Hello! I want to start off by saying THANK YOU to all of our followers, subscribers, and clients who put their trust in us.
I have returned to the USA after spending over a month in Japan. It was amazing! I was able to get access to places and koi that I had not been able to get to before. We enjoyed lunch daily at the Saito (Shintarto Koi Farm) home while "Hirome" cooked excellent Japanese food.
It was a special time to be in Japan because there were only a couple of other dealers in Niigata. The odd part was seeing Koi Farms closed on some days. Normally, when we are in Japan the breeders are up early in the morning and stay until very late into the evenings.
Although the city of Tokyo was a virtual ghost town because of the pandemic, Niigata seemed to be business as usual (apart from social distancing). We love our Jumbo koi and this time I was also able to see to it that the largest red karashi ever to come to the USA! 95CM!! Very cool koi! The body shape and reticulation were outstanding. All of the koi including a Jumbo Konoko Ochiba which has 4 steps was available and we brought that back as well.
We were on a scavenger hunt crossing the mountains non stop in search of Pink Karashis, Budo Goromos, Showa, Sanke, and Kohaku. Doitsu Showas seemed to be a hard find this year. We were looking for more sumi on the doitsu showas this year and it came as a difficult task.
As always, it was such a pleasure to have coffee and tea with the breeders in a relaxed fashion.
We spent much of our time looking for specific pieces for collections for our clients and I believe we were successful. After all, that is what this is all about! Many Many Many thanks to @shintarokoifarm @koitrips @fitzfishponds. Also I would like to thank the consulate of Japan in Nashville, TN for their help in getting our visas processed and for their efforts to make this trip possible.
We love our clients and we appreciate you being a part of our family in koi.
P.S. If you have not seen the second episode of Koi Ranching check it out on our YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/LCrUQ7FmnaE
Thank You!
Hunter
