Showa

[Sanke56]

This female is a couple of years old she is from Sakai. I have another one almost identical to her they are about 10 inches long. What are her plus's and minus? She looks pretty good to me. Showa has a black base so I assume that's what she is.

[Dan Blatt]

Sanke 56 - kinda reminds me of one I have. Looks attractive to me - sumi is placed nicely and has an overall pleasing look for a young showa.

[MikeM]

I'll say what I like and don't like about her ... and leave to others whether it's a plus or minus. First, she has too much red, lacks shiro on her face, pecs are too dark for a 2+ year old and at 10" she is too small. Second, WOW! She is growing slowly for you, but I think she has the potential to be big. The tail tube is so thick. The sumi pattern is coming along nicely. I really like the markings along the dorsal area. Body shape is very nice. The chest width looks good. Are you sure this is a pic of a 2+ year old? Or, is this when she was a year old, and she is now 2+? Since you are a lot further north (than Florida), I'd not expect as much growth as I think there would be in a warmer climate, but I'm not able to say what is "normal" or "expected" where you are. If this is her at 2+ years, I'd expect the sumi to have receded more in the pecs. So, I'm guessing cool temps have slowed her down. Folks who know a lot more than me will say that eventually she will "catch up" and be stronger for growing slowly than if grown quickly. I have a real bias for shiro on the face of showa, so she is not what I like. BUT, I also have a weakness for sumi on red ... even on sanke where the experts would say tsubo sumi is to be preferred. And, your showa has nicely contrasting sumi on red. I bet she has a nice gentle way of swimming, and when she "sails" across a dark bottomed pond, she glows.

Altogether, probably not one I'd pick from a picture, but in person she might grab all the attention.

[luke frisbee]

That middle third ...beautomous, that back third doesn't pull the koi down, but the benigoi head.....three colors need to be on the head and red shouldn't be the dominant one. I love a big glob of slobbery black disecting the white and red on a showa's head, and on this one even if the black shows up, which it might, there never is gonna be white.

[Sanke56]

Thanks for your comments guys. Yes they grow slower here. The summer is from june to end of August I bring then in for winter and she is now inside. I have some other one that have more black on their head and will post pictures of them soon.

[MikeM]

Was that pic taken when she had been indoors since August? If so, I think the hi must be nice quality. It seems to me the reds fade some after about a month in artificial light. That red seems strong.

[dick benbow]

Mike,
you'll have to post a picture of your showa. I enjoyed reading your comments because it shows you've been doing your homework!

[MikeM]

Hey Dick: Well, I got another bunch of old mags from somewhere. Meant to spend a good part of the weekend reading everything on showa, but other things interfered. Only got through about a year's worth. [Still have all the non-showa stuff to read!!] Interesting how much is said about showa, but relatively few win at Japanese shows. Something fascinating about their unpredictability will get folks writing. But page after page is kohaku, kohaku, kohaku, sanke, kohaku. .... Then, turn a page and there will be a photo of of a GC showa ... everything else fades. A really good, finished showa with nice pattern is awesome. So much more powerful than kohaku or sanke. But, even in Japan they do not happen very often. I think that is part of their fascination. Showa are always in the process of becoming ... There is something inherently optimistic about showa.

Can't post a pic from home. They're all stored at office & security rules won't let in from home. I'll try tomorrow.

[MikeM]

Let's see if I can post this pic

[MikeM]

That pic is taken from such a distance that the questions about the future of this fish are not so clear. I'll try to post a closer shot later, but so far I'm having trouble getting files to move to where they need to be to do it!

There are a lot of questions about this one, but if things come together and I do not screw up, I think she will make me smile each morning.