Today we planned on going a little further afield to Oofuchi and Hosokai. First stop though was Hoshikin. Here we have two Azukari Koi, both Kohaku. On arrival Katsuyuki-san expressed that he had good news and bad news. What had happened we wondered ? Not too much of a loss but unfortunately our Tosai bought last Spring had turned out Male. He explained how we could solve this minor issue, having a handful of options Katsuyuki invited us into the koi house to see the Koi before proceeding. We then went to view the Koi houses to see if anything grabbed our attention to act a replacement. Pointing out Koi and bowling them we weren’t overly keen on any that we saw. All of the best ones were seemingly already sold. Here is the photo of the Tosai in Spring.
Not off to the best of start we place the Tosai issue to one side temporarily. For a pick me up we went to view our second Azukari Koi. This time a Sansai Kohaku. Now 65cm she was looking incredibly well. Gaining a lot of weight over the summer as well as growing nicely we were very pleased with the result. The body is improving and the Beni is steadily improving. We may decide to leave her for another year under the guidance of Katsuyuki-san.
We plan to join Hoshikin at another Nisai harvest tomorrow so fingers crossed we can find a replacement Koi or two.
Taking a drive up into the mountains we arrived at Oofuchi. Here we aimed to select some Sansai. Ranging in varieties, Oofuchi really has it all. Kujaku, Goromo, Purachina, Sanke, Kohaku, Hariwake and dozens of other varieties. A little slim on higher quality pieces, here we only managed to select 4 koi. In Spring we’ll be back to select his Nisai, last year we purchased over 50 and they proved to be extremely popular!
Two Purachina, Kujaku and a beautiful Nisai Haijiro. Oofuchi isn't exactly a breeder set up for photographing Koi so the below is the best I managed. No video due to the Koi misbehaving. The Haijiro was under treatment so Oofuchi-san did not want to bowl her outside of the pond. Photo and video to follow once in the U.K.
All Female. Haijiro is around 35cm, and in the photo Purachinas 55cm and Kujaku 45cm.
In the background the family continued to pull in a chisai Nisai harvest! All Tancho variants.
Moving on from Oofuchi, Hosokai was our next port of call. Hosokai specialises in Showa and a few Non Go Sanke varieties like Kage Shiro, Kin Showa and Asagi. The only downside to Hosokai’s Top Koi House is the clarity of water. Selecting Koi out of here is a tricky feat. Turning off the air and waiting for the water disturbance to clear Koi seemingly rose to the upper third of the water column, now we could eye up a few potential purchases. Catching them and bowling them is another story!
After some gruelling and exhausting netting we managed to catch a handful of Showas and duly went in the bowl. Also in the bowl went Kin Showa, Sakura Ogon, Kage Shiro Utsuri and Kujaku.
On bowling the Koi, Hosokai was surprised to see his Number 1 Showa in the bowl, that he had only harvest a few hours prior. An outstanding Koi that had everything going for it. The finishing of the Sumi resembled finishing Sumi of Sanke, very refined and glossy yet it wrapped the whole of the Koi in bands like a Showa would. A really interesting Koi that was truly impressive, I dread to think what this would have cost at Dainichi or Isa. Unfortunately Hosokai knew it's worth and would not part with it, unless a seriously high price was paid.
Hosokai uses a Dainichi parent stock for his Showa and we have had great success with them back in the U.K. Separating the Koi into different sizes we quickly made a deal on the bowl of smaller Koi. Beautiful Showa and Kage Shiro Utsuri all female, 41cm to 49cm. Shortly before dusk I managed to get photos and videos of the smaller Koi and one of the higher quality Showas. We will return in a few days to photograph the remaining Koi. Cloudy water under artificial lighting isn’t great for photos and videos!
Knowing how Hosokai Showas develop in our waters these have real real potential.
To photograph is a rather unique Sakura Ogon, Kin Showa, one more Showa and a nice Kujaku.
Beautiful Nisai Showa, offspring of Shigeru Dai Jr. Hosokai's Number two Showa.
Tomorrow…Hoshikin harvest and Isa!
