Breeders (12)
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Matsue Koi Farm specialise in Kohaku, and are the home of the famous Iitsuka Sensuke bloodline. The farm is run by two brothers, of which, Takahiro Iitsuka is the older. Pic taken when dining out. |
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Iitsuka-san's younger brother when about to go out partying in Tokyo with Omosako Takahiro-san, and myself. |
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One of Matsue's mud ponds about to be harvested. |
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Because of the long drop to the water, they used this wonderful setup to winch the Koi from the pond. |
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Iitsuka-san lifting a customers Koi for the camera. |
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"Ooops, nearly dropped it!" |
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This is a Kohaku that we bought and sold as their Nisai Kashira, and then left to grow on. The picture was taken at the All Japan Show in Jan 2009, where she won second prize in 70Bu class. |
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Omosako Koi Farm is Japan's number one Shiro Utsuri breeder. This is the main fish house, and Omosako-san is netting Koi for the perusal of Carl Forss, of Keirin Koi in the USA, as we took him there on this occasion as he was keen to visit. Maurice Cox of Koi UK was also with me, in search of parent Koi. |
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Carl studying one of his prospective purchases. |
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Maurice expressing his thoughts about the Koi in the bowl. |
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Omosako's newer fish house is used for keeping high-end sold Koi, and tategoi Tosai. |
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The Omosako brothers harvesting a pond of Tosai for selection. |
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This is one of Omosako's mudponds, and is situated in a very picturesque location. |
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Here, I am participating in one of the mudpond harvests of Sansai. |
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Although we have been buying from Omosako since 2000, it wasn't until 2002 that we started to buy the high-end stuff. |
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In the last few years, we have sold their 'Kashira' on a number of occasions. High-end Shiro Utsuri are all about Sumi quality, and refinement of Sumi Kiwa and Sashi, as well as bright skin that is free of any stray specs of Sumi. Such Koi obviously command high prices, but to my mind, they are worth every penny! |
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Yamamatsu produces wonderful Sanke, and are based in Niigata. We have been buying from Yamamatsu since only 2007, but already get access to his top Koi, which has been to much the surprise of other dealers Worldwide. This pic is of the main fish house up in the mountains. The farm was started and run by Toshiyuki Sakai-san, but the running of the farm is now being handed over to his son. |
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More ponds in the mountain fish house. |
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This pond contains larger Koi that are for sale. |
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This is the fish house where all the special Koi are kept, and is situated on the Nagaoka flatlands fish house. Here, Sakai-san is netting up a Japanese customers Koi for her owners inspection. |
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This is the kind of Koi we buy from Yamamatsu, and was his Kashira Nisai of 2008. Such Koi as this are usually kept in ponds used for 'Sold' Koi, so that people don't see or ask about them. Sakai-san had refused to sell this wonderful Sanke to several other breeders, and also a group of big-spending Chinese hobbyists before selling her to us. |
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Okawa Koi Farm is situated in Kyushu, and is home to their 'Okawa-Sensuke' lineage. Okawa breed mainly Go-Sanke varieties, with the highest number being Kohaku. This is their main Koi house. |
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Another view of the main fish house |
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We have visited Okawa several times before our first purchase, with this wonderful Nisai Kohaku being the very first for us! She was exhibited in the 'Dream Koi' section of the All Japan Show in 2008, and I just fell in love with her in an instant. She is of the most wonderful quality, and I am confident will run 90cm+. My feeling is that in the future this could turn out to be the very best Kohaku we have ever sold. Since obtaining this lovely Kohaku, we have bought a few more, but only their very finest ones! |
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Another view of the main Koi House at Okawa. |
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Perusing the stocks. |
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More sales ponds. |
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These ponds are used primarily for growing Tosai through the Winter months. |
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Here is Yuji Tanaka-san, the younger of the two brothers now running the Farm. |
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Here is Yoneichi Tanaka-san, the older brother, in action catching Koi. |
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Yamatoya Koi Farm is situated in Shimane prefecture, about 2 hours drive from the nearest breeder. The farm is owned and run by Shiraishi-san, who breeds only Go-sanke varieties. |
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Here is the main fish house. These first seven photos were taken back in 2002 when I first visited. The pond in the forground contains Sansai, with the other two ponds containing Nisai. Nowadays, he uses the ponds the other way around, with all of the Nisai being in the larger pond. |
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This is Yamatoya's Jumbo Koi house, and nearly every one of these Koi was sold as Nisai, and left for growing on. |
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Here are two of the three ponds that Shiraishi-san uses for growing his Tosai through the Winter months. He generally only raises his Tosai to around 26~30cm in Springtime before sending them to the mud pond. |
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Here is the other pond that he uses for raising his Tosai, which again is very small. |
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It was Takeda-san that first recommended Yamatoya to me. Normally, I would decline an offer from one breeder, to take me to another. But, in this case, I made an exception, as I felt particularly comfortable with Takeda-san, and he was going there anyway. From left to right... Shirashi-san, me, Takeda-san. |
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Here is the very first Koi I bought from Yamatoya, Sansai, and about 55cm. She is still in good condition to this day. |
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Here are three of Yamatoya's fry raising ponds.. |
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This mud pond is for raising Sansai. |
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Nisai being harvested from one of the mudponds. |
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This pond contains larger Koi that are for sale. |
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Famous hobbyist viewing his lovely 85cm Yamatoya Kohaku |
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The 2009 All Japan Grand Champion... a wonderful Showa bred by Yamatoya Koi Farm. |
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Yamada Koi Farm is very famous for Kujaku! Many other breeders are using Koi from him, as parent Koi. He is situated in Hiroshima prefecture, not too far from Miyoshi City. |
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Yamada Koi Farm is very small, hence not being able to diversify into other varieties, though he would like to breed Showa. |
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Another view of the same fish house. |
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His other fish house, which is linked to the one pictured above. |
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Yamada-san himself, holding a trophy he got for winning 85Bu in the '02 All Japan Show. He is an incredibly intelligent guy, and practically a professor, but gave it up for breeding. |
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The Kujaku that got him thr trophy. |
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One of Yamada-san's customers fish at a local hobbyist's pond. |
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Another customers fish. |
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Wakabayashi Koi Farm breeds mainly Kohaku and Showa, with some Sanke and Kujaku. His Koi are very attractive for the Koi Show, particularly up to around 65cm. This is the main fish house. |
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This is another of Wakabayashi's Koi houses in the background, with fry ponds in the foreground. |
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Inside the main fish house, with Nisai in the closest pond, Sansai in the second pond, and larger Koi in the other ponds. |
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Another view of the main fish house. |
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Wakabayashi-san's larger Koi. |
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This is a pic of the ponds adjacent to Wakabayshi-san's house. Most of the ponds here are a kind of retirement home for old Koi, with some of the ponds also holding parent Koi. |
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Some of Wakabayashi-san's mud ponds are extremely beautiful, such as this one! |
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Another of Wakabayashi-san's mud ponds. |
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Yet another lovely mud pond of his. |
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Tamaura Koi Farm are situated in Hiroshima prefecture, and breed all Go-Sanke varieties, as well as many metallics. |
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One of Tamaura's Nisai ponds. |
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Another Nisai pond. |
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Situated on the main city road of Kabe, Hiroshima, Takeda Koi Farm is one of the mainstay bloodlines behind Showa, as we know them today. Unfortunately, Takeda-san passed away in Autumn 2007. He was one of my mentors, and someone of whom, I had the absolute utmost of respect! He knew the history of just about every Koi Farm in Japan, and was just a mind of information and knowledge to a level that was hard to comprehend. |
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Takeda-san's office has a glass floor, through which you can look down into a pond which is used for over-wintering a handful of Jumbo Koi. |
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The main fish house at Takeda Koi Farm. |
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The fish house adjacent to the office. |
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These outside ponds are home to many 'retired' Koi. |
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Takeda-san's home and garden pond. |
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Takeda-san's home. The wall surrounding his house is laid in hand carved stone, and dry laid. |
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The late Takeda-san's family grave, where he himself is now buried, adjacent to his house. |
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This is the fish house at Ya-san's, home, just around the corner. He is the Newphew of Takeda-san and a breeder in his own right. He has now taken over Takeda Koi Farm, and is keeping things running. |
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Another view of Ya-san's fish house. |
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Namiki Koi Farm is situated in Shizuoka pref. He specialises in Shiro Utsuri. We last vistied his farm in 2001. |
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Another view of his main fish house |
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Namiki-san |
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One of Namiki Koi Farms mud ponds |
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Takigawa Koi Farm's main fish House, for Nisai, Sansai, and older customers Koi. We have been buying here since Autumn 2000, and built up a very good relationship with Takigawa-san. This fish house was built in the Summer of 2001, with this picture taken in Autumn 01, when the fish house was used for the first time. |
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This is the inside of the above Koi House. The two ponds in the foreground contain female Nisai, with the next pond being Sansai, and the two further ponds being used for customers Koi. |
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Another shot of the same ponds. To the left, but not pictured, are three ponds, two of which are used for males, and one for sold Nisai. |
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These two ponds were used for keeping Nisai for sale up until the new fish house was running. |
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These are the same two ponds as pictured above, but are now used for keeping 'chupa' or 'cheap general grade Tosai' that are sold overseas. |
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This fish house is used for keeping small Tosai for general sale. |
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Our relationship with Takigawa-san is such that we get offered Koi that others don't even get to see. In this instance, Takigawa-san has just lifted a Koi we bought as Tosai. He was shocked as to how good this Koi was as Nisai, and joked, saying that never again would he let me buy from his Tategoi Tosai (which we subsequently have). This Koi turned out as the 'Kashira' as Nisai, and also as Sansai. This Koi is one to watch in the future. |
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This is a pic of one of a group of three new mud ponds made and used for the first time in 2007. |
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This is Takigawa-san's Father. He is in his 80's and does a lot of gardening around the Farm. Takigawa-san often refers to him as 'Superman'! |
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After a successful mudpond harvest, Takigawa-san climbs a tree next to the pond, to pick some fruit for the workers to eat. Takigawa-san has a lot of charisma, and has done many things over the years to help me out... I have a considerable debt of gratitude to him. |
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Harvesting Jumbo Koi from one of the mudponds. |
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I swear Takigawa-san had a sense of fear towards his Koi in this shot!? |
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Most of Mr Takigawa's mud ponds are landscaped such as this one. |
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Another show of the same beautiful mudpond. In Springtime, the surrounding area of the mudpond is a mass of pink flowers. |
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