SOCIAL SUMMARY

Buying koi in Japan has a very serious side to it,but this has to be balanced out by having some good fun and getting to meet and socialise with the breeders and people from other countries.This gives the hobbyists a great oppertunity to enjoy themselves and swop ideas and chat about their passion with many very knowledgable people:-

Day 1-The Guys arriving in Japan-

Their first shinkansen-

Straight to the Ogata 40th Aniversary Party-attended by the majority of prominent breeders in Japan-

Beautifully presented food-

Day 2 -The opening speech by Manabu Ogata at the Auction-

Viewing the Auction koi-

Applauding a 1 million yen bid-

The post Auction party opened by Izamiya-

Our table,Manabu's wife Hiromi and daughter-

Day 3-Ogata Open Sales-

A quieter evening with other custtomers from overseas-

Day 4/5-Sakai Fish Farm,the view from our hotal window -

Kentaro's new BMW-collecting customers to take to the Farm-

Netting koi for customers-

 Very helpful and friendly staff-

Dinner with Kentaro-

Day 6 -Momotaro Koi Farm-relaxing next to the 1500 ton pond-great view!

Maeda san and Daisuke helping select-

Thinus making his choice-

Dinner with Daisuke and Max-

Day 7-Beppu Fish Farm-

Day 8-ZNA Koi Show-Kobe-

A great trip with a lot of stunning koi and good friends.

.

DAY 11- ZNZ SHOW KOBE

We managed to get ourselves out of bed in time to catch the 8.15am plane from Matsuyama to Osaka.From there it took 2 taxis and a train to arrive at the ZNA Show in Kobe-the 2nd biggest koi show in Japan.With over 1000 koi entered-the vast majority being gosanke- the competition was extremely high.Sakai alone had bought over 50 koi to the show in 3 trucks.The only downside was the weather.This did little to dampen my spirits when we saw how well one of Mark's koi had done!

Daisuke from Momotaro Koi Farm venturing out into the rain-

The judges had their work cut out for them in the rain-

One of the highlights of my trip,seeing Marks Kohaku I selected for him last year win Best Kohaku in size 65 bu and second best koi in size overall-a fantastic achievment!!!

Mark's Sanke was also looking good-great potential!

Paul videoing some of the koi on show-

Grand Champion-Sakai 97cm 9 year old Kohaku belonging to Felix from Indonesia-

The same koi when Kentaro showed her to us 3 days earlier at Sakai Fish Farm-

Some other impressive bigger koi at the Show-

Massive Doitsu Karashigoi well over 1 meter-

80 bu Sakai Kohaku,beautiful pattern-

Another big Sakai sandan Kohaku with incredible body beni-

Very difficult to find a 80cm+ Ochiba with this quality-

Well done again to Mark-great to see a South African name on the winners list!

DAY 10 - BEPPU FISH FARM

As I mentioned before,I have a very good relationship with BFF's Takaharu which goes back to when he was one of Sakai's top workers.For the last few years I have been visiting his farm and watching how the quality of his koi is improving dramatically.

Besides his good quality and price,the service he gives is outstanding.

Taka with his brother Nobuhiro and father-wonderful,down to earth people-

Not an easily accesable farm,but well worth the visit-

A nice nisai sanke bought-

Sansai Kohaku bought-

Some show quality 70cm-75cm koi bought by Dream Koi-all sold!

DAY 9-MOMOTARO KOI FARM

After checking ourselves into the Via Inn Hotel in Okayama we all managed to get a good night sleep.

The next day Daisuke picked us up and took us out to his farm.On the way we stopped at his father's coffee shop and classic car showroom-a lot of impessive cars and at last a decent cup of coffee.

From there it was a short ride to the farm-

Spectacular river in front of the farm-

His famous 1500 ton pond-

He used to keep all his jumbo koi in this pond,but now it is mainly used to grow on nisai and sansai and the jumbos are kept in 80 ton ponds-easier to manage.
Koi in 1500 ton-

Jumbo tosai from Spring Auction being netted-now many over 65cm-

Max from Singapore looking at a few of his customers grow ons-

After selecting koi we went through the sansai Showas we bought at the Auction last month-Max and Daisuke looking on-

We selected a few great koi and now are looking forward to Beppu Koi Farm and finally the ZNA Show on Saturday.

DAY 7+8 - SAKAI FISH FARM

We arrived at Sakai yesterday afternoon.Always very impressive to first time customers.

This morning we spent looking and selecting some stunning nisai and sansai gosanke before have lunch at Sakai's new guest eating facility.After lunch we viewed some of the top koi going to the ZNA Show in Kobe this weekend and also 2 sansai koi selected by Dream Koi for a customer last year that have been invited to enter into the Show on Saturday.

Paul trying out a Japanese bakkie-

Selecting koi in the new green house-

Autunm in front of Sakai's eating house for customers-

Inside their eating house-

Viewing the potential ZNA Champion-97cm and weighs 23kgs,belonging to Felix from Indonesia-

My pic for the next All Japan Champion-won it in 2011,but looking even better now and bigger,97cm!-

Customers Sanke and Kohaku for the ZNA Show this weekend-

Back in Okayama this evening,will visit Momotaro tomorrow.