Are you sitting down ?
Murata-San and his family welcomed us with refreshments and an introduction to his farm, history and his breeding regime. First and foremost Murata is known for his sublime Kohaku. He carries a huge reputation, we really felt that something special was going to happen here.
Murata-San took us on a tour of his koi houses, numerous koi houses about 10 minutes apart from each other. Our first stop was at his koi house by the office, here he informed us about some very special Tosai he had. A pond of around 30 koi all between 40-50cm, all female and all TOSAI. In fact they were born in June. A phenomenal size to say the least.
We bowled around 6 koi from the pond. These koi were serious specimens.
We made two final selections, 5 minutes later Murata-San placed two koi in a separate bowl... Funnily enough it was the ones we liked the most. Murata-San expressed his personal attachment to these two koi, one in particular he did not want to sell! After a lengthy discussion with Murata-San we managed to strike a deal. We're over the moon with this koi and cannot wait to see this come Autumn. 44cm at 9 months old.
Murata-San took us to another koi house to show us the parent koi. In the pond there was a number of huge koi. One in particular stood out, over 95cm and the body of a battleship. Sure enough it was the female koi that produced our Kohaku. At only 8 years old it sure is a monster!
In the koi houses adjacent to where the females were kept we were shown the male koi. The male parent was some 80cm+, a multiple Kokugyo award winning fish. The parent set sure did produce special koi.
The koi came from Sensuke bloodline, along with Dainichi Kohaku. Skin, colour and body. Gleaming beni, snowy shiroji and a powerhouse of a body. Perfect combination. What was nice to see was the similarities between the Female koi and the Tosai. Body shape, structure, head shape. Fingers crossed our Kohaku turns out like Mother!
The photo below shows the Female (left) now 95cm, and the Male (right) now over 80cm.
To our surprise Murata-San mentioned "another secret weapon Tosai" that we may be interested in. We drove back to the first koi house by the office, in the garage as you walk in he had a covered bowl... He peeled back the cover and WOW! These koi were in a fluke treatment and being moved into a different pond hence why they were in a dedicated bowl.
Even bigger Tosai! One of them being 47cm. From the same spawning as the Maruten Kohaku, this koi had a very different sashi style and body conformation. The depth to the beni is clearly seen and like the Maruten Kohaku, Shiroji to die for. Without even mentioning a price Murata-San realised he had sold his two very best Tosai! One more Murata koi to add to the collection. With smiles, laughter and handshakes all round we really had been treated to a unique day.
An excellent breeder. Superb hospitality. Two inspiring koi purchased.
What a day!!
