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Article
Showa—A Changing
Process
by Mamoru Kodama
Nishikigoi have been kept as ornamental
fish as early as 1,000 years ago in Japan. In the old days,
there were only "black
koi," "red koi" and "blue koi." Originating
from these, we now have developed more than 80 different
beautiful varieties . Koi are now more popular than tropical
or marine fish and have become very popular worldwide.
Koi have various attractive attributes. One of them lies
in the changing process of its pattern. In tropical fish,
the pattern stays the same from when it is born until it
dies. Koi change their pattern as they grow. That truly attracts
many koi hobbyists. This time we would like to
study the changing process of a koi’s pattern.
Please look at the Showa in Picture 3. This Showa is currently
owned by Mr. Duke Nguyen of California and it won the AKCA
Koi of the Year award in 2000 in the U.S. This is an excellent
Showa. It also won, in 1999, the Kokugyo (Best in Size) prize
at the All Japan Combined Nishikigoi Show. Even this superb
quality koi did not necessarily have excellent pattern since
it was small.
You can see what it looked like in Picture
1 when it was
a 1-year-old. The sumi pattern had not appeared yet. At this
point, because the pattern is not recognizable on this koi,
nobody would buy it. Therefore, the secret of buying high
quality koi is to buy koi that appear like Picture 3 when
it is at the stage of Picture 1.
Then, what should we do to get beautiful
koi at the stage of Picture 1. We should study the "tendency of change" in
pattern. There are certain rules in the change of pattern.
Depending on varieties and bloodline, there are some trends
in the change of hi and sumi. By studying the tendency, we
can obtain high quality koi.
Let’s trace the process of this
Showa becoming the beautiful koi with pictures. The Showa
was born in May 1995
at Sakai Koi Farm, Hiroshima. Picture 1 was taken in April
of 1996. It was 25 cm (10?). At this stage the hi is very
beautiful. When hi is this bright at the age of 1, there
will be no doubt that it will become very beautiful even
when it grows large. Also, sumi forms a distinctive hachiware
pattern. The sumi on the body is expressive. The sumi is
like lacquer and its quality is outstanding. The questions
are: the sumi has not appeared at all on the second half
and also the sumi on the pectoral fins is thin.
At this stage, we can hardly call it a good patterned koi.
The experienced hobbyists who know the superiority and inferiority
of pattern would not buy it. Even though they know sumi changes,
if they are concerned that the second half might not develop
sumi, they would not buy it at this stage.
Does this second half have sumi? Please look at the shiroji
(white ground) on the second half of the koi. There are thin
bluish places in the shiroji. This kind of bluish part has
a chance to have sumi in the future. But, those blue parts
will not necessarily appear fully. But with this, we can
at least be sure that the second half of the koi will have
some sumi.
Next, look at Picture 2. We took the picture in May of 1997.
It was 50 cm (20?). The second half does not have sumi yet.
The sumi on the pectoral fins has become thick and it has
beautiful motoguro, which were very thin when it was 10?.
The ends of the pectoral fins are clean white. Also, it starts
having a small sumi spot by its hachiware pattern. This indicates
the possibility that more sumi will appear on its mouth area.
On the second half, sumi has not appeared. In a closer
look, however, you can see sumi gradually appearing on
the right side of the dorsal fin. The first half has an
excellent pattern, but because the second half does not,
we cannot recognize this as a top-class pattern. But we
can judge that when the sumi appears on the shiroji of
the second half, it would become an excellent Showa. At
this point, we have to decide whether we should buy it
or not.
Look at Picture 3. This is the picture taken in March 1998.
It was 57 cm (22.8?). A small sumi spot at Picture 2 forms
dynamic sumi pattern from its mouth to the right jaw in a
year. The dynamic change is a character of Showa.
Then, it crossed over the Pacific Ocean to the United States.
It was selected as the AKCA Award winner at the All Northern
California Koi Show and was entered into the AKCA Koi of
the Year contest. It was selected at the AKCA Annual Seminar
held that year in Springfield, Missouri as the AKCA Koi of
the Year. It was featured on the cover of the Sept/Oct 2000
issue of KOI USA. This is now a Showa that everybody can
admire. Like many koi, this excellent quality koi was not
always beautiful when it was small.
Knowing and studying "how it changes" is
the secret of buying high quality koi.
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