Article

July/August 2005

Hosokai Koi Farm

by Mamoru Kodama

This time I visited the Hosokai Koi Farm that is famous for Asagi and I interviewed him about his Asagi production.

Masaru Hosokai, son of Mr. Hosokai with Taro Kodama

Kodama:
Please share with us how your farm started.
Hosokai:
My family has engaged in farming rice for generations in this Wakatochi area of Ojiya city. But because the rice farming skill has innovatively improved and the rice, our staple food, was overproduced, the government developed the policy of discouraging rice production. In 1970, the government offered a bounty of $1,300 per acre to the farmers who stopped farming rice. I was looking for something useful for humans rather than overproduced rice and switched to Nishikigoi production.

Kodama:
Did you turn the paddy fields to koi ponds and start the business?
Hosokai:
Yes. At the time, there was no heavy equipment like now. My wife, all the family members, and I dug the paddy fields with scoops and turned them to ponds. It was such hard work. But I liked koi by nature and always wanted to do koi business. So it was a good opportunity for me.

Shouichi Hosokai

Kodama:
I see. It has been 35 years since 1970.
Hosokai:
Yes. So Hosokai Koi Farm has 35 years of history.

Kodama:
What did you breed at first?
Hosokai:
It was Kohaku and Sanke. Then, gradually I added other varieties like Ogon and Kujaku to be a better breeder.

Kodama:
When did you start raising Asagi?

Hosokai:
It was about 1983. A breeder called Mr. Watada was famous for Asagi. He decided to quit the koi business. I received his parent stock of Asagi and added it to my product lines.

Kodama:
Was Asagi suitable for your clay quality? Was that why you chose Asagi?
Hosokai:
Not necessarily. Asagi is bred better at places of sand and gravel such as Shiozawa and Uonuma areas. My farm is clay and good for Kohaku and Sanke, but not for Asagi and Showa.

Kodama:
Koi has so many varieties, and each variety has its own suitable soil quality. It is common to breed the right varieties for suitable soils. But your idea seems to be opposed to the common idea, isn't it?
Hosokai:
Yes, it is common sense to breed suitable varieties for the soil you have and never to breed ones that are not suitable for the soil. But I saw it differently. My idea was that if koi could maintain the beauty even under unsuitable conditions, the bloodline was genuine.

Kodama:
OK. Then, what was the result of raising Mr. Watada's Asagi?
Hosokai:
At the time, Mr. Watada's Asagi was one of the top-quality levels in Niigata. So I strongly believed that they would breed high-quality ones even at my farm. But the parents were expensive. It was a big risk and a challenge to me.

Kodama:
May I ask how expensive?
Hosokai:
I invested more than 20,000,000 yen (about U.S. $200,000) for the 10 pairs.

Kodama:
What was the result?
Hosokai:
Very successful with the parents. Starting from the 17th All Japan Nishikigoi Show (1986), my Asagi have won many awards one after another. The representative Asagi is seen in the picture to the right. This kind of wonderful Asagi was produced even at my farm of clay.

Tosai

Kodama:
Is there anything special you did to breed the Asagi for your place? What are the difficulties in breeding Asagi?
Hosokai:
Because I wanted to breed something that is not for my farm, I know I had to think differently. I had to raise them differently.

Kodama:
Give me some examples.
Hosokai:
Intensity of accom-modation is the key. In other words, I kept fewer of them in the pond so the water does not get cloudy with mud. For example, I put only 500 Asagi in the pond that can usually accommodate 1000 Kohaku. This way, the pond can maintain clean water without getting clouded. The cloudy water means that koi in the pond get influenced by the clay quality there. So by reducing the number of koi released to the pond, I stopped the cloudiness of water and prevented koi from getting the influence of the clay.

Kodama:
I see, when you put many koi the water becomes cloudy. That is why you release only a limited number of koi. That is simple, but wise.
Hosokai:
I do many more things, but the most important thing is that the quality of koi must be excellent.

Kodama:
It is your style to breed excellent koi, even though the surrounding condition is not preferable, by adding "your own technique" to "high-quality Nishikigoi." I am impressed.
Hosokai:
Thank you and I think that is my style. One can farm anything even in barren lands like deserts with the intelligence and techniques of human beings. I am sure we can breed excellent koi with our serious study even in an unsuitable land.

Kodama:
Wonderful idea. Now please tell us more about your Asagi. Is the Best in Variety koi in the picture on page 15 Narumi Asagi?
Hosokai:
Yes, it is. This is a representative of the Narumi Asagi.

Winner of Best in Variety at All Japan Nishikigoi Show Representative Asagi of Hosokai Koi Farm

Kodama:
What is the difference between Narumi and Konjyo Asagi?
Hosokai:
My female parent is Narumi Asagi and my male parent is Konjyo Asagi. So when I breed them, I get both types.

Kodama:
What is the ratio?
Hosokai:
I get 80% of Narumi Asagi and 20% of Konjyo Asagi.

Kodama:
How can you differentiate each other?
Hosokai:
Please look at the four pictures. Picture A is Narumi Asagi and C is Konjyo Asagi. Picture B is Narumi Asagi and D is Konjyo Asagi. First, please compare A and C. They are the pictures when the koi are two years old. Scales of Asagi on picture A form the Tamashibori pattern. Narumi is named after this pattern. This is the characteristic of Narumi Asagi. Now please look at picture C. The coloration of the back looks like it was painted in Konjyo (navy blue) color with a brush. Also pictures B and D show us the difference when they grow up. In picture B, each scale is clearly divided with Fukurin. In picture D on the other hand, scalation is there, but it is colored in Konjyo (navy blue) over all. These are the differences between the two types of Asagi.

Type(A)	Type(B)	Type(C)	Type(D)

Kodama:
Narumi Asagi and Konjyo Asagi from Hosokai Koi Farm are brothers and sisters, aren't they!?
Hosokai:
Originally, they were two different varieties, but in the long history, they got synchronized. At my farm, too, when I started Asagi in 1983, I crossed Narumi and Konjyo; they both come out.

Kodama:
I understand it well. Then, how many Asagi do you breed?
Hosokai:
Because the body is big, one pair of Asagi can breed as many as 500,000 eggs. I release the hatched 200,000 fry to five ponds, each of whose size is about 0.5 acre. I cull them three times by fall. At every culling, we eliminate 50%.

Mr. Hosokai at culling

Kodama:
How many do you eventually select?
Hosokai:
We select 2000?3000 out of 200,000.

Kodama:
And you winter them in the greenhouse?
Hosokai:
That is correct. By spring, I choose 10% of them to raise to two years old and sell the rest of the 90%. My Asagi seems to be popular inside and outside of Japan. I think 50% goes out of Japan and 50% goes to the Japanese market.

Kodama:
Thank you very much for your time today.