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Article
May/June 2004
Suzujyu Koi Farm
by Mamoru Kodama
As most koi hobbyists know, koi are bred everywhere in Japan
in places such as Niigata, Hiroshima, Kyushu area, and so
forth. The most famous area is the Niigata prefecture. Niigata
has about 650 breeders, and they breed beautiful koi. Probably
Niigata is the only area that has this many breeders.
Every October, breeders have koi shows to compete with each
other with their koi. The scores at the shows directly link
to the rank as a breeder and influence the sales. The competition
among breeders is quite severe.
Mr. Shigeo Suzuki at Suzujyu Koi Farm
produces overwhelmingly strong koi in the baby class (25–35
cm 10–14in)
at these koi shows. Today, I visited him at the Suzujyu Koi
Farm.
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Kokugyo
prize winner at the 15th All Japan Young Nishikigoi
Show
He breeds many top prize winners at top Koi shows. His Koi is popular for
the high quality of white, black and red. |
Kodama:
When did you start this koi business?
Suzuki:
My father started it.
Kodama:
Do you remember when?
Suzuki:
It was 1955. He started it by buying and raising tosai, first.
All the breeders at the time were not able to afford having
parents in Niigata. We had to begin with buying fry from
those who had already bred koi. Unlike what we call fry now,
that is 0.7 cm (0.28in), those fry were about 0.2 cm (0.8in).
There was a breeder called “Chuko” in my neighborhood
at Jyunidaira. He was breeding very nice Showa. He sold us
his fry for 10 yen each. 10 yen at the time was very expensive.
But we purchased about 100–200 and raised them up to
18 cm (7.2in) by autumn. Then, we sold them to a koi wholesaler.
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| Family of Suzujyu
Koi Farm |
Kodama:
What made your father start koi?
Suzuki:
I am not quite sure. But my father was a rice farmer. Around
1955 when koi became very popular, it had been said that
breeding koi is good for farmers. So farmers turned paddy
fields into ponds to keep koi. We were one of them. As koi
became popular, we gradually started koi. There are good
paddy fields and bad paddy fields. The good paddy fields,
we kept for farming rice. The bad paddy fields or small ones,
we turned them to koi ponds. At the time, there was no such
thing as an indoor facility for winter like now. We raised
them from spring to autumn and sold them all then. We sold
them to koi wholesalers like Miyaishi and Miyakoya in Ojiya
city.
Kodama:
When did you start helping your father?
Suzuki:
Well, I think it was around 1966.
Kodama:
When did you start breeding?
Suzuki:
That is about when I joined the koi business. Since then,
we gradually increased the volume of breeding.
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| Mr.
Suzuki explains the pairs of his parental Koi. |
Kodama:
You have been in the koi business for 38 years now. What
is your policy to koi breeding.
Suzuki:
It is theme (important) to me. I think koi is a creature
whose beauty is to be appreciated. The campus for the art
is a pond that each hobbyist has. When we look at ponds,
the average size is 10–15 tons (2500–3750 gal),
although some have ponds as large as 100 tons (25,000 gal)
or even 150 tons (37,500 gal). So I think koi should be at
appropriate size to stand out in these average-sized ponds.
And I think 30–60 cm (12–24in) koi are the size
for those ponds; 70–80 cm (28–32in) sized koi
are too big for these ponds. After all, to appreciate koi’s
beauty, we should consider the size of koi together with
the size of the pond. This is why my koi are a little smaller.
They are 30–35 cm (12–14in) at the age of two.
Other breeders make them 40–45cm (16–18in) at
the same age. Mine are smaller, but more beautiful than others.
This year, too, I entered 10 koi at koi shows here and 6
of them won. I would like to breed “beautiful koi even
if it is smaller” that please a lot of hobbyists rather
than “grand champion koi”that please only a
few hobbyists. So I think this is my theme and policy.
Kodama:
I see. I visit a lot of breeders at the harvesting season
in autumn. But your koi finished most beautifully. Can
you kindly share your secret?
Suzuki:
I think my breeding method is a little different. I think
I am the only one who does this in Niigata. What I do is
put the liner in the pond.
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Female
parent with pure white skin
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Kodama:
You mean you use liners not only on the edges of the pond
but also over the entire pond??
Suzuki:
Yes. I lay a large liner sheet for about a 5,326´ pond.
Kodama:
Interesting. So koi grow this beautiful in a liner pond?
Suzuki:
Yes. Niigata produces beautiful koi because of the “good
clay quality.” This is true. But I think a liner pond
is better to finish koi more beautifully.
Kodama:
I see. The hi gets enhanced more than in mud ponds.
Suzuki:
Only breeders enter koi in koi shows in Niigata. And I keep
winning every year. I think this proves that my method makes
koi more beautiful.
Kodama:
Many koi hobbyists keep koi in liner ponds. So this is a
good way, isn’t this?
Suzuki:
From my many years of experience, it is a very good way.
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| Male
parent with deep red Hi quality |
Kodama:
How long have you used liner ponds?
Suzuki:
I believe it is more than 30 years.
Kodama:
Is that right? Who started this?
Suzuki:
There was a breeder called Mr. Harumitsu Shimomura in Ryuko,
the next village. He passed away two years ago. He is the
one who started it. Because his koi grow so beautifully,
I learned it from him and started using this method.
Kodama:
It has been widely said “the reason why koi in Niigata
are beautiful lies in its unique mud ponds. And the clay
quality of mud ponds is suitable for koi.” Almost all
the koi hobbyists in the world understand that koi are produced
and raised in mud ponds of Niigata. I do not think they think
breeders in Niigata use pond liners for the breeding.
Suzuki:
The job of koi breeders is to breed beautiful koi. Because
I believe I can breed more beautiful koi in a liner pond
than a mud pond, I have used the liner ponds for more than
30 years.
Kodama:
A lot of koi hobbyists in the United States use a liner to
build a pond. I think it is news that a Niigata breeder
has used the liner since more than 30 years ago.
Suzuki:
Really? Do koi hobbyists in the United States keep koi in
a liner pond?
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| Suzujyu Koi Farm |
Kodama:
Yes. Many hobbyists build their ponds by themselves. They
dig a hole in the backyard and put the liner in it to keep
koi.
Suzuki:
As a breeder, I keep using the liner pond for 30 years and
believe that koi come out more beautiful than the mud ponds.
So, if hobbyists in the United States use the liner, with
confidence, I can say that it is a very good way to go.
Kodama:
How many tosai do you raise in the liner pond?
Suzuki:
About 2000. I put about 400 fry in each 5,326´ pond.
I put them there in the spring and cull them in the summer
from July to August. I put them back there and raise them
until autumn. In the culling, I select 300 out of 400. This
way, I can get more space for koi to grow big and I do not
have to keep bad ones.
Kodama:
Then, you take the nice ones out of there to the koi shows
in the autumn, don’t you. How did you do this year?
Suzuki:
I won 6 out of 10 entries. One got Baby Champion. So I think
I did very well this year.
Kodama:
Do you think the liner breeding contributes to this result?
Suzuki:
Absolutely. Koi shows are the place to compete the beauty.
All the breeders in Niigata raise koi to two years old and
enter them in koi shows. The fact that my two-year-old do
well at the shows means that I keep my koi somehow in a different
way. My koi are more lustrous because I keep them in a liner
pond. For the beauty competition, my method is better, after
all.
Kodama: Thank you for your time today.
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