[Bern]

I visited his premises in 1999. One of the dealers in the group was very interested in his Showa as the quality was high and he was not able to command the higher prices of other breeders.

The Tosai and Nisai on sale at the time were very respectable. A friend of mine bought two of these Tosai from the dealer when they returned to the UK both developed into good examples of Showa. The larger one (at the time) seems to have stopped growing at approx 24inches, is female and apart from a scar caused in a breeding frenzy would hold its own in any major UK koi show. The other one, (the smaller) is now the longer, but is male. The interesting thing was the colour development. At time of purchase the beni was bordering on orange, it is now red. The females pattern maintained its proportions and grew with the fish. The male, could have been classified as Kindai at the time, developed more sumi as it grew.

There is one other Showa in this pond (from a breeder called Sakuma) which is a year younger. Ignoring the size difference and concentrating on the shape, the Higuchi appear broader across the back, neither of them show any showa head traits, boxy, short etc.

I haven't seen this breeders name over here for a couple of years now.

rgds Bern