Last night, we went out with Takahiro Omosako, and then this morning went to the farm, and off to one of the mud ponds to watch some of the parent Koi being pulled up from having been over-wintered in the mud pond. In the pictures, will see Darren, Takahiro-san, and Steve Gibbins (Koi Media), whom has asked me to take him around a handful of Southern breeders so that he could see how things are done down in this area.
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Well, today was Mootaro's Jumbo Tosai auction. All of our client bid limits were exceeded, but we did manage to buy three female Jumbo Tosai consisting of one Showa, and two Sanke. The Sanke's have only very tiny Sumi, but given the lineage and kind of Sumi these two have, I think they will be very interesting to watch develop in the future.
Tomorrow, we will be back at Omosako to see their parent Koi being pulled up from the mud pond... can't wait to see that!...
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Today, went to Omosako. Managed to buy 5 of their female Tategoi tosai, and 4 cheaper female Tosai, though have had no time to get them all onto the site!
Later in the afternoon, went to see a breeder that I haven't visited before, and bought four female Tosai Kohaku. One of these will be staying with the breeder, as he hopes to take her to the All Japan when nisai. The others will be coming back soon...
Tomorrow is the Momotaro auction, so will have to see how that goes :-)
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Today was spent at Yamatoya Koi Farm. As I expected, I have to go back later to get hold of good Tosai, after they have been selected, and the lesser ones weeded out. This is no problem though, as our March/April trip historically has never been the time when we have obtained the best Tosai. This time of year can be good for getting one or two Nisai though, although not in Yamatoya's case, as all of his good Koi are sold out.
It was still good to be here though, and Shiraishi-san wants to buy back the Maruten Kohaku that we bought in October 2008 as his Kashira. This isn't the ideal situation for such a Koi, as I would rather see her in a hobbyists pond. But, since he is happy to pay our asking price, I have a few days to decide.
Two other Koi that reside here, are ones that I am very proud of. One is a clients Koi, which is now for sale again (very cheaply), and the other is one that I personally like very much... This Kohaku is one I sold as Nisai, and bought back from the client when Sansai. She is now Yonsai and 71cm. Strangely, this Koi has had very little interest from hobbyists.
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Well, Saturday was an interesting one! I didn't get lucky with Tosai, but then didn't expect to on this trip, as Iitsuka-san had already told me to come later for the really special ones. But, nonetheless, it was still very interesting. I bought one Nisai Kohaku of 56cm, which I think was the best one of remaining in the highest priced pond. Of great interest to me though, was a Nisai that I bought in January, and sold to a client in China. I have posted a January photo of this Koi, and one taken now... the difference is incredible! Her skin condition in January was bad, but I was confident she would clean up, though not quite this quickly! Iitsuka-san said that if she knew she would be looking this good, he would have asked to take her to the Wakagoi Show next weekend! Hey ho... I
I also tried to get better photos of the Koi that I bought at the All Japan Show 'Yume-Ten' (Dream Koi) exhibition. I am surprised that I haven't yet sold this wonderful 62cm Nisai Kohaku!
Darren had a good day... he managed to find some Tosai that put a smile on his face. :-)
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Yesterday morning, we went to Takigawa Koi Farm, where Darren chose some Tosai. After lunch, we hit the road and headed off for Matsue. However, yesterday morning, it started snowing at Takigawa-san's as you can see from the first photo. Takigawa-san reckoned the drive to Matsue would be ok, but I guess he didn't realise what my favourite route would be for this journey ;-) What started out as a very nice drive, slowly turned into one that made me more and more nervous. Now, I love driving, and I love to take scenic routes, but what started out as a little snow on the road, quickly turned into a drive through the snow (without snow tyres) where there clearly hadn't been any other drivers since the snow started. Some of these roads are very twisty, with sheer drops on the side of the road! Anyway, arrived at Matsue for a brief look around, before heading off to the hotel, and then out for dinner with Iitsuka-san. Unfortunately, there was nothing for me at Takigawa this time, so will be going back there later on.
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It is now Saturday morning, and we are off down to Matsue Farm to see what they have. Watch this space...
Well, arrived in Japan at around 12.30pm today. The flight schedule has changed from the norm, so by the time we got down to Hiroshima, it left very little time for anything except picking up my hire car, and heading up to Takigawa Koi Farm. We had a quick look around before taking Takigawa-san out to dinner. Tomorrow is really when the trip officially starts, so watch this space...
Well, finally, am on my way to Japan (waiting in Amsterdam for connection), with a lot of excitement, and a little apprehension, as when it comes to searching for Tosai... things vary greatly from one year to another, and from one breeder to another. Whilst I have a lot of hope of what I can get hold of, I also have no idea how good the breeders good fish will cost, or just how good they are until I see them. Fingers crossed!...
