Hey pbng
I must point to you that you are very fortunate to have access to high grade koi from Sakai and Dainichi. One of my dealers was just with Sakai and the tosai was going for 1.8mil yen...way above my budjet. I'm a big fan of kindai showa and they are my absolute favorite. I'm yet to own a tategoi but I'll not give up. I'll be in japan in Oct 2007 to hunt for one. My dealers can't build a good relationship with Dianichi. They find him rude and there is not a lot of access to high quality koi. I guess it's all about the relationship build over years. Kinda hard for us newbies to get into it then. When I'm in Japan I hope to get to Koi No Yohei to search for a kindai showa, I've seen and heard great things about his koi.
On your showas, again you are really forunate to have a collection like this to keep an eye on! My favorite is S4, and as she grows the white ground will contrast sharply with the hi and sumi greating a spectacular sight. She also has great motoguro which is a sign of great things to come. The body also seems very strong and the frame has the potencial to develop into something special.
S2 is a very nice kindai showa. The tail tube is a bit thin but lets see how they develop over the next year. This one is my favorite on pattern. Pls keep us updated on how they develop. I'll learna lot from rhis one!
