A new rule to being a judge...

[aquitori]

A new rule to being a judge...I have heard that some judges have never been to Japan. Quick question, why doesn't the AKCA help judge canidates make trips to Japan to broaden their eye about koi?

Maybe they should add they should go to Japan to attend atleast 2 All-Japan Shows...

[B.Scott]

So how much of your club contribution would you like to go towards sending future judges to Japan?

[aquitori]

Also a good question...Pretty much judges have this title with no Japan experience or Japanese Show observence....

[aquitori]

I do think clubs should set aside some funding to their TOP canidate judges to make a trip to Japan...

[Regenmeneer]

I guess there wil be a lot off new candidates when this is a new requierment and the trips will be paid by the club! Hope they won't drop out of the program after the Japan trip

Ok, this might sond a bit sarcastic, but not unthinkable.

But how much would such a trip cost, and how many clubmembers do you have to pay for this? I know to become a ZNA judge you have to attend an x number of shows as a trainee judge, and traveling is at your own expense.

Regenmeneer

[B.Scott]

Personally I think it's a large bite out of a clubs limited resources to send members to Japan. Even though many good fish are available to be viewed in Japan I think the fundamentals of judging can be learned without such a trip. That amount of money could much better be spent within the club itself for the benefit of the club as a whole rather than a single individual.
Strangely enough I feel people who are that interested in the hobby that they aspire to become judges tend to be drawn to visiting Japan as a matter of course and fund it of their own accord. The few judges with whom I am acquainted have with one exception all been to Japan.

B.Scott

[Bob Winkler]

Good suggestion...But a bit difficult to make happen.

One world class koi keeper friend has even gone so far as to say "5 trips to Japan for koi are the minimum for him before he would "allow" a judge to judge his koi".

It does make a huge difference.

[KoiCop]

since you're an AKCA judge, you might know whether or not we have any judges who have not been to Japan. Care to hazzard a guess???

[karipeters]

Going to the AJ show is a great learning experience.

Here is the problem I see. Everything is written in Kanji or Harigana (sp?), and the judging is done on Friday & doesn't allow anyone but the judges inside...

There would need to be a lot of translating going on, and a lot of time with the judges to understand their process...

It's a great idea for them to go, but hard to figure out how they would work those issues out...

[Bob Winkler]

Hi Don,

You know how to put me on the spot.

But to the truth on this the best I know it. More current Certified and Candidate AKCA Judges have been to Japan than have not. The majority of those have been one time, but I am just going off the top of my head remembering past conversations with them. I could easily be wrong about the number of times as the average. There are several that have been more than 5 times. Some many more than that.

Most of the judges I know much at all, and haven't been to Japan yet, seem to have the goal of going to Japan as part of their "ingrained" person. They know they need to go, and it is close to their heart. The primary reason isn't necessarily to get better at judging but to go to "mecca" (and all that means). Getting a better eye is one nice side benefit. I think a club or the AKCA helping one of these people that haven't gone yet is a nice thing, but probably really tricky. Politically. Not that I haven't ever called a spade a spade. Not sure the money help matters much to some, but to others probably would make the difference.