Quantity of Spring stocks at every breeder vary from those of small, part-time breeders through to very large volume producers, the figures given here are actual figures taken from recent interviews with a cross section of Niigata breeders.
1. TOSAI (Koi born last Spring) - the total numbers of fry produced from 10 sets of parent Koi in several varieties was around 1,000,000. The four Summer culls made last year reduced the total at last October’s harvest to some 7,000 4” - 5” Koi. After the October harvest 3,000 were selected and kept in the breeder’s indoor heated ponds whilst the remainder were sold cheaply to a Koi broker on the understanding he purchases ALL of the 4,000 pieces. The broker then selects his purchases accordingly, the worst selection are sold to owners of fishing ponds, the middle grade are sold to pet shops and the best grade sold to Koi dealers or exporters. Not a single one of these 4,000 Koi have any potential to become good for show purposes although, for the past four culls, these were still deemed as tategoi.
The 3,000 kept in the indoor ponds are, however, still the breeder’s tategoi, he feeds these daily during the winter and observes them closely, looking for those that have extra potential over the majority. His ability to do this is based on his knowledge of previous years of experience in using the same parent stocks. By the time the following Spring comes around the breeder knows each and every Koi in fine detail. During this winter period he has time to give his stocks hour upon hour of close, daily scrutiny. Also during the winter period he is visited by collectors and neighbouring breeders, some may ask to purchase from his tosai stocks however his quoted prices are extremely high if, in his opinion, his best tategoi are chosen for purchase. The reasons for this are -
a. The Koi selected for possible purchase may have a good chance of developing into something really special and are considerably far more potentially valuable than most of the others in the same ponds.
b. Whilst the breeder would like to have the opportunity of seeing the Koi develop for a longer time period to be able to accurately determine if his feelings are correct. If he sells the Koi to another breeder or collector right now he will assume his present feelings will be absolutely correct and the purchaser obviously feels the same. Thus he will quote the price he would ask next October when the, now 5” Koi, would be 14” and future potential would be far more easily apparent after harvesting.
In short, he can only sell the Koi once, if his eyes tell him it is special and other trained professional ‘eyes’ wish to purchase then he assumes he’s correct and the price is quoted accordingly, only after a further period in time will the truth be actually known.
During Mid to late May the breeder harvests his indoor tosai ponds in order to select the ones he chooses to grow in his mud ponds for a further six months. At this size it is not possible to accurately determine sex of the stocks but, after selection is completed with the benefit of all his daily, visual studies during Winter, only 600 tosai tategoi remain. The balance are sold to a broker at a higher price than those he sold last October and disposed of in much the same way as before. Last October these tosai formed some 80% of the breeder’s 3,000 tosai tategoi, now they are the breeder’s ‘tateshita’ (TA-TAY-SH-TA) - no longer tategoi. Again, not a single one has any potential to become good for Japanese show purposes.
At this moment in time, as far as tosai are concerned, the breeder now has 600 4” to 6” Koi remaining from the 1,000,000 fry produced last Spring. These 600 are now ready to be placed in his mud ponds to be grown to nissai (12” - 15”) in six months time. His sales to date have grossed him some £25,000.00 approximately of which living costs, feeding costs, heating costs, electricity costs, vehicle costs etc. have also have to be taken out.
2. NISSAI. The same breeder also has some 120 two year tategoi in another heated indoor pond, he harvested these, together with 450 others last October from a total of 600 tosai placed in his mud ponds last Spring. After harvesting these 12” - 15” Koi last October some 250 were sold to a broker, these consisted of males and females with no further potential - again his ‘tateshita’. A further 100 were sold from his outdoor concrete ponds next to his house whilst his 250 nissai tategoi were placed into his indoor heated ponds for winter. During the period between last October to now he has sold 130 of these to collectors, some still remain in his care after the new owner has paid the breeder to grow the Koi for another season at costs between £150.00 to £250.00 per Koi - totally at the owner’s risk.
Prior to placing his nissai into his mud ponds selection has to take place, mud pond space is valuable and only the ones worth growing are chosen. The vast majority of his best and most expensive ones have already been sold. However some remain - the ones commanding extremely high prices and these have to be grown in order to prove the breeder’s faith in them. From his stocks of 120 nissai only 45 are selected to be grown to Sansai size. These will be harvested the following October at between 18” to 22” long. The remaining 75 tateshita are sold to brokers or sold at auctions or purchased by other breeders as potential parent stocks.
3. SANSAI - YONSAI & OVER. (3 years, 4 years & over) The same breeder also has some 50 tategoi of these sizes in his indoor ponds, generally all of these will be grown until October in his mud ponds.
After all these Koi have been safely introduced to the mud ponds and water parameters monitored, the only Koi left in his indoor ponds are his parent stocks which are separated - males in one pond and females in another. During early June the parent stocks are placed in breeding nets where spawning takes place. Once the eggs are produced the male parents are placed in one mud pond and the female parents in another. At this moment in time the breeder has no Koi indoors just pond after pond of some 1,000,000 eggs or fry all at different stages of development. Within a few days all the fry will be introduced to the tosai mud ponds brimming with infusoria. These are the only ponds which are to be culled on four occasions before the next October harvest when some 7,000 4” - 6” Koi will be harvested - and so the cycle continues.
The reason I included the foregoing text is to try and explain the ‘numbers game’ that has to take place in order for a breeder to produce limited quantities of Koi with real value. These are his tategoi, as opposed to the vast majority of ‘pretty Koi’ one can find readily at a fraction of the price at man outlets all around the world. True tategoi are decided upon by the breeder who produced them in the first instance, irrespective of what happens to the Koi in later years.
There are many individuals all over the world who fortunately, for themselves, have the wherewithal to be able to buy endless quantities of high class champion Koi without even feeling any noticeable changes to their wealth. However, only a small percentage of these are seriously interested in Nishikigoi! This is really not a bad thing as very few really special Nishikigoi are produced each year by the sum total of the best breeders in the world. For the wealthy collector who needs an instant world class, instant collection why not simply purchase the current Japanese champions from their owners? - I am told that everything has a price and price in comparison to one’s financial standing is purely relative!
No, it’s not so simple with Nishikigoi, Koi that are current world-beaters are peaking or have only a few years left in which to peak as far as world-class Koi shows are concerned. This is why the word tategoi is the single most important word in the hobby. Tategoi gives many, many more enthusiasts the opportunity to have a dream, tategoi brings a chance of a hope for the future, tategoi induces thought to the owners - how to improve the environment? - how to improve the feeding techniques? - how to develop shape and pigmentation? - when to launch the Koi for the first time at a major show? - how to prepare it for the show? etc. etc. Tategoi also teaches enthusiasts that some Koi can and do continue to improve - Tategoi are directly responsible as to why serious Koi keeping methods continue to improve by constant trial and error! It also brings an inner satisfaction to a Koi keeper, breeder or dealer who has selected tategoi and, after a few years of care and attention, produced a finished Koi of incredible beauty. This is far more of a personal satisfaction to the owner than simply going out and purchasing the current Supreme Champion of the world and is why the word ‘tategoi’ is and will always be the single most important word in Nishikigoi.
Tategoi relate to Nishikigoi shows, they are not bred for keeping hidden away swimming in a private pond for the rest of their lives - there are millions of far cheaper ‘pretty Koi’ available for these purposes.
As to the Nishikigoi shows held all over Japan each year there are many listed below in order of importance and prestige for champion Koi -
1. The All-Japan Show, hosted by the All-Japan Nishikigoi Breeder’s Association and held during late January at the Ryutsu Center in Tokyo.
2. The ZNA Show, hosted by Zen Nippon Airinkai in various parts of Japan during late November.
3. The spring ‘Wakaigoi’ Show (for Young Koi up to 60cms), hosted by the All-Japan Nishikigoi Breeder’s Association and held near Ojiya in Niigata during April.
4. The breeders four major ‘Area’ shows held in late October to early November after the harvest has taken place. These are held in Hiroshima Prefecture; Yamanashi Prefecture; Saitama prefecture and Niigata Prefecture (No-Gyo-Sai).
5. Countless ZNA local shows held in all areas of Japan throughout the year.
A Koi taking Supreme Champion award at any one of these shows is a ‘special’ Koi - make no mistake about this. However, in the All-Japan and ZNA National Shows, a Koi taking a lesser award - say ‘Best Koi in Size’ (Kokugyo) has achieved far greater success than a Supreme Champion of a ZNA area show.
The Nishikigoi breeders of Japan know that their success and reputation is hinged around their production and selection of the tategoi they have sold which, hopefully, will be entered to major shows in future years. It is the business of these breeders to know the trends set by the current tastes and whims of the show Judges. As a result every breeder subscribes to each and every Japanese Koi publication in order to remain in constant touch with new Koi produced, new trends and any new information. There are few serious breeders in Japan who do not have full collections of the important Koi magazines such as Rinko; Nichirin; Nishikigoi Mate & Nishikigoi Monthly and these are studied closely as soon as they are received. The magazines give reports of each show and reproduce photographs of the champion Koi which are all stored away inside the breeder’s ‘computer-like’ brain.
There is no question that the world’s highest Nishikigoi accolade is that of Supreme Champion at the All -Japan Show simply because it is judged as the number one entry in the most prestigious Koi show in the world. There is only one Koi can take this award in any given year, true this is the highest accolade possible for the breeder who produced the specimen as his name will be given free advertising space together with the associated kudos in all the magazines. However there will, most certainly, be others along the way who also played a major part in the ultimate success.
In several actual case-histories the Koi was purchased from the original breeder at two or three years old, many years before, by another breeder whose ‘eye’ ‘saw’ a Supreme Champion in years to come. The price quoted would have been significant as the original breeder would have also shared the same feelings for its future potential. However the asking price was paid and the Koi taken to another pond in another area of Japan and given luxury care from an expert having years of experience in rearing. After some years a deal was made and the Koi purchased by a world class Nishikigoi Dealer who, in turn, continued to slowly develop the Koi to it’s fullest potential. A few years later the Koi was shown to a collector, it was purchased once again and kept for a further two years at the dealer’s pond before the time was just right to take on the world! In this particular case there were two breeders, one dealer and one collector who all played major parts in the final result and I marvel at the talent of these rare individuals who can gaze into crystal balls successfully! There are few individuals who have the knowledge of how to initially, accurately assess a Koi with years of development in front of it. They also have to be able to discount current downpoints as being of little or no consequence. They need to be able to take in the bone structure in an instant as well as being able to ‘see’ the finished result long before it can be achieved. Furthermore they have to know how to produce the desired shape and pigmentation into that of a world-beater. These talents are shared only by the Nishikigoi breeders themselves together with a few world-class Nishikigoi dealers plus a few Nishikigoi scouts who make a good living by locating a handful of tategoi each year for their clients.
And, whilst the current Supreme Champion of the world is basking in its rightful glory, the search for better Koi continues relentlessly. Some of the Koi taking ‘Best in Size’ - Kokugyo Awards at the same show are studied closely whilst other sets of eyes are scouring the latest crop of tosai and nissai housed indoors in the hundreds of heated glasshouses throughout Japan.
The major awards throughout Japanese Koi shows all revolve around ‘Size Champions’ or Kokugyo where it is a rare occurrence that any of these fall outside of Kohaku; Sanke and Showa varieties (Go-Sanke). If there is a rare instance of another variety taking the Kokugyo award it is usually a rare and beautiful Shiro Utsuri. I explained in detail the reasons for this in Koi Kichi, however, the so-called ‘lesser’ varieties all compete for awards in ‘Size within Variety’ sections of the show. Many breeders producing these Koi also need results at major shows, ‘Choguro’ hopes his Purachina take awards in Hikarimuji Class - Isumiya hopes his Yamabuki take awards in Hikarimuji Class - Toshio Sakai in Isawa hopes his Koromo & Goshiki take awards in both Classes - Omosako hopes his Shiro Utsuri take awards in Utsurimono Class - Marusada hopes his Koi take awards in Doitsu Class and so on.
‘Tategoi’ is not simply confined to any size or variety restrictions and, whilst a four year tategoi Chagoi in many instances may well cost less than a one year tategoi Sanke the explanation for this is simple. For show purposes the highest award a beautiful Chagoi can achieve may be ‘Best Kawarimono’ or ‘Jumbo Award’ whilst the Sanke has definitely the chance, no matter how small, to make Supreme Champion.
The pundits who have told me for the past 10 years or so that they are on the verge of successfully ‘cloning’ Koi are still on the verge of anything at all! If one of these managed to acquire the current world champion Koi in order to succeed AND DID. Then that particular Koi and the thousands of identical patterns produced on its clones would have no value whatsoever on the Nishikigoi show scene, most certainly the initial outlay could not be recouped. In any case I have grave doubts that Nishikigoi patterns can be cloned as some seem to think. Nishikigoi are unique and will always remain so irrespective of the ‘head-scratching’ by those who keep tropical, marine and other freshwater species. High class Nishikigoi continue to baffle ‘would-be’ Koi producers in other countries of the world who cannot even begin to produce Koi that equal the worst of the Nishikigoi produced by the Japanese masters of the industry. One of the main reasons for this is a total disregard and lack of understanding of the word ‘tategoi’.
Many times I have tried to remember the very first time I heard the word, I have always been under the impression that it was during the early 1980’s when I started to make many visits to Niigata breeders. In turning up photographs for this book tucked away in drawers about my house, however, I found one Polaroid taken on my first visit in 1977 which I’ve included here of a Kohaku purchased from Torazo.
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