Isa Koi Farm.  Devin is just doing our laundry while I work! (I should go make sure he hasn’t shrunk all our clothes!)

I will update again either tonight or tomorrow to share with you the events of today. I’m quite excited to tell you about it, as it seems to be that today is ikemen day! Both Kazuhiro-kun and Mitsunori-san are quite good-looking that to visit even just for a photo is worth the trip!

Faster than a speeding bullet!

This trip was the first time I was able to ride on the Shinkansen despite having gone to Japan several times over the past 14 years.  It was always just more convenient and economical to either drive to Niigata or take a plane to Hiroshima.

They say that the trains in Japan are never late, and if they are, then that means your watch is late….except of course if there is an earthquake.  We usually only took the regular trains around perhaps Tokyo or to get to our hotel in Narita from the Narita airport, so I knew first hand how exact to the minute the trains were.  While we were in Tokyo on the way to catch a train to Hiroshima on our second day in Japan, utter and complete chaos greeted us at the Tokyo Station. Trains were running about 2 hours late (including ours) due to an earthquake somewhere in Japan that caused trains to be delayed.  We eventually did get on a train, and I have to say that train ride was so smooth with only the slightest rocking that did a good job at lulling me to sleep.

duuuuhhhh......

The roads in Japan are arguably the best in the world as well.  Sakai Fish Farm is quite a drive from the Hiroshima train station, so after we got our rental car, we began our drive up to the Hiroshima Airport hotel where we were staying at the time.  I get pretty bad motion sickness, but not once do I get it in Japan.  Truly amazing.

On the train back to Tokyo and then up to Niigata, I got a very exciting treat on the train: I got to see Mount Fuji!!! I is soooooo big, and even more beautiful than in photos!  I wish I could capture its true majesty, but unfortunately, my Iphone Camera could not do it any justice. (Maybe I should get the 4S… Might have made a difference)

Mount Fuji! Check one off the bucket list.

This morning, we woke up the the view of the snow covered mountainside, and it really just amazes me how beautiful this mountainous country is.  I can’t soak it up enough….

Good Morning Niigata!

I spoke with my father this morning and he told me that they had just finished harvesting the mud ponds at Barstow Koi Farm that house the grow out Koi for Mystic Koi.  He said the harvest was very good and the Koi had grown quite a bit.  I am very excited to see the fish for myself in a few weeks!  I believe Devin will also me joining us at Mystic Koi’s Grow Out contest as a judge. We hope to see everyone there!

In other news, it seems that Mr. Mark Gardner has fallen in love with the Philippines (and Filipinos) as he is once again coming to Manila to give a talk about Koi and his experiences in Japan.  He will be at Kois & Ponds in Quezon City, Manila on the 31st of March for a seminar.  Thank you very much, Mark, for your unending devotion and support to the Koi industry.  :-)

Today Devin and I will be heading up to the mountains to check up on a couple of farms. He is at the moment staring over my shoulder trying to get me off the computer already so we can head out…. Wakatta, Wakatta! Ikimashou!

Will let you all know how everything goes tonight (or tomorrow, depending on how early or late we get in! ;-p)

Photo taken from the farthest corner of our room.

One of the many things that Japan is well known for is the very tight hotel rooms that many business hotels have to offer.  At the moment, I happen to be staying at one in Hiroshima city so that we can be closer to the train station as we prepare to ride the Shinkansen to Niigata in the morning. While many may cringe at the thought of staying the night in such cramped quarters (and Devin mentioned that it might even be illegal in America to have two people stay in such a tight space), I rather enjoy it!

Some tanks at Omosako Koi Farm

Today we visited Omosako Koi Farm, and I have to say that the people there are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.  Devin and I were greeted by Takayoshi (the eldest son of Sacho) and his mother upon arriving at the farm.  Obachan (auntie in Japanese) was quite excited to see both of us, and myself in particular because it has been five years since I last came to Omosako.  The last time I visited, Sacho sent me out to go shopping and sightseeing with his youngest daughter Eri-chan.  So much can change in five years as we are now both married and Eri is now pregnant with her second child.  She was not at the farm when I arrived, so obasan promptly gave her a call and had me speak with her.  We were both so excited to see each other so Eri went out of her way to clear her schedule and we were once again reunited in a half hour.

She arrived with her tosai (one-year old ;-P) son, Gen-chan, and he is such a cutie!  She looked absolutely glowing and not at all like the five month pregnant lady that she is.  The nice thing about visiting Omosako Koi Farm is that pretty much all of Sacho’s children can speak English.  Hiro-san, the second son, lived in Seattle for some time while Eri lived, studied and worked in Australia for two years.  Needless to say, they are all highly capable of conversing in English.

Reunited Go nen hisashiburi (after five years)!

While Eri and I were catching up, Devin went ahead and picked out small tosai and Special Jumbo Tosai for Koi Acres to be shipped in April.  While they were taking photos of his newly purchased Koi, I slipped into the greenhouse and checked out his lot.  I expect that he will be posting photos of his Koi in a few days, so please look forward to seeing it soon!

So many fish, so little time!

While Omosako has become renowned worldwide for his excellent Shiro Utsuris, he has in the past eight years begun breeding Showa as well, and they are turning out to be quite impressive.  The oldest son, Taka-san (Takayoshi), studied in Dainichi Koi Farm for quite some time to learn how to produce excellent Showa, as that is their specialty.  After having learned from the best, he returned to Kure (near Hiroshima) to apply his training and began breeding Showa eight years ago.

That is the interesting thing about the Koi industry: despite these farms technically being “rivals” with one another, they openly welcome and even share the secrets of one another’s farm with each other.  Many breeders send their sons to different farms to learn and train under another breeder.  Because Koi has such a personal touch to the method of learning, breeding and producing great Koi, it is such a surprise that such cooperative learning exists in this industry.  It seems that the progression and development of the beauty of Koi is more important than the promotion and financial success of an individual farm , regardless of which farm it is that is able to achieve such beautiful Koi. Camaraderie and unity on such a scale is extremely admirable and I am truly humbled and proud to be working in an industry that promotes this kind of harmony between breeders, dealers and hobbyists.

I asked Hiro-san if I could take some photos to share with all my readers, and he willingly gave us a tour of his facilities.  So many beautiful Koi! After we went through the Koi for open sale, he then took us behind closed doors to show us the very special stock… While the sights to be seen behind that door is something that I cannot share on my blog, there is one thing that I can tell everyone: Omosako Koi Farm can never disappoint and will always exceed expectations.

Going behind the scenes!

Devin and I weren’t the only people at Omosako Koi Farm that day as there were two other gentlemen present picking out Koi.  There we met Yamamura san and Shinsuke san, who used to work for Sakai Fish Farm in Hiroshima for about five years before moving to Thailand and started his own dealership.

Shinsuke san speaks quite good english as well, and when I met him, he said,”Mikki-chan, your father is Michael san from Kois and Ponds in Firipin (The Philippines)?”

“Yes! Hajimemashite! You know my father?“ I eagerly replied. It still surprises me how many people my dad knows.

“Yes, I met him in Sakai Fish Farm before.  I know him because he buys very good Koi, and he has a nice smile.” Shinsuke San replied.

There are quite a bit of perks to being the daughter of Michael Hernandez. It is quite flattering to be known, even more so because everyone seems to have nothing but good things to say about my father.

For the next hour and a half, the six of us, together with Taka-San and Eri-Chan talked, mostly about how different things are in different countries around Asia, such as Thailand and the Philippines.  It was such an interesting conversation that Devin delayed leaving earlier because we were having such a good time.  But we were slated to return our rental car by 6.30 pm and not wanting to have to pay an exhorbitant late return fee, we unwillingly had to cut the conversation short.

Hiro-san and me!

On the drive back, there was one last thing I had to do before I could leave Hiroshima area with a smile, and that was to eat Okonomiyaki! While I waited in our hotel room for Devin to come back after returning our rental car (thankfully, they didn’t charge him a late fee), I tried to calm myself down from becoming too excited.  We finally went out to eat dinner and I must say I was not disappointed! Perhaps tomorrow we can catch a quick lunch of another round of okonomiyaki before we head up to Niigata.

This trip is proving to be such an exciting one, and I am so happy that I get to spend time with all my friends here in Japan again.  I can’t wait to see everyone in Niigata tomorrow! We will be staying with Devin’s Japanese Family at Marudo Koi farm, and I hear the curry that Devin’s Japanese mom makes is the best ever… Yes, I am Filipino, and I love to eat!

Today saw the conclusion of Sakai Fish Farms’ two day auction here in Hiroshima, Japan, and I feel quite privileged to have the opportunity to be one of the few invited to take part in this prestigious annual event.  While most of these Koi are purchased on behalf of hobbyists from around the world, only Koi Dealers or Breeders are invited to attend this event, and only those with actual intentions of bidding at the auction usually make it out to Hiroshima.

Taking turns at selecting Koi

The two day event began with the sale of male jumbo tosai, Nisai, small tosai (gender yet to be determined) and some Nisai and Sansai Female Koi.  Upon entering the farm, the day’s Koi for sale may be viewed in highly dense temporary vats similar to those you would find at Koi shows.  Guests are then separated into different groups by picking your group number out of a box.  Each group is given a small tub which they huddle around and rock-paper-scissors who gets to go first in selecting Koi.

After each group has decided the order to which Koi are selected, an assortment of Koi is then poured into the tubs.  Guests then take turns in selecting one Koi at a time and put the fish in a small bag that was provided.  When the bag gets full, they bring it up to a table where the sale is recorded and the Koi is set aside for its respective owner.

Bags filled with lots of Koi for "Lucky Draw"

Different lots of Koi separated in bags are also set aside, priced and numbered.  Guests are given small pieces of paper to write their name on, which they insert into a small ziploc bag attached to the bag of Koi they are interested in.  At the end of the day, one bidder is chosen per lot by means of picking out their name from a box.  The female Nisai and Sansai Koi also have set prices posted, and a guest interested in purchasing a particular Koi must write their name on a piece of paper and similarly drop it in a bag attached to the Koi’s certificate.  If your name is picked out of the box, you are the proud owner of the Koi.

Demand is quite high for Sakai fish, so the system enforced in purchasing Koi during their special auction season is a crafty way to allow those with a lesser purchasing power an equal opportunity at owning their special stock.   However, much of this relies on luck, and those with a deeper desire and better means to own a particular Koi have more certainty in their purchase at the auction.

I have been lucky in my young life to have experienced many of these auctions vicariously through my father.  Already quite a seasoned and well-known Koi dealer, he would tell me his experiences, the ins and outs of the trade and insider’s information on how to choose the best fish, get the best deal, and how to be smart about purchasing fish.  While I had a pretty good idea about what to expect during the auction, being on the front lines is a whole different level.  The Koi industry is quite interesting as you both meet and make friends with many, many people from around the world.  Indonesians, Malaysians, Thai, Taiwanese, Belgians, Americans, British, etc. etc. were all present and eager to be able to return home with fantastic Koi.  Many of the people I ran into I had already either met previously while I was accompanying my dad on one of his Koi buying trips in Japan, or had already heard of my dad and thus I was no longer a complete stranger by association.   Regardless, the friendships that you make in Koi are quite unique from any of my other friendships as it is built on a shared interest and passion for something that most of the world would find difficult to understand.  It kinda makes me feel like I’m part of some sort of secret society!

Kentaro Sakai heading the auction

The auction commenced after lunch and began with the auctioning of Male Jumbo tosai and small tosai (usually in lots of at least two) of gender unknown.  These beautiful Koi, despite being male, were purchased for incredible prices and completely debunked the notion that male Koi are cheap.  The price of the fish is clearly determined not entirely by gender, but by quality and demand.  To make a reference, a BMW is expected to be more expensive than a Lexus, but when Lexus released its ISF, it clearly gave BMW a run for its money.

These auctions were a lot more light-hearted than I anticipated, and while enormous amounts of money were being called out, there was absolutely no air of pretention or hustling.  Jokes were being exchanged between rivaling bidders, and even among the crowd.  Bidders who were able to win the Koi they wanted at a very good price bowed and said thank you to the other guests to let them know that he appreciated them not bidding him up (whether they really wanted the Koi or not),  and bidders who paid enormous sums of money for their Koi received the renowned clap, which I was proud to have experienced first hand….and I even got a video of it! During the past two days, I heard it quite a number of times, not only for the purchase of female nisai and Jumbo tosai, but also for Male Tategoi and small tosai.

Ii Koi Clap (click on the link to see the video)
(I wasn’t able to start the clap from the beginning. I didn’t realize that my point and shoot camera had such a delay when starting a video!)

This was such a fantastic experience for me and I am beyond grateful for the incredible hospitality shown to Devin and I by all the people at Sakai fish farm.  Sacho, Kentaro san, Nishikawa san, and all the staff are such wonderful, warm, humble and hard-working people who give their whole lives to the passion for Koi and I cannot thank them enough for allowing us to be a part of this event.  Hontou ni Arigatou Gozaimasu!