Back in Autumn 2014 we purchased two koi as part of the Momotaro auction, A Sanke of 59cm, and a Showa of 58cm. Today was the day we would see both of them once again, fingers crossed this time they would have made it though the 70cm barrier. Now Yonsai these koi have been in the care of Momotaro for 2 years, firstly in the 1500 tonne pond, now in a smaller but lightly stocked growing pond.
Before going to see these two koi we wandered around the 1500 tonne pond. Last year we purchased a rather special Gin Rin Kohaku. She was being grown on in the 1500 tonne pond for the year. It can be very difficult to find koi in this pond as it is so large. Thankfully they had stopped feeding so the clarity was very good. Momotaro will be harvesting this pond in a few days time, unfortunately we'll miss the harvest and won't be able to see her. Fingers crossed we'll receive a photo and video of the koi once harvested. We managed to catch a glimpse of her while swimming around the pond, she is looking absolutely huge! Fingers crossed she makes it to 70cm as Sansai. She was 62cm earlier this year in March. Also in this pond is our Tancho Kohaku, a little bit harder to distinguish from afar as there were a few Tancho's swimming around, but all looked in good condition.
Here they are as of last March.
Anyway, we walked around a few of the koi houses trying to spot where our Sanke and Showa were. This place is huge and inside the koi houses it's very hot! Here are a series of photos from around the farm.
Considering how large this farm is, it didn't take us to long to find which pond our koi were in. A few minutes later Daisuke Maeda of Momotaro walked into the koi house, he knew exactly where we'd be!
Daisuke had already prepared a vat with water for us to see our koi. He then netted the Sanke. Straight away you could see the beautiful skin quality that she has always possessed, if anything it was the best it's looked. The sumi quality was looking fantastic and the beni quality looking exceptional. She has now reached 74cm, a fantastic result. On previous trips the Sanke has always been notoriously bad for photographing, she would just never sit still. Thankfully this time I got one lucky shot (although not a perfect shot).
Placing the Sanke back into the pond, the Showa was soon guided into the koi sock. Lifted up, and placed in the vat. This koi has seriously improved since we purchased her as Nisai, breathtaking Beni quality is one of this koi's best attributes. Offspring of Red Tiger, it's easy to see the Beni quality was directly inherited from Red Tiger. Unfortunately last year Red Tiger passed away, Daisuke continues to say this is one of his favourite koi that Red Tiger produced. The body conformation is absolutely perfect. Showa are infamous for bad body shapes, front heavy bodies, and an overall lack of potential for growing to a good size. Momotaro have really improved this train of thought, many of their Showa get to incredible sizes. Red Tiger is a sibling of Lion Queen, both in excess of the 1m mark.
Here is our Showa, now 73cm and Yonsai. Daisuke Maeda is very pleased with her development and growth. Fingers crossed she'll make an appearance at a koi show in 2017 or 2018.
Before leaving the area we went to lunch. Where do you go to lunch when visiting Momotaro ? Their Curry house of course! Famous for their Momotaro curry and iced coffee.
Sit back and relax.
