Page 43 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 11

minutes and just said “Wow”, because it hits you how sooner do we get past New Year, we get the All Japan
far they have come, and the work they have put into it. Show trip. We have a party from the UK and a party
from America! Exciting times.
The best example of this was on a Nisai Showa harvest
with Shintaro. The ‘Usual’ best Nisai ponds had been Here are some photographs of the October trip.
harvested, so when he asked us to go and help harvest
60 pieces of Showa I just thought they would be for his
cheaper end stock, not the number one Koi – how
wrong I was!
I genuinely had a back problem this year, a couple of
weeks before the trip I did something to it which at one
point almost made me cancel the trip. Usually when I go
to a Harvest I lift the Koi into the containers from the
bowl. This time I was a spectator.

The pond was netted, we were having a laugh at some
of the new guys pulling the nets – I was trying to get
some footage of the pond being harvested.
The Koi were netted, the guys started bringing the Koi
up to the truck and Kensuke (Shintaro’s eldest son) was
lifting them into the container – that’s when I just stood
there, a little confused and shocked – these Showa were
amazing, not just the odd one, but the majority! Showa
after Showa just coming out and I’m looking at Shintaro
in the pond and he’s laughing.
I think this was the same for many breeders this year,
they are breeding better and better Koi and more Koi in
number! Quality was excellent at a lot of the breeders’
facilities who in previous years have bred more in
number for the wholesale market.

We had around 50 orders to fulfill this trip for High class
Koi and found them all easily. Koi from 40cm all the way
up to 82cm.
This does not include the Koi we had growing in Japan
which number 30 plus. The biggest grew from 82cm in
May and came out at 86cm!

One of our clients who had a Koi growing in Japan took
Best Sanke in the 65cm Class, an awesome achievement,
and a VERY happy customer.
So, we move on again – 2019 around the corner and no

42 43