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Article
March/April 2005
A Report on the
Niigata Earthquake
by Mamoru Kodama
At 5:56 P.M., Oct. 23, 2004, the big
earthquake hit Niigata, Japan, originating at an 80 m (266´)
depth of the Yamakoshi village of Koshi county, Niigata
prefecture, Japan. This
tragedy has been reported all over the world through various
media. KOI USA readers must have watched the news somewhere.
I introduced 21 koi breeders in KOI USA. The breeders lived
in Ojiya city and Yamakoshi village, which is the origin
of the earthquake. I would like to report the most updated
information on those breeders.
Mr. Sen’ichi Mano of Izumiya (Picture
1). I introduced him in the March/April issue of KOI USA
in 2002. Almost all
of the people who visit and hunt koi in Niigata visit his
farm. And everybody gets deeply impressed with the size and
distinguished and attractive look of his koi.
Some of you might have visited him before and have gotten
the same impression. In the picture, Mr. Mano proudly shows
his excellent Kohaku whose line has been succeeded over generations
from his ancestors. The body conformation, pure white skin,
and the beautiful pattern were truly breathtaking. Besides
Kohaku, there were also more than 50 excellent koi like Taisho
Sanke, Showa, Ogon, and so forth. This elegant school of
outstanding koi surprised me.
The earthquake hit the pond of Izumiya (Picture
2). The
pond cracked and drained the water. All of the large koi
28? to 32? died. The elegantly swimming top-quality koi are
all gone now. Each koi had razor-sharp kiwa with red hi,
and the sumi was lacquer and solid. It is not hard to imagine
how beautiful they were in water from the picture. I think
you, as a koi lover, would easily understand the feeling
of Mr. Mano at such a loss and that of a young man standing
by without knowing what to do.
Raising ponds are located in the woods of mountains. Koi
grow beautiful in the quiet surroundings deep in the mountains.
Those ponds, at least 90% of them in Ojiya and Yamakoshi,
either cracked or damaged (Pictures 3, 4, and 5). Picture
3 is a pond close to the top of a mountain. The clay was
so good that the hi of Kohaku finished beautifully. The edge
of the pond was almost collapsed, and the road going toward
the pond is gone.
Picture 4 – This pond of Mr. Kase of Koshiji Koi Farm
had strictly selected 1000 quality tosai that has been through
three cullings from the spring. The tosai, at a moment of
the earthquake with magnitude 7, were sucked into the crack.
It is hard to believe the earth actually divides without
seeing the picture. To produce 1000 tosai, they need to hatch
100,000 fry and cull them three times. It requires breeders’ patience
and efforts to narrow down one quality koi out of 100. Their
proud koi or koi that were supposed to be delivered to your
pond got sucked into the earth.
Picture 5 – I am at a loss seeing the actual place
where the earth is divided. Each breeder in Niigata has 40–150
ponds and most of them looked like this. If they were paddy
fields, it would not have caused much damage. But they were
water with koi. Many ponds in this area had koi, and they
were ready to be harvested. But at a moment of 5:56 P.M.
on Oct. 23, they disappeared from the world.
According to the breeder, he was able to save about 10–20%
that were stuck in the crack in the next morning.
Picture 6 (next page) is a picture from the helicopter.
All the houses except for the one at the corner of the picture
collapsed. This tells the size and force of the earthquake.
Most of the houses in Yamakoshi village are like this. After
the earthquake at 5:56 P.M., there were a series of earthquakes
from magnitudes 3 to 6. People helped each other in the neighborhood
in the dark and found the area that seemed to be safe and
spent the nights there.
Picture 7 is another aerial photograph from the helicopter
about the area more than 15 km (9.4 miles) away from the
origin. Because of the distance, the houses did not fall
down, but they are in water. You may wonder why they are
in water because this is not a typhoon or a heavy rain disaster.
This happened because mountains collapsed in the earthquake
and dammed up rivers. And the water level gradually climbed
up. Probably by the time you read this article, all the houses
might completely be in water and have disappeared.
Picture 8 shows the slope that used to have ponds and showed
beautiful scenery. But by the following morning of Oct. 24,
most of the ponds got cracked and the koi and water were
all washed out. Water is full in the two ponds in front of
the picture. Every pond, before the earthquake, was like
them. At this point, it is prohibited to enter this area.
This picture is taken by the PR section of Yamakoshi village.
The center of Picture 9 shows a completely collapsed store
in the city. Fortunately, nobody died, but it is easy to
imagine how frightening it was for people there. The damage
was greater in the mountains than in Ojiya city. Because
houses were built on the slopes of mountains, they were more
sensitive to the quake. But more than 80,000 people who lived
in the city are still living in gymnasiums.
The traffic in Ojiya city is busy with the Self-Defense
Force, police cars, red-cross cars, and ambulances (Picture
10). Every single resident was evacuated and stayed in gymnasium
and cars.
The common problem for those people is water (Picture
11).
Though the water was quickly prepared, it was not enough.
People had to live without a shower for more than 10 days.
It must have been very difficult.
The person on the left is Mr. Shigeo Suzuki of Suzujyu Koi
Farm (Picture 12). I introduced him in the May/June issue
of 2004. The person in the middle is Mr. Seiji Suzuki of
Suzusei Koi Farm. I introduced him in the Sep./Oct. issue
of 2003. They are both excellent breeders. Their Showa are
famous as Suzujyu Showa and Seijyuro Showa. They live in
Jyunidaira. Jyunidaira is the deepest area of Yamakoshi.
Since they evacuated on October 24, they have not returned
home yet. Because the road to their homes broke down and
also it is very far, they cannot walk back home. They left
houses, furniture, farm animals and koi behind and escaped
by a helicopter of the Self-Defense Force on the 24.
The families of Mr. Shigeo Suzuki and
Mr. Seiji Suzuki stay here (Picture 13). People evacuated
from the mountains and
most of the breeders are being sheltered at these kinds of
places. Most of them express the fear of the earthquake with “I
expected to die.” The violence can be easily guessed.
Parental Koi were transported from the almost-collapsed concrete
ponds in the mountain by the helicopter (Picture
14).
The koi are being unloaded quickly (Picture
15).
The parents are packed in boxes (Picture
16).
The breeders open the boxes and move koi to the tank on
a truck (Picture 17).
Young breeders are working hard (Picture
18).
The wife of Ushizo (Shinoda Koi Farm) works hard, too (Picture
19).
Picture 20 shows that the “Parents are saved!” This
is a moment when smiles came back to breeders who had been
stressed from the loss of everything and exhaustion. Those
parents are the few assets that were left to the breeders.
But as long as there are these young breeders and the parents
are in Niigata, Niigata, cradle of Nishikigoi, will return.
SAVE NISHIKIGOI
At 5:56 P.M., Oct. 23, 2004, Japan had a great earthquake
hit originating at an 80 m depth in the Yamakoshi Village
of Koshi county, Niigata.
Even though more than a week has passed since this tragedy,
84,000 people who lived within 30 km of Ojiya city and Yamakoshi
village are still having to take shelter in their cars or
school gymnasiums. This is due to the problems and fear caused
by the aftershocks.
On Oct. 23, I was at Ojiya. As a Nishikigoi
dealer, I have been involved in “Ojiya and Yamakoshi Nishikigoi.” On
this day, as usual, I was in the middle of Nishikigoi hunting.
I drove to the farms, chatted with the breeders, and bought
some Nishikigoi. Fortunately, when the earthquake, a magnitude
6, hit at 5:56 P.M., I had left the area. As the breeders
that I had just been visiting were barely escaping with their
lives, I was in an area that did not have repercussions from
the quake.
A week after, when I returned to the
area, I must admit—it
was frightening seeing what had happened. The roads that
I used to drive on, just like in my own hometown, had collapsed.
Hundreds of mud ponds that used to produce beautiful Nishikigoi
had completely disappeared from the world because of the
landslides.
If you are reading this, you are probably keeping Nishikigoi
(proper name of koi.) Are those Nishikigoi from Japan? If
they are, there is a 95% chance that they are from Ojiya
and Yamakoshi area. In other words, the victims of this unprecedented
earthquake bred your Nishikigoi.
The earthquake has been reported all over the world, but
I am not sure if it was reported in detail about this area
being the cradle of Nishikigoi. The damage caused by this
quake has been made personal for us now.
There were about 650 breeders in the area. They all had
to escape and leave their Nishikigoi behind like other refugees.
Some were able to escape on their own, and some were rescued
by helicopter.
Brothers, sisters, and parents of your beloved Nishikigoi
that were left behind disappeared with the landslides. It
took less than a few seconds to wipe out what the breeders
had worked nearly all of their lives to produce. This is
nothing short of a nightmare.
Ojiya and Yamakoshi area, as the cradle
of Nishikigoi, has produced beautiful Nishikigoi and introduced
the beauty to
hobbyists the world over. The cradle disappeared at that
moment—5: 56 P.M. on Oct. 23, 2004.
On Oct. 29h, six days after the quake, some Nishikigoi were
saved from the inaccessible places by helicopter. While many
people had escaped, some breeders risked their own lives
and stayed and saved important parental Nishikigoi. The saved
Nishikigoi are only a small portion of the entire stock of
Niigata, but they were successfully saved.
Nishikigoi of Niigata is immortal. Ojiya and Yamakoshi are
imperishable. As long as we have our respected breeders,
the saved parents and the bravery of its breeders will reestablish
Niigata. Niigata will be the hometown of Nishikigoi again.
Let’s save them. Let’s support
the recovery of Niigata, the birthplace of our beloved
Nishikigoi. We
do not know as yet exactly what their needs are. But, as
time goes by, it will become clearer. When that time comes,
we should be ready to support them.
With the strong belief in the recovery
of Niigata, and hope that we can be of help, I would like
to organize a “Save
Nishikigoi Network” by starting a drive to raise funds.
I hope that you will join us and give your support to the
breeders of our beautiful Nishikigoi.
Mamoru Kodama
On behalf of the Nishikigoi Protection Network
P.S. The information on Niigata and their Nishikigoi will
be updated at www.savenishikigoi.net
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