Page 39 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 6
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the mornings. As children growing up they would play Seitaro, showing me for the first time his younger son’s
in the mountains while their father and mother were Koi, at the time I could tell he was proud of this, but little
feeding or culling Koi in the ponds. As they got older did I realise back then how ambitious Hironori was or
they would also help with the work, they would start at how big and successful he would become.
6am, go to the ponds and feed the Koi and for this he
Through sheer hard work and dedication his business
remembers being paid 1,000 yen a month (yes, a
grew and in 2013 he soon relocated to a new facility,
month!!!). He was so used to working with Koi and liked
which is located just before the auction house on the
it so much that he knew he would grow up and become
main road leading-up to Mushigame. It was a prime spot
a Koi farmer. HIS WIFE, to promote his Koi business and took him 2 years to
At 18 he left school and went straight to work with his SAORI, rebuild and get the farm as he wanted it. The other great
father and elder brother. In Japanese culture it is well asset he has is his wife, Saori, who works side by side
known that normally the eldest brother will take over WORKS SIDE with Hironori and is as friendly and charismatic as her
the business and run it, this was not a problem for husband. This great team makes everyone welcome and
Hironori but he knew he wanted to start his own Koi BY SIDE WITH without doubt is again why their business grew and his
business as he had his own ideas about running a Koi HIRONORI Koi have become so popular.
business and if he remained in the family business then
if both his father or elder brother did not agree with his It will come as no surprise that his first parent Koi came
from his father’s Koi, but he got these when they were
ideas then his ideas would never happen.
only small Tosai. He remembers one Kohaku in
Martin Symonds and It was while working with his father and brother at particular that he got when it was around 10-12cm and
Hironori’s wife, Saori.
Marusei Koi Farm that the earthquake struck in 2004. he grew it to a staggering 93cm, he used it for several
He was living in Ojiya at the time and went straight years as a parent Koi before she sadly died. Although he
back to the Koi houses to help and work to save their produces 100,000’s of Koi he really enjoys producing
Koi. At the time he never thought that the business was quality Koi and gets great satisfaction when customers
over as they managed to save around 90% of their Koi, buy his fish.
HIRONORI but he knew it was going to take a lot of hard work to
rebuild everything and he was right as it took just over His business is growing and growing, now in his 10th
year and on his own he puts his business growth down
WORKED WITH 3 years to get all their mud ponds and Koi houses back to his ambition and excitement in wanting to produce
HIS FATHER to full working capacity. quality Koi, he even says that he has grown quicker in
So at the age of 32 he decided it was time to start his the last 10 years than his father did in his first 10 years,
AND BROTHER own business, it also coincided with the birth of his first although I think that his father’s first 10 years were very
AT MARUSEI son and he wanted to do it for him also. This is such a different to his. His work ethic and sheer hard work is
Japanese way of thinking. He started slowly getting his easy to see, in the summer months he starts work at
KOI FARM own mud ponds and was still working hard for his Saori with their daughter, 3am and carries on to 10pm while in the winter it’s 6am
father and brother. Because he did this in this way his dressed in traditional style at to 8pm and yes, that’s every single day.
father supported him and finally after 5 years of doing The 5th International Junior
this he decided to finally go on his own and both his Koi Show in Niigata. He breeds around 20 different varieties and his parent
father and brother understood that this was what he Koi consist of around 300 Males and 100 Females, he
will use around 100 Males with about 50 Females, all
wanted to do. In 2008 Maruhiro Koi Farm was started,
these he breeds over a period of a month. From all the
he decided on the name by taking the ‘Maru’ from his
fry he will cull 3 to 4 times to end up with an amazing
family’s farm name Marusei and the ‘hiro’ from his first
150,000 Tosai of which about 90,000 will come into his
name Hironori hence ‘Maruhiro’.
fish houses, while the rest he will quickly sell.
His first Koi house was small and located where
Marusei’s main Koi house is, I can remember his father,
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