Marudo Tosai Update
On our Spring trip this year we chose six very high quality female jumbo tosai from Marudo Koi Farm. Marudo is famous in the koi world for producing top class Sanke, you can guarantee to see Marudo Sanke’s at the All Japan Koi show year in year out winning top prizes.
Out of the six we picked, three of these Sankes sold promptly on returning to the UK. For the ones that remained here it has been great to watch these koi grow and develop. It is often hard to notice change when you see the koi every day, but it only takes a moment to view the original Tosai photo and realise that these have really come on magnificently.
First in the bowl is this Sanke. From the Tosai photo we can see it has lovely wide shoulders, equally wide head shape, with a real depth and height to it’s overall structure. Following the body down the koi it has an excellent transition into the tail tube with a very tight belly line. The tail tube itself is strong and thick showing that once larger it will maintain it’s weight distribution very well, i.e. not looking out of proportion front to back.
The skin quality of this koi was evident from a young age, showing wonderful thickness and vibrancy. The white ground on the head and body as tosai was certainly “muddy”, however this shouldn’t be confused with the skin being of a yellow colour, this muddy look often hints to us that the koi has thick skin, and in time will whiten up. Having a closer look, there are already signs of fukurin developing, this can be seen on the white ground just behind the first section of beni. Given that this koi has not seen water cooler than 21 degrees since it’s been here, the development of the sumi has been steady and in time will consolidate.
This koi has improved just as planned. Gorgeous white skin, rich lustrous beni, stable sumi that is on it’s way and of course the beautiful full body shape this has gained. This koi is currently at 21 degrees and will continue to be grown throughout winter.
Onto the next Sanke. This time, a slightly different body conformation to the one posted above.
As Tosai this koi had a more elongated look to it. The head shape is noticeably long, resembling more of a rectangle shape. The mouth is very large which will look more in proportion as the koi grows and the skeletal structure develops further. This koi has a very good height to it’s frame, peaking just before the dorsal. We can see that as Nisai, this height and structure has acted as a platform for weight gain around the shoulder areas especially. This continues down towards the tail area. The peduncle in this instance is thickening up nicely, which is evident from where the caudal fin itself joins the peduncle, this has increased in size considerably since tosai.
The skin quality on this Sanke in particular really shines bright, with the hint of Matsunosuke sheen the consistency of the skin throughout the koi is faultless. Both beni and sumi quality are of the highest calibre. The beni is beautifully consistent in colour throughout the koi. Zooming in on the beni, we can see the rich pigment cells contained at the root of the scale. The sumi itself possesses very high qualities, looking at the sumi that falls on the white ground and the beni, we can see that the sumi consistency and strength is very equal. This bodes really well for the future of this koi. Both colours, showing great stability and consistency throughout.
The last Marudo Sanke is definitely a peoples favourite. With it’s long body structure, well proportioned head shape that shows good length. The body conformation hasn’t changed greatly, but it has increased in mass and thickness on what was already a good platform as Tosai.
This koi has always stood out in the pond, the skin quality has remained top class throughout it’s time here, the vibrancy of the beni, the snowy white shiroji, and the sumi has also developed steadily. The sumi itself is very well placed, from the shoulder working back down the koi it’s a very well balanced sumi pattern in which the majority falls on the white ground. We can see each scale showing sumi has tightened up, and also darkened. This sumi style is really pleasing on the eye, with no stray areas of sumi, in time these areas will consolidate further. Out of the three Sankes, this one in particular shows a very high quality, glossy sumi.
A similar theme that runs throughout with these Sankes is the sublime colour quality. The consistency of the colour throughout each koi is very hard to fault. All three colours show excellent depth, and longevity.
