How I became Koi Kichi (Koi Crazy)

By Ray Jordan

 Phase 1 - The Beginning:  About ten years ago my wife, Martha,  and I decided we wanted a backyard pond. We had several aquariums and were getting more interested in landscaping and gardening. A backyard pond with a small waterfall to sit beside and relax after work seemed just the thing to transform our back yard into a private sanctuary.  I started gathering information about ponds. Photos in one book about fish called koi captivated me. Koi are very fancy carp that were developed in Japan. Several hundred years of selective breeding have transformed the common river carp into what is today referred to as “Living Jewels”.

 I realized that I had seen live koi at the local zoo but those fish had only a slight likeness to the incredible photos. The “Picasso” like combination of colors and patterns captivated me. I learned that the most expensive Japanese “show quality” koi can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but domestic “pond grade” koi can be bought for as little as $5. I learned that the Japanese believed there is a mystic connection between koi and their owners that grant the owner good luck and fortune.

 We decided to build a koi pond instead of a more traditional water garden. Since Koi can grow to three feet long they need a larger/deeper pond and more extensive filter system than a goldfish pond or water garden. Naturally this larger more elaborate system was going to cost a bit more than we had originally planned.

 Phase 2 – The First Pond:  It was three feet deep and built with rock and concrete to look like a natural pond. The filter system was specially designed for a koi pond. We started our koi collection with six small koi from a local aquarium store. We decided to pick from their medium priced koi and they cost a whopping $15 each. Our initial collection didn’t look much like the photos of the koi in the books but they were pretty and fun to watch.  

Phase 3 – The First “Show Quality” Koi:  A few months later we heard about a special “imported” koi sale in Houston. A Japanese koi breeder was bringing koi to sell to local hobbyists. We drove to Houston and were blown away by the sight of several hundred show quality koi. We were also stunned by the prices. But, these koi looked like the photo’s I had seen. They had beautiful colors and patterns. We picked three small koi and brought them home. This is where I first heard the term “Koi Kichi,” which means koi crazy in Japanese. Considering the cost of these three fish we definitely had just qualified for the crazy part. We chuckled at ourselves for spending hundreds of dollars on three 12 in. long fish. We laughed at some other nuts we saw that spent far more on even larger fish. We vowed never to lose our minds and blow big money on koi.

Phase 4 – Traveling to Koi Events:  We joined a local pond club and started learning more about ponds and koi. The next year we entered some of our koi in the local koi show. We won a few trophies and bought more koi. We decided the next year to travel to a koi show in California. We bought some more koi and met a Japanese koi dealer, Mr. Megumi Yoshida, of Tokyo, Japan. He was a third generation koi breeder/dealer and had tried to start a koi farm in the U.S. about thirty years earlier. He spoke excellent English and offered to bring koi to San Antonio and give a koi seminar to our club. This began an annual event and a wonderful friendship with this special man. Over the next five-six years our koi collection and travels grew into a serious hobby. We traveled to several koi shows and attended national koi seminars. We became active in the local pond/koi club and continued to build our koi collection and deplete our bank account.

Phase 5 – The New Pond:  two years ago we realized our koi had outgrown their original pond. We had learned a great deal about keeping koi and better designed pond equipment. We had a new high tech koi pond built that was designed to be much easier to maintain and larger to accommodate our growing koi collection. Our new pond was seven feet deep and held three times as much water as our first pond. Now we hoped we could really grow our koi into champions.

 Phase 6 – Buying Koi in Japan:  This spring, we decided to accept an invitation from Mr. Yoshida to travel to Japan to buy koi directly from koi farmers. We traveled with three other TKFGS koi kichi friends, Carsten Pederson, Mac McGreevy, and Shawn Sparrow. We were extremely fortunate to arrive at the very peak of the Cherry Blossom time in Tokyo. This event is called “Sakura” in Japan and one of the most beautiful times to visit. Our friend was a wonderful guide and took us to see beautiful gardens and ancient shrines. The Cherry Blossoms were incredible and so was the weather during our trip. Could it be possible, that the koi had blessed our trip to their homeland?  

Japan is a gardener’s paradise. Everywhere we looked, even in the heart of Tokyo, gardens and flowers were abundant. Azaleas, Camellia’s, Wisteria, and many others were familiar while others were exotic and unknown. Cut flowers and flower arrangements were everywhere. Flower arrangements were displayed in pubic restrooms and were much nicer than the deodorizer sprayed facilities we are used to. We were amazed at how clean everything is kept in Japan. It reminded me of Disneyland, not a trace of trash anywhere. Everything was extremely well maintained.

 Land is very expensive in Japan. Any space available to garden is treasured and treated accordingly. Trees are trained to grow in harmony to their surroundings. You might be familiar with bonsai. These are trees and plants that are miniaturized and trained to grow a special way. Much the same techniques are used on full size trees. The sight of an entire garden or park with these perfectly trained magnificent trees was inspiring. Gardens in Japan are scaled to be in proportion to their size. I saw a small six foot square garden at a small Japanese home in Tokyo. The area had three small bonzai trees, a small Japanese style stone lantern and five stones strategically placed to balance the effect. I realized that the scale and harmony of this garden was perfect. Everything was the right size, shape, and location. What planning and thought must go into choosing and placing everything just so. Since many homes are handed down to the next generation great care is taken to have it exactly correct.

 We drove several hours west of Tokyo and visited Mt. Fuji. It is a magnificent huge volcano that is revered as a symbol of Japan. We learned that Japanese boys climb to the top of Mt. Fuji to prove themselves and commune with the spirit of the volcano. Looking up at the steep snow covered mountain it was hard to imagine the difficulty of such a feat.

 As beautiful as everything was we had come to visit koi farms and buy fish. We started our tour of the most famous koi breeding area of Japan, Niigata prefecture. This a mountainous area famous for growing the best rice in the world and home to the recent winter Olympics in Nagano. When we began to seriously collect koi we had learned the names of some of the most famous Japanese koi breeders. Their koi had won Grand Champion awards at major Japanese shows including the Super Bowl of Koi Shows the All Japan Koi Show. As many as 6,000 koi worth millions of dollars, collectively, compete for trophies and the winners are shown on prime time Japanese TV at this event. We could hardly believe that we were abou to meet and buy koi from the most famous koi farmers in the world.

 The first town where we visited koi farmers was Isawa. This is home to several very famous koi farmers including Tashio Sakai who along with his older brother in Hiroshima are thought by many to breed the best, and certainly the most expensive koi. Mr. Sakai like most koi people was a wonderful host. He took several hours to show us his favorite koi and explain his special breeding program. We felt very fortunate to meet this man have a personal “koi seminar” and yes, purchase several of his koi to bring home to Texas.

 We fell into a trance over the next four days. Visit five or six breeders gaze in wonder at thousands and thousands of beautiful koi at each farm and somehow limit yourself to buying one or two koi a day. Actually, since these koi were expensive cost was a big limiting factor. We did not want to run out of money and then miss out on a great bargain. And yes, we found the koi of our dreams. A three year old, 24 inch long female Kohaku (White fish with Red accent marks) that we named Sakura (Cherry Blossom).

 Phase 7 – Showing Koi in Japan:  We left two koi we bought in Japan to be grown another two years by their breeders. We are planning to return to Japan in two years and enter our two koi remaining in Niigata in the All Japan Koi Show before we bring them home to Texas. Thinking our fish might win a prize out of the 6,000 or so entered in their national koi show - that is most definitely “Koi Kichi”! It is so odd to realize that we have not only become those nutty people we used to laugh about but in some ways we have taken “Koi Kichi” to a new level.