Thank you all for the responses. I was kind of leaning towards the kindai showa myself, too! I am still a rook in that I am a sucker for patterns and symmetry.
Dick, you brought up a very good point about the beni not being uniform on the traditional showa. I am afraid that the beni might not hold up as the koi ages. What do you think? I am curious as to what will happen as the koi grows over the years.
Bob W., that is my greatest concern! I did not alter these pictures in any way other than to crop and resize them in Adobe. I also had to fill in the background color in the upper left corner of the traditional showa's image because it was the edge of the measuring tub. But the image of the koi were not altered in any way. In fact, I noticed that the colors seem to be washed out too when I tubbed them. They were definitely not like this when I purchased them last fall. What do you guys think seem to be causing this? I am all for learning so any feedback is much appreciated!