All Japan Show Grand Champion 2007!!!

[JasPR]

There were two, I believe 97 and 94 cm. One was at the show last year. The body mass on these sakai kohaku is always amazing- you can't really call them 'fat' because they carry the volume so very well. I think robust is a better term? Great bone structure and the great length helps pull the volume off. They are so perfect and so uniform that they also have evoked the word 'boring' from some. Not me however- they are as rare as giant diamonds.

JR

[RayJordan]

THe three step Sakai Kohaku was at the same show last year and ranked 2nd behind the GC. She won what we would call Reserve Champion.

[dizzyfish]

When you look at that picture the Shiro looks a little pinky. It has to be the lighting.
Mitch

[Brutuscz]

I think the showa that won was amazing. But, I honestly thought that if another showa won...it would be this one. The unique look of it's sumi was mind blowing. Does anyone know the breeder..or if it was entered this year?the pic was from last year..I don't know the photographer)

[JasPR]

Mitch, there are pink tubes in the light fixtures but I gotta tell you, some of the jumbo's show buff colored noses and off white skin at these big Japanese shows. Part of this is the moving and traveling involved. The fish from the south especially are coming from warm conditions and traveling is very hard on these big bodied girls. The temperature in Tokyo around this time of year is also pretty cold- 40 degrees is typical and even though it can get to the 50s sometimes, it gets very cold at night. So these gals are living in perfection and then netted and put through a lot of 'change'. These off white look is typically over looked by the judges because, as I mentioned in another post, these are the very best fish in the country in terms of body, depth of color, finish and genetics. They are also full adults which rarely have skin type of juvinile or baby koi. I noticed a few liked the kohaku with the bright beni- that is a younger fish than the bigger competitors- the beni is a condition of age and not necessarily one of higher quality.
It is also important to appreciate that not all strains of gosanke have that bright white we see in magazines. Many of the over 88 cm gosanke will sport buff skin. Part stress and part reality of their skin type. This doesn't play into the judging at this size but does become more of a focus in juvinile and baby fish. But then again, the males get somewhat of a pass.

JR

[karipeters]

replicate the 'full-spectrum' of daylight. They look funny when you are there, but the do the job perfectly.

[aquitori]

Nothing still beats looking at fish in natural sunlight...

[Eugeneg]

Quote: Originally Posted by JasPR I don't think that is whole answer Eugene? A koi show is part LIVESTOCK show and part ART show. Additionally, judging individual koi is based on rarity. Rarity of traits when compared to the entire range of production out there. As a live stock show, the judge is first looking for soundness and size as inbreeding tends to reduce fish in size. Second, the breeder judge is looking for a refined fish ( meaning inbred for rare traits) that is part nature but also an impossibility of nature. The tendency for koi is to revert to a more uniform carp appearance. So a hugh bred fish is one that resists reversion to carp phenotype and also 'fights off' the consequences of resisting carp phenoytype- IE small size tendencies. In this regard this fish expresses power and strength. It is large boned but also a polished nishikigoi ( fancy carp). In addition there is tendency for nishikigoi to LOOSE the refined color traits as they age and get to this size- once again making this a rare fish- especially for the showa variety. I honestly thought they'd pick the sakai kohaku but I can see how the showa would/could win. Personally I thought it would be second, behind the kohaku as happened when these two same varieties ( different fish of course) competed in the mid nineties for two years in a row. In those competitions, the showa was smaller and lost to the other gosanke each year until the inevitable happened- it showed up one last time and its natural decline in color and volume was very noticeable.

Thanks ,I have read your post several times and now I better understand
Regards
Eugene