Another entertaining day was ahead of us today, visiting many of the same breeders today just to check in and make sure we hadn't missed anything from the day before ! As yesterday, stopped off at Hirasawa Marusei, to help select some koi for one of the members in the party, great fun selecting many different varieties. Having to be quick here, there was no room for error. I think a new pond build is on the cards after seeing these huge fish.
Marusaka was interesting... first thing we noticed were bulls, yes, bulls ! Lovely views of the sloping valley winding down towards more ponds and greenery. Lovely pieces of Kujaku in particular, took a liking to a tategoi pond which is becoming a common theme for this trip. We’d love to bring all of these tategoi home, but sometimes the breeders simply won’t sell them, not in a decent quantity anyway.
Hopping around we found ourselves at Kaneko Koi Farm, lovely examples of Shiro Utsuri and Kujaku, it was phenomenal to see their parent stock, huge Kujaku's, great reticulation with imposing bodies, can clearly see why Kujaku's here are highly sought after. Many many tosai here, apologies for no photos of the koi themselves, much time here was spent with the camera lens cap on, and staring at the parent beasts!
