Regions of Japan
by Deron Simons on 27/03/09 at 7:11 pm
There is no other region for shear numbers of koi breeders than Niigata in Northern Japan. With this area obviously being the birthplace of koi they have been bred there for generations and will continue to do so for many years to come. But as with any type of farming people move around and take their business with them therefore koi have now spread all over Japan and there is much more to koi than just Niigata alone. Koi have slowly but surely been heading South, a natural progression, when you consider it is much easier to keep koi in a warmer climate.
Over the last decade it has been quite obvious that the South of Japan has been producing the larger koi with many farms growing koi to 60cm inside two years. This is not an excessive rate when you consider these koi are given different opportunities in which to grow. I hear very often from hobbyists that it is not good to grow the fish ‘too fast’ but once I’d explained that it is impossible as carp are a species designed to grow as fast as possible on a simple principle that if you are the biggest fish in the pond no other fish can eat you!
To understand different opportunities I mentioned above with regard to growing you must first understand how the fish are grown by comparison in Niigata. Pretty much all the koi in Niigata are spawned in June and grown in the mud ponds throughout Summer until Harvest time in October. At this point most of the fish range between 4 and 8 inches. These koi are kept inside during the Winter and at best are approximately 10-12 inches when placed back into the mud ponds for their second growing year around the end of the following May. Due to the mountainous aspect of Niigata and the shear number of breeders present there are not many large ‘mud ponds’ and therefore stocking rates tend to be higher and all growing ponds in Niigata are outside.
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Southern koi farm |
One region where things are completely different to this is Hamamatsu near the Pacific coastline in South East Japan. This area is very estuarine and very flat giving breeders the option to build vast growing ponds that are blessed with very mineral rich soil and in many cases these growing ponds can be glassed or polythened covered due to the level terrain. With the advantages of being kept inside the koi’s growing season is almost 12 months with a slight slow down through January and February. By early March the temperatures in these indoor ponds is already above 70oC and by early May well above 80oC, at these temperatures Tosai will grow to well in excess of 15 inches within one calendar year with the largest specimens reaching nearly 20 inches. These Koi have in no way be forced to grow this fast, as I said before just merely given the opportunity.
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Nagoya koi farm |
Some of the indoor facilities are absolutely vast and a truly amazing sight, containing eight to ten mud ponds and in excess of 100,000 Tosai per glass house. It may seem strange but many of the breeders in this region grow very few of their Koi past Tosai, quite simply because by the time they have reached one calendar year their Koi are the same size and bigger than nisai would be from Niigata. When they select their Koi to grow on they are not only high class Koi, but many are females. Some of the Koi are sexually mature already; therefore they do not waste time needlessly rearing too many male Koi.
Moving slightly inland from Hamamatsu is Nagoya, which is the third largest city in Japan, with such a large population there is obviously a demand for Koi and therefore many breeders and dealers reside here. Many of the farms and dealers in this area grow on selected Koi from all over Japan as Nagoya like Hamamatsu is very flat (very rare anywhere in Japan). The only difficulty in growing Koi around Nagoya is that this region produces a very large percentage of the Japanese goldfish market and therefore much of the land is taken up with goldfish growing ponds. Being so close to a major city some of the Koi dealers/breeders premises are of a fantastic standard, one or two I have visited I could only describe as the best Koi retail premises I have seen, with palm trees, atriums, water features, waterfalls and of course stunning Koi. It is only when you visit one of these Japanese Koi shops that you realize how big the hobby is in Japan, you could probably fit the top five UK Koi dealers premises in one of these alone and still have room to spare!
Apart from the obvious large Koi dealers there are also some smaller dealers that sometimes produce some very special Koi. Being that a Japanese dealer has year round access to the Japanese Koi breeders they get more opportunities to purchase the best Koi. There are several smaller dealers around Nagoya that specialize in growing on other people’s Koi. Quite simply they ‘cherry pick’ from breeders all over Japan and then grow on these exclusive Koi in their own mud ponds. These Koi are then sold at their premises and quite often go on to win major awards at Koi Shows in Japan. It is at dealers like this that many Japanese hobbyists buy their Koi and also the odd well informed dealer from overseas!
I have traveled all over Japan in search of high quality Koi and the country never ceases to amaze me. Almost every prefecture has Koi breeders and dealers. If you are prepared to put in the time and spend many hours gazing out the window whilst zooming along on a Japanese bullet train you are invariably rewarded.
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