This is why, in my opinion, American breeders will never catch up to the Japanese product- it is a community of experts breeding koi and exchanging stock. They are 'generation knowledgeable' and work as a professional organization. The only way Americans could compete against that reality is if KHV and warring factions begin to eliminate that kind of shared culture.
There is no price for koi. You may get a different price than I do when you walk through the door. The koi business is like the antique or the wine business, since there is no real fixed price, it is strictly what the market will bear. It also depends on whether the dealer you go with has prearranged compensation with the breeder he takes you to.
Many, many people breed Dainichi stock. fish that are from the dainichi line are not the same as Dainichi bred fish. And Dainichi produces tateshita for export just as everyone else does. Remember that a breeder might start the season with 2 million plus fry and by the fall have culled all but 3,000. Of those, 2400 might be sold off immediately as tosai. And he may only intend on really keeping 200-300 tosai for further grow out. This is what makes koi of three and four years old expensive.
As far as the 'honorable thing' goes, Japanese breeders are very polite people as a rule. But they are NOT the people you see in Samurai movies! To my knowledge, no one has ever ritually killed themselves because a customer caught them cheating!
They ARE in business and foreigners come through the door every year that the breeder knows he will never see again. This naturally brings out the true character of that breeder. Some are thieves and some are honest to the extreme. I've found that the brokers or traveling/guide dealers are definitely more dishonest than the breeders, as a generalization. Most of those guys are orientated towards the quick buck that comes from impulsive buying.
As far as WHO the breeder will sell to- this differs from breeder to breeder. Some are so far off the beaten path, they would sell to ANYONE, ANY TIME- DAY OR NIGHT! Others have put a ton of time and energy into a koi and will be damned if they are going to sell it to some stranger that might kill it straight away! Still others will not sell to those who come with certain agents as that agent might owe them money! That agent will then tell a story to the customer as to why the breeder will not net today! The language barrier is often used, I think, for hiding and twisting things in Japan. And other breeders may be trying to build a direct business and a customer base, and as such, they will qualify you and not be willing to sell something that will likely be too much in dollars or maintenance and therefore a loss of said koi will result in a lost tate-customer. This practice is actually decades old and is based in the apprenticeship notion I often mention when I talk about ZNA and the koi hobby ( as an art or discipline) in Japan--- The idea is to start with 'beginner koi', become koi kichi and slowly move up in quality ( and price) as you gain more experience and success. So in this Culture of the Koi, it would be odd indeed for a breeder to load a newbie up on high class sansai? But as I said, times are tough and some have taken the attitude that you need to hit'em hard when the impulse is there and the yen is flowing. The old timers tend not to be this way, but their kids are rock’en and roll’en with the Gaikokujin!
JR