Majestic Koi - Nishikigoi without compromise. For the discriminating Koi enthusiast.

Dainichi is one of the most famous names in koi. Many current breeders did their training at The Dainichi Koi Farm, breeders such as Nogami and Marudo who are very high end breeders now in their own rights. They concentrate heavily on body shape, the original Dainichi body shape was huge and very impressive, It isn’t used as much today but when seen its an incredible sight to see. 

When Minoru Mano died the three sons were left to manage the company which today thrives as one of the busiest and professional Koi outlets in the world.

One of the biggest koi breeders in the world, water space maybe the biggest. With over 500 mudponds and only 4 staff members including his 2 sons and 1 daughter in law, its a very busy place to visit. Hirasawa San breeds virtually all varieties, in all grades. It really is a one stop koi shop.

He has 2 year old low class Beni Goi from £5.00 and he has 6 year old extremely High class Beni Goi for the price of a nice car! In most varieties this is the case.  

Marudo was another Dainichi student when he started his koi career, He was one of the first before returning to Utogi where his father was a koi breeder. Marudo was also a great believer in the jumbo body shape, which Mano of Dainichi made very famous, the huge body shapes were the koi to have, they won all the shows, the huge hump behind the back, the massive cheeks.

Hiroi – Seiji is said to have the very best eye for Tategoi in the world. He is mainly a dealer but does breed some superb Kohaku from a Murata bloodline.

Other breeders in the area are always aware when Hiroi San drops in to have a look at the new tosai, or the Nissai they have, buying their best koi and then growing them in huge mudponds in the the Yamakoshi area.

Most Koi hobbyists know that "Dainichi" Kohaku from Niigata are a famous and recognised type of Koi. While not as well known, the Hoshikin Kohaku is considered by many to be on a par. .
   
At the 31st All Japan Combined Nishikigoi Show, Dr. Gene Ewy (certified AKCA and ZNA judge) won the honorable Kokugyo (Best in Size) prize with a four-step Kohaku. That Kohaku was a Hoshikin Kohaku.

Igarashi Kazuto is well known to most koi hobbyist’s around the world. Some time or other you will have seen a stunning koi bred by this guy. He has a superb eye for breeding show koi, patterns and bodies which will make you drool. Breeding from a Sensuke Kohaku for his Kohaku, along with Matsunosuke for his Sanke, also producing some great showa from various bloodlines.

Izumiya is the ‘boss’ of the Yamakoshi mountains, a real force in koi past and present. The effort that he puts into the industry is incredible, he is the Shinkokai President, which stages the biggest and best koi show in the world, The All Japan Koi Show, held in Jan/Feb in Tokyo each year.

Breeder informaion - Peter Waddington Feb 08

(copyright Peter Waddington/Tategoi-koi Feb 2008)

I first met Fujio Oomo (pronounced OMO and not ‘OO’MO) in 1993 when he was little more than an enthusiastic Koi amateur and owned a very high class Kimono store in Nagaoka City. However, growing up around all the famous breeders in Yamkoshi could not help but influence him.

Masaru Saito first starting his Koi career with the breeder Konishi many years ago, then onto studying with one of the best in the world, Toshio Sakai, Saito San was his right hand man for many years, while still having a small facility in Mushigame, Niigata. When leaving the services of Toshio Sakai, Saito received breeding stock from Sakai, and with these parents started his own business using true Matsunosuke bloodlines koi, and to this very day still use’s  them.

Tsuyoshi Kawakami has always bred some spectacular koi over the years, and many famous koi as well. His main breeding line is Sanke, you can always tell the Torazo koi from the Sumi on his Sankes, always deep and well placed, making the big examples very impressive.

Not much can be said about this man that hasn’t been said already. He has produced over the last 30 years, probably the best and certainly most famous Sanke bloodline of all time.

Matsunosuke bloodline is now in probably 70% of all sankes produced today, All Japan Champions, BKKS Champions, South Africa National Champions and numerous Champions in America, the best Sanke breeder in the world.

The 2 Yagenji brothers are 2 of the best Koi breeders to deal with in the whole of Yamakoshi. They have a character which is second to none, both second generation and have really grasped the new koi industry.

The usual tradition where the elder son takes over the business has happened, but not to the extent of the younger brother having to leave the company.

Toshiyuki Sakai is Toshio Sakai’s elder brother. Toshio moved to Isawa when he was very young because he knew that his elder brother would get the house and business when their father passed it down, In Japan this is always the case.

Toshiyuki always used his father’s Matsunosuke bloodline, and himself changed it for the better to produce some of the best koi in the world, in the late 70’s and 80’s and early 90’s all you could see outside his facility was Mercedes, Rolls Royce’s...etc etc.