| While in Japan for the show, we took a trip to Isawa. We visited Maruyama. We saw poster size pictures of the showa that took GC last year. The pictures were developmental over the previous two years and when it took GC. There was a very small white window on the beni on the right shoulder two years prior, the sumi was there but still developing. The next picture (from the year prior to the show) showed the beni filled in and the sumi improving dramatically. The picture from the show showed the same window had come back in the beni and the sumi had settled nicely and was very thick and uniform. This fish is no way on it's way down. You can still see that the sumi could improve further and that this fish could still continue to grow. I think you're looking at a fish that would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000 US with no problem. That's if Maruyama would part with it - but I seriously doubt it.
Also, it's interesting to note that according to Torazo and Maruyama, windows of this nature within beni patterns are of no concern in Japan. When we asked Maruyama he said, "No problem", and Russ asked again to make sure he understood. He again stated, "No problem at all". When you have fish of this size and overall quality I can see that small things can be overlooked when judging the fish on the whole. We here in the US have been taught by a different school of learning based on negative rather than positive. When you think about business, doesn't most things come down to what's wrong rather than what was done right? That seems to be the American way. Why then should koi judging here be any different. We need to stop nitpicking and appreciate the overall beauty. There hasn't been a perfect animal ever breed in any venue or species. Why are we always trying to compare small flaws. What are we really comparing against. If we look at each fish in a competition and compare one against the other and look at the positive qualities then truly the best fish will show why it is better than the others - not why it "didn't" win. |