Why buy a ‘Yume Koi’?
I’m often asked what makes the koi at Yume Koi so special, and I’ve also been asked by a few the question of why they should buy from us. I always try to answer this in as direct a way as I can, but there are some points I feel quite uncomfortable explaining as they can make me seem to be a bit ‘pretentious’ or ‘full of myself’ and anyone that’s ever spent any time with me will know that’s simply not the case.
Over the years, we have tried to give ‘Yume Koi’ a brand identity of it’s own. The reasons for this are numerous.
I take great pride in the Koi we have for sale, and hope that the result of the Koi reflect my own expertise in choosing them, rather than simply trading on the name of any given breeder.
Just because a breeder is famous, doesn’t mean that every Koi you see from that breeder will become special.
In fact, the ones that become special are very few, and this is why I hope to be accountable myself for the Koi we sell, rather than blaming the breeder for failures, or likewise implying that every Koi from the breeder is amazing, just because a 'one off' Koi we sold became good.
The Koi we have for sale at Yume Koi, are the result of immense learning. Learning about traits that result in Jumbo Koi, and learning about traits that affect quality and long-term beauty.
My own learning about Koi has come about by spending three Summers breeding and culling at Momotaro Koi Farm as well as from growing large numbers of high quality Tosai, purely to learn from, not to sell. As a Koi dealer, and enthusiast, I spend three months a year in Japan in order to learn as much as possible from the breeders, and of course, to find the best Koi.
At Yume Koi, our experience doesn’t begin and end with Tosai! We are focused on growing Koi to Jumbo, and enabling our clientele to do the same. Our clients consistently grow Gosanke from Tosai to over 80cm and beyond 90cm, and have been doing so since since 2006. Growing Tosai to Nisai or Sansai is of little value when learning, which is why we grow such Koi to Jumbo, as my feeling is that you can't dictate that a Koi will become big, unless you know from first hand experience.
Keeping track of such Koi has also furthered my knowledge greatly since we started ‘Yume Koi’, and growing Koi to Jumbo in our own ponds, is something no dealer in the UK can attest to, let alone having customers that can consistently do it.
Sure, there are hobbyists out there that have achieved over 80cm Koi, but in our case, I am talking about raising Koi in relatively low temperatures, during Summer only, and achieving Jumbo by 5 or 6 years old, and resulting in beautiful Koi. Heating to 26 ~ 30c all year round in hard water just results in a Koi whose beauty is ruined long before 80cm is reached.
It doesn’t stop there… our reputation in Japan amongst the breeders is such, that they are happy to let us buy even their ‘Kashira’ (‘head’ or ‘boss’) each year, safe in knowing that we will find it a good home, whereby it will do the breeder proud, rather than simply selling to anyone, resulting in an angry client, and upset breeder.
If you go to any breeder in Japan (without a dealer in tow), you will find that every famous breeder knows ‘Yume Koi’. Those that haven’t sold to us, will most likely tell you that they would like to one day.
Another area where ‘Yume Koi’ differ from any other dealer, is that we buy the absolute top-end Koi ourselves, and then offer them for sale. Whilst there are good dealers out there, I don’t know of any dealer that can buy/sell high-end Koi unless they have a client with them on a buying trip, to buy that ‘one-off’ specimen. This also means that we are getting the best prices possible rather than 'hobbyists prices'.
If you are still awake after reading the above, this is the bottom line…
If you are buying a Koi from us, you are buying a ‘Yume Koi’ which just may happen to come from breeder ‘X, Y, or Z’. Then, if the Koi turns out to be the best you ever bought, you will know it is because it is one that we selected.
Other dealers may be following me, and selling Koi from the same breeders as we do, but I absolutely promise you, that they won’t be of the same level. This will become evident to you when the Koi grows up. If you are more experienced with Koi, you will probably have already noticed subtle differences in body type/shape, Sashi, Kiwa, and colour types in the Koi that we sell. These subtle differences make a compounded difference with each year of growth and development.
If in doubt, buy one or two Koi from Yume Koi, and keep buying from your favoured dealer of choice. This is the best way to learn. Breeders have said to me, to let the client buy whatever he/she likes, then when it fails, tell them why. But, this goes against our philosophy, unless the Koi is of course a cheap Koi to start with.
If you buy a Koi from us at any price point, we can assure you that the price/quality ratio will be the best you will find anywhere in the World, and often cheaper than if you went on a trip yourself to Japan.
We invite you to put us to the test!