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I cannot speak for American breeders of course, but apparently the Asian (ex Japan) breeders don't cull enough of their fry to maintain a generally high standard. Think of it, a pairing produces from 250,000 to 500,000 fry per spawning. Assume 500,000. The Japanese would probably cull at least 480,000 (just my guess). The typical Asian (ex Japan) breeder would do his maths and figure that if he sold that 480,000 fry for just 20 cents each, he would make whole ton more $. That makes him reluctant to cull as much. Of course in reality a very high proportion will be unsaleable anyway because of deformities, but you get my drift.
Added to this is the fact that the best oyagoi will never be sold by the Japanese until they are over the hill. Musashi was apparently available sometime last year (sky high price of course) and a group of us here actually contemplated purchasing it for breeding, but well....it didn't materialize. Omosako felt then that they already had better oyagoi like Panda.
Yes, I agree that the difference at small koi sizes narrows considerably. It's a lot easier to win small koi prizes than big koi prizes. EVERYONE has small koi. But not everyone has the means to buy a really good Japanese bred tategoi and provide a good enough environment (coupled with skill) for it to be nurtured into a big GC class koi. Class tells in the end...
The Japanese are a very proud people. Quality, standard and family reputation are of paramount importance, particularly amongst the multi-generation koi breeders. Money is important to survive and keep going of course, but it is not the most important thing to Japanese breeders and we must really respect them for that. For the rest of the world, there are local koi breeders everywhere and amongst them, I am sure there are some who are more discerning than others on quality control and standards of koi they put up for sale. But by and large, I think they trail the Japanese by a huge margin. Dick, your points are taken too, thanks.
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