Days 1 and 2 and 3 INC and Maruyama Koi farm

Arrival and Isawa Nishikigoi Centre and Maruyama Koi farm

I arrived at Narita Airport the evening before and was ready for my first day in Isawa visiting Toshio Sakai in the search of some very high quality Sanke. After checking out of my hotel it was a good clear drive through Tokyo, and I arrived at The Isawa Nishikigoi Centre at lunchtime , to be greeted by Toshio and Toshi Sakai. I really enjoy these trips, there is no pressure to buy and plenty of time to discuss the Koi i require . I had two Days at this farm and the afternoon was spent visiting the many Koi houses dotted around Isawa.

There will be more on my purchases at this farm later but i can post these very high quality Sanke and gin rin Chagoi . The Sanke are Female Nisai and very high quality , excellent sumi placement and superb beni. he Gin Rin Chagoi are also female Nisai and do what Chagoi do Grow Very BiG.

 Not much to post after two days you may be thinking but there were alot more Koi bought at INC and you will get to see these Koi in a few weeks. As many of you know I closed my shop and are in the process of relocating , the support from Toshio Sakai regading this has been excellent and you will see alot more high quality INC koi arriving soon.

Day 3  Superb Day at Maruyama Koi Farm

Just 30 minutes drive and I was at Maruyama Koi Farm this farm produces superb Kohaku and Showa and several ponds were prepared for me . The weather was superb ,warm and sunny as it always seems to be in Isawa, with the sight of Mount Fuji in the background is was time to net my first pond of Tosai Kohaku. 

These are some of the koi purchased , i cannot post everything on the blog so if you would like to contact me please do.

No 13 No 15   No 16

No 18  No 23 No 17

All these Koi are unsexed approximately 30cm and priced at £325 each.

The second pond was again Kohaku this time Jumbo Tosai Guaranteed Females, Maruyama is growing his Koi very big in their first year and his Tosai can now be sexed in February , usually it is April when Female Jumbo Tosai are released.

Ready for my selection , a superb pond of Female Jumbo Tosai Kohaku.

Afer my selection it was time for Futoshi Maruyama to check the sex of the Koi again making sure they were female. Below are some of the female Tosai coming back to the UK

 No 2  No 3   No 4 No 5

No 6   No 7   No8 No 11

I will continue day three tomorrow as there were many more Koi purchased at Maruyama including some very high quality Showa...to be continued.

Back on day three now and as soon as i had selected my Female Tosai another pond was netted this one containing Showa , Maruyama's success with Showa reached its highest acolade by winning the All Japan Grand Champion in 2005, These showa were spawned last year and are 9 month old Tosai and approximately 30cm.No

 No 1 No2 No3 No4 No5

All the above Showa and Kohaku have the potential to grow very big and have been chosen for the qualities needed not just to grow big but for the Koi to maintain its skin quality and body shape. I am often asked how succesful can the results be with Tosai and the simple answer ,very high as log as you know what you are buying and can accept that not all Tosai make the Grade , that also goes for Nisai , Sansai , Yonsai etc , no koi is without risk so understanding a koi development and what makes a good koi cannot be learnt by books or Facebook , the only way is hands on experience.  Its can be a numbers game the more koi you buy the greater knowledge you gain , if you are open to the challenge of understanding Nishikigoi. The best way to buy Koi is to have patience and be guided by somebody who has the experience and Knowledge gained over many years. Talking to Toshio Sakai ,one of the most respected and famous Koi breeders in Japan over the last few days is invaluable , i gain knowledge ever trip I have , for me its not just buying Koi and selling them it about trying to achieve the success with Koi that we think only money can buy . Can a small Tosai be grown to 85cm and still have quality in its skin body and pattern to mix with the best Koi we see in the UK , the day i dont think that is possible will be a sad day , so look at some of these koi on my blog and see if you can see why i chose them , do i see a superb future in these koi or is it just a sale !

I cant wait to show you what will be arriving from INC in a few weeks time ! , After selecting these beautiful Tosai i wanted to buy some high quality Nisai from Futoshi , somethimg that was discussed with him on my last visit , three quite superb Koi were purchased, When you look at the quality of these Koi it is easy to see why i chose the unsexed tosai earlier.

Three stunning Female Nisai from Maruyama all 55cm. No words needed to describe these koi just check out the videos.

These were my last purchases of the day before the drive to Niigata where my first stop would be Isa Koi Farm