Be gentle:)

[StefanM]

Hi everybody.
Been a member on this board for a while but never had a chance to post.
So this will be my first.
Have been interested in koi for about 5 years and are in the starting phase on my koi pond number 5
Bought my first japanese koi last year. Bought 7 and lost 3
Did everything wrong in the quarantine so it was my own fault.
This year it´s gonna to be different.
I´m waiting for a handpicked Momotaro straight from Japan.

I have attached two pics of my Sakai Hiroshima koi.
They was bought last year.
Comments are welcome.

[Kohaku]

I did notice the very heavy sumi on that showa, and the white gap on the kohaku seems pretty large. Rusted orange on the kohaku.

[aquitori]

I love Kohak, but I really like the Showa more....The Kohak needs more growing on but interesting pattern..

[adreamer2]

I think your kohaku looks very clean... Beautiful white body and evenly spaced hi.... It's beautiful.... I agree that it needs some growing on.. But, very beautiful... How old is it?..... I'd say under a year... Maybe 8-9 inches....Almost a kuchibeni... I'm not very big into showa...


Adreamer2

PS: Welcome to the board!!!!!

[StefanM]

Thanks for all the comments

The kohaku was bought as a tosai last year and approx 30 cm.
Will soon be hitting the 37 cm mark.Good growth for only 5 months.
Still developing in the pattern.

Stefan

[kingkong]

Everything looks fine except:
The pattern on the kohaku is reversed. The shoulder needs a strong hi plate, not a place for a shiro break, sorry. And what about the odome?
The Showa's front halph is nice, I see menware, but back halph falls out of wack. Too much sumi, skinny tale tube and so on.
But why listen to this when you can get a nice solid colored ogon with shimmering beauty with maybe a little 'pinecone' texture too it. Now that sounds nice.

[adreamer2]

Quote: The Showa's front halph is nice, I see menware,

Haa.... I noticed that menware pattern too... right across the left eye....

But, I don't get the "reversed" hi you're talking about.... I think it's a very clean 3 step pattern of hi here....

adreamer2

[kingkong]

Notice how much more powerful it is to have a strong hi plate on the back or shoulder. With a kohaku, this seems to me to be the nebari area, the building area of a koi where sound design shapes emerge, leaving building block for final plates to take shape such as maruten and the posterior plates ending with a tail stop. If the shoulder does carry a strong statement, then it seems to be a fighting battle to compose a meaningful statement in my iodine needing body perception.

[Kohaku]

Menware, odome, nebari, maruten. What do these terms mean?

[kingkong]

Nebari is nervana, this is a borrowed word from bonsai descriptions. Its.....well...this is the trunk, the core to which everything radiates from. The odome (tail stop) to me is as important as the hi plate on the head. A maruten (red spot on head) always looks fantastic and in balance. Equally showy is the menware (bold slash of sumi between the eyes) on the appropriate fish. This is dangerous waters so beware how dificult it is to have all these stars line up just right. It can lead to temporary madness if not handled with care.