Article

Nov/Dec 2005

Kanezo Koi Farm
" Dedication of Kanezo Koi Farm to excellent Showa breeding."

In front of the house

Kodama:
What do you have in mind when you breed koi? In other words, what is your policy?
Kobayashi:
"Always stay professional and study continuously."

Kodama:
I see. I think continuous study is a wonderful thought. We would like to know more about your operation today. Would you begin with how your farm started?
Kobayashi:
My father, Kaneichi, started koi breeding in 1961. This area is called "Ryuko" and known for Showa.

Fumiko and Tadashi Kobayashi

Kodama:
Do you mean the "Ryuko" area is suitable for Showa breeding?
Kobayashi:
Yes, it is. At the time, there were about 60 breeders in Ryuko. A lot of them were breeding Showa. So I think the area was really suitable for the variety. Actually, even though we breed other varieties like Kohaku and Sanke, the finish of the koi is not as good as those from the Ojiya area, which has a more clayey place.

Kodama:
After all, it all resulted from the earth quality that Ryuko became the Showa place.
Kobayashi:
I think this is the result of trial and errors by 60 breeders in the area. Though it was challenging to breed many varieties, Ogon, Kohaku, Sanke and so forth, many breeders have switched to the Showa breeding. The fact proves that the earth and water quality of Ryuko is suitable for Showa.

Kodama:
How many of the 60 breeders still breed koi?
Kobayashi:
Right now, only three of them do.

Kodama:
60 went down to 3?! It is a drastic decrease. It is only 1/20. Why is that?
Kobayashi:
Farmers in Niigata have only two choices: grow rice or raise koi. When you grow rice, the government unconditionally buys it all. When you breed koi, however, you need to sell them to hobbyists. In other words, hobbyists never buy koi if koi are not beautiful. About 30 years ago when there were 60 breeders, any koi from any breeder was sold easily. But as the standard for the beauty from the hobbyists increased, the quality of sellable koi must improve to satisfy them. The breeders who do not have the "ability to breed more beautiful koi" have been weeded out.

Kodama:
You have survived the competition.
Kobayashi:
I took over this business four years ago when my father passed away. So it is my father "Kaneichi" who actually survived the competition. I really appreciate him surviving in this very competitive industry.

In front of Tosai mud pond

Kodama:
So it was four years ago when you became a full-time breeder?
Kobayashi:
Yes, it was. I had another job. I helped him on my days-off, morning, night, and whenever I could.

Kodama:
What do you think is the reason your father's business survived?
Kobayashi:
My father was an energetic researcher. He was always studying how to breed beautiful koi. When he first started the business, he introduced the "Kobayashi Showa" as parents, which was the No.1 bloodline in Niigata at the time. "Kobayashi Showa" was expensive, but he still challenged with the best from the beginning.

Kodama:
Have you been breeding only Showa since the foundation?
Kobayashi:
I think he did Kohaku and Sanke. But, after all, the clay quality of our ponds is for Showa. We get the best results from Showa rather than from any other varieties. So we have been breeding Showa from an early time.

Kodama:
You found out which variety could bring the best results and have been focusing on the improvement of that variety. Choice and focus of the right variety is the key of success of the Kanezo Koi Farm.
Kobayashi:
I agree. When the area had 60 breeders, there were people who focused on other varieties like Kohaku, Sanke, and Ogon. My father saw that Showa was the variety for this area. He bought excellent parents and spent all his energy on the Showa variety from the early times. I think it put us ahead of the others.

Mr. Kobayashi feeds 2 years old.

Kodama:
It is still great to be one of only 3 from the 60 breeders. Now I understand why your policy is "Always study."
Kobayashi:
Our work schedules as breeders are the same every year. Everyday work also looks the same as the previous year. But the contents are different. If you have the general idea of koi breeding, you can breed koi. But when you think a step further, koi breeding becomes complicated. It is always necessary to think a step further and study. I feel koi breeding is very deep.

Kodama:
I see. Where do you feel the depth, for example?
Kobayashi:
I feel it every day. "Daily work" always requires "thinking." For example, I check the water of the ponds. The water quality changes every day with the weather. I need to always maintain the changing water quality to be "good water quality for koi." I need to think of what needs to be done for that. There are many kinds of water conditioners from various manufacturers. How am I going to implement those to maintain and improve water quality?

Kodama: I see.
Kobayashi:
All the water conditioners are not necessarily good. Some may be suitable for Kohaku; some may be for Showa. And each has the way to use to get the best out of it.

Kodama: Interesting.
Kobayashi:
Therefore, I never take for granted what makers say. I must test and find out what is the best for myponds and study the best method for it.

Kodama:
I see. You must think and study every day.
Kobayashi:
Yes. There is always a new discovery. I see new things every day. It is important how I handle the new things. It is my motto to "think and handle it actively."

Kodama: It is a wonderful attitude. By the way, do you do all the work by yourself?
Kobayashi:
My family helps me in culling fry and ikeage (harvesting koi from mud ponds).

Female parent – excellent Sumi and Hi quality

Kodama:
Now can you tell us more about your production? Please tell us your parental stock first.
Kobayashi:
OK. I breed only Showa. I have 10 pairs of Showa parents: 2 pairs are my main ones, 5 pairs follow, and I have 3 trial pairs for the future stable parent stock. That makes 10. I get more than 1,000,000 fry and choose 350,000. I use 3.6 acre for them. I have 15 ponds there. By autumn, I get 100,000.

Kodama:
How about 2-years old or older?
Kobayashi:
I raise about 200 every year.

Kodama:
What are the characteristics of your Showa?
Kobayashi:
The appealing point of my Showa is a good hi plate and hiquality. My hi has "bright and beautiful" coloration.

Kodama:
How about sumi?
Kobayashi:
Because sumi has the line of "Kobayashi Showa," it comes to finish very lustrously and beautifully. In other areas, I know breeders have some trouble because sumi does not finish. But here in Ryuko, it finishes very well. The clay quality is good for sumi here.

Kodama: I see.
Kobayashi:
Showa that grow up in the Ryuko area maintain the good sumi quality wherever they go. But if we raise fry from my parents in ponds whose clay quality is good for Kohaku, they show bad sumi quality even after they grow up. Surroundings where baby koi spend its childhood affect the entire life. Simply thinking, brothers from the same parents should show the same characteristics even though the growing environment is different. But it is not true. Characters that are influenced by water quality, clay quality, and overall environment are internally formed and the koi cannot show its original nature even after it is matured.

Kodama:
Amazing. Does the different environment really affect and form a different character?
Kobayashi:
I am not sure. If they are brothers, they should have same character. But they do come out different if the raising ponds are different.

Kodama:
Just like proverbs say, "Birth is much, but breeding is more." "The child is father of the man," and the raising environment changes "the future of its koi."
Kobayashi:
Yes, it sure does.

Kodama:
What is the ratio of kuroko? (Kuroko literally means black fry. Kuroko grow as Showa. So breeders cull out everything but Kuroko.)
Kobayashi:
My main parents are about 10 years old now. They produce about 30% of the fry. The main pairs produce about 100,000 kuroko. I get at least 1,000 excellent baby koi by autumn. (His total production of tosai is 10,000.)

Kodama:
Thank you for your time today. Please continue to breed quality koi with the "skill" that made you survive from the competition.

Parent the third (born in 1972)	Parent the forth (valued as 3 million yen (about $29,000)	Parent the fifth – The powerful presence of Sumi, that resembles to that of original Kobayashi Showa, is attractive.