Mike....you asked...
"I also noticed that the first two comparison photos had some text at the bottom. The first says "Japan, Oct '04 and the second says, I believe, March or April '05. This sounds like a fish that was selected from a "very high class" group IN JAPAN and then, was it kept there for a season, as your two posts imply that it "finally arrived" home the next fall?"
If you look at caption under 1st set of photos it reads Japan Oct/2004 under the first photo of the pair, and second photo's caption reads U.S.A. 12/2004. Second set of photos are spring....March and April under the respective photos I believe without looking again 2005. This particular koi arrived back here November 2004, in between photo dates in 1st set of pictures. I took all the photos except the very first one. So to answer your question, no it was not selected from a high class group and kept in Japan for another year.
Just one of Ooyama's tashita's I guess.
