Showa Sanshuko

[Sangreaal]

According to the general description of Showa, it is a black koi with white and red markings. I can't help but tell you that I really have to squint to see black as the ground color. It seems that shiro is the most dominant ground color--sumi and hi seems to be the colors that scatter and overshadow.

We speak of "sumi emerging." Were it a ground color, would it be emerging at all, or would the overlaying patterns be receding to uncover it? Can someone show me the logic that makes the showa a black fish with red and white markings.

Marie

[MikeM]

Sangreaal: Like so much in koi, what was once a truism no longer is. Unfortunately, there are few photos of koi from the 1940s and before. Some time back Ray Jordan posted a photo of a kage type Showa that appears in Amano's General Survey of Fancy Carp published in English in 1968. It gives an impression of what the early Showa were like. You can also get something of an impression from Kiefer's recent thread on the progress of his Shiro Utsuri fry... check the ones that are heavy with sumi with white starting to break through. The Utsuri group are koi derived from black koi ... a smokey sort of black, more like charcoal and soot. At one point in their history, you would not have had a problem envisioning the fish as black with patterning overlaid. As the sumi has been improved, the shiro improved, etc., etc., the base color has become white. But, they are still derived from kuroki ... black fry. Today, in the Showa worth having, I think referring to them as "black based" is more an anachronism, but there is still truth in it if you think of it as a reference to the genetic root, not the phenotype you see.

[dick benbow]

to add to mike's background for understanding....I might add that for showa to compete sucessfully with the kohaku and sanke of today's shows, the red had to be as good as what was on kohaku and the black as good as that which is on sanke. In the effort to achieve a competitive edge both kohaku and sanke have been used to develop today's Kindai or "modern" showa. This mix for color improvement has drastically changed today's showa. once in a while you'll hear the term "old style" used meaning it is clearly a black dominant koi...these koi with modern red and black are the ones that "do it" for me....This weekend i'm off to Spokane to check on 4 baby showa that dan and sharon grew this summer and i'm hopeful we'll be able to post some photos for you to see. The one I favored initially seemed to be looking toward old style when it came in from japan this spring, but as it grew, more white was developing...so I'll be on pins and needles...and since this koi was developed by the master of matsunosuke bloodline ( where the black in his sanke's comes up and down for years before firming up ) how the black actually comes out maybe a mystery for a few years. FUN!

[PapaBear]

Nancy M has a BEAUTIFUL Showa that typifies the Old Style black dominance but with the Kindai quality beni and shiro that Mike and Dick are referring to. Maybe if you beg she'll re-post the picture for us to enjoy (I looked back at an old thread it was in but the picture is gone )

[Sangreaal]

You're helping me to understand the elements of pigment in koi. Since the description of a "black koi with white and red markings" is not the standard around which a showa is judged, I will consider the description anecdotal and not actual. Mike, I concur that the statement should be more construed as the fish beginning as a black fry before growing into the red and white garb with accents of black coming from below and behind. I can certainly understand why the showa is considered "untamed" in relation to the rest of the gosanke group, though in actuality, kohaku and sanke only give the impression of being so. White seems to be the natural ground for a tri-colored koi. Take away the white and what is the next dominant ground color in, say, a bi-colored koi? I've got to theorize red, and all the dilutes of red.

Am I on track?

Marie

Oh! NANCY! Show me your showa Larry has told me about....

[dick benbow]

finally talked myself into this....the word sanshoku...means three color koi and can be used with Taisho (sanke) as well. The showa or taisho was the era of the emperior that they were established in so as to identify the proper one...

[dick benbow]

also as i'm thinking of it, from a strictly artists point of view red is a color, white is the presence of all color, and black...well it's the absence of color.
so for us showa fans maybe that's why they invented the expression 'absence makes the heart grow fonder ".......

[MikeM]

LOL


kichi humor, for sure.