Waking up to a miserable Nagaoka city sky line we had no idea what today had in-store for us. Having made the appointment at Odakan earlier last week, we explained what we were looking for. He said he’d do his best. Last Spring we had huge success here, yet our last trip for Nisai wasn’t too fulfilling. It’s all about timing!
Odakan had brought in hundreds of Tamaura, Omosako, Beppu and Sakai Tosai. We now knew today wasn’t going to disappoint.
We weren’t entirely sure where to begin. We had 5 ponds with thousands of Koi to go through. The good thing is, we didn’t have anything else planned for the rest of the day.
Starting with the Tamaura Tosai, we started making selections. A nice mix of Go Sanke, Shiro and Kujaku. Last year at Odakan we bought a whole pond of these which we had on sale at the BKKS National. After 15 minutes of selecting the fish, we soon realised that this year was to be no different. We bought the pond which came in at 262, and yes we did count them!
Some great Koi for the money in this batch.
*Please note, all of the Koi were in the bowl for the duration of the video then placed back in the pond*
There were a number of these that varied in price ever so slightly, so I selected out 36 to be photographed separately. These will be for sale on the website, the others will be available in the shop once out of Q.T
Moving on from the Tamaura Tosai, we starting scooping out of a pond containing Tosai from Beppu Koi Farm and Omosako.
Mainly Sanke from Beppu and of course Shiro Utsuri from Omosako.
We selected 18 Koi from Beppu and 16 from Omosako, these all come with breeder certificates, again soon to the on the website.
One of the most important jobs, the umbrella, spray and sorting out which Koi to photo and video.
Stepping up the ante a bit, Odakan then took us to the Sakai ponds he had specially brought in for us. Beautiful Sanke, Kohaku and the odd Showa. I was spoilt for choice! Starting with the slightly smaller Tosai (25-30cm) these weren’t possible to be sexed, but the quality of these were typical Sakai. Majority of which are very good for Koi shows and perfect for growing on also.
20 special Tosai selected, photos and videos were taken. Super pleased with these. These all come with certificates also.
The momentum for the trip had finally took a turn for the better.
Over 250 Tosai from Tamaura, 16 Omosako, 18 Beppu and 20 Sakai. What next ?
High class Sakai Male Jumbo Tosai of course.
Not knowing which way to look as Odakan bowled up 50 or so Kohaku and Sanke. All around 33-35cm. It was hard not to show my eagerness to start picking.
One by one Odakan lifted the koi out of the mucky water, I would then say yes or no. The “Yes” Koi moved into a bowl of clean water, while the “No” Koi went back to the pond. 15 Koi made it into the bowl and from there we closely inspected each one. Eventually down to 7 in the bowl, final decisions were made.
Seven high class Male Jumbo Tosai from Sakai Fish Farm. All with certificates. One may even sneak into the International Junior Koi Show, can you guess which one ?
Finishing off at Odakan we selected a handful more Jumbo Tosai, this time female Mukashi Ogon from Sakai Fish Farm, Silver fox bloodline. A mixture of colours with Mukashi Ogon, Yamabuki and Kin Kabuto. Again, all with certificates.
Saying our thanks to Odakan and staff we all left with huge smiles on our faces, I’m sure Odakan was happy too!
Struggling for day light we knew we weren’t going to be selecting any more Koi today, but we took a drove over to Oofuchi to scout out some Koi for tomorrow.
By the time we got there, it was very dark and overcast. Under torch light at Oofuchi, we eyed up some potential purchases for tomorrow.
Now on a roll, tomorrow can’t disappoint.
Stay tuned!
