To be honest...A pretty ridiculous statement. The showa has sumi on shiroji..most prominent on the right side(hard to see in the picture.). They both have underlying sumi on the shiroji...just a question of when it will finish. Sumi usually develops well in my pond...so I'm not too worried. But...To treat this like a fault is very wrong. After your statement, I went back through my old issues of Nichirin and koi-bito magazines. I figured that maybe I didn't notice something important. Well, after looking at many showa champions from all over japan...I have found a great deal of them also had most of their sumi on the hi...and not on the shiroji!!! It's one of those rules that is to be taken with a grain of salt. I remember years ago...no Hi on the fins..and no hi extending over the eyes. Then...the All Japan grand champion sanke with hi over one eye and on a pec fin. I liked the overall quality and conformation of the showa. I loved the depth of the beni on the sanke...I will gamble on the sumi.