Bekko patterns

[Super Kindai]

Here is some 4/$?? tosai last spring. Now, one fish stay since I 'd like to see her one more year..

[jnorth]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrbradleybradley Take a good sanke, remove the hi and you end up with a good bekko?I am not saying this is always wrong or true. But like a recent post about the placement of hi on a showa, I have come to learn that balance is more important. While the placement of hi and sumi on shiro in a top class sanke works because of the balance. Take away the hi and the balance changes. Take a good sanke, remove the hi and you end up with a good bekko I see as a reference point but not a final study of what makes for a good bekko pattern.

You are definately correct. It is a reference point and good one to build further discussion upon .

[jbolding]

Mstreed do you have any progression pictures for that bekko you posted. It would be an interesting fish to see develop.

[mstrseed]

Quote: Originally Posted by jbolding Mstreed do you have any progression pictures for that bekko you posted. It would be an interesting fish to see develop.

That shot was from last fall and is back in the mud....hope it comes out. But I did manage to secure first right of refusal

[MikeM]

The quote posted above interests me. A few years ago I debated with JR on NI about Bekko being held back by the judging standard that the head be free of Sumi. It is a demerit, while it is virtually essential that some Sumi be on the head of Shiro Utsuri.

If you can get your hands on some of the very old Japanese show books, you'll see that Bekko with Sumi on the head were not unusual. They took wins in their size/class despite Sumi on the head. In the past 20 years, such Bekko are not depicted, except some rare exception. Of course, not so many Bekko shown as in the period prior to 1985. In the 1960s and 1970s, the other varieties had not progressed so far ahead of Bekko as in the past 2 decades, so they did get shown. In the pre-World War II period, Bekko were more popular than we can realize today. There was not so much to choose from, and quality was low by today's standards.

I still believe Bekko looks best with Sumi right in the middle of the forehead, but not the standard of beauty for judging purposes. A really good Bekko is rare, because the head truly must be snow white... which simply does not occur on good Sanke. The light cream-white of the best gosanke is not a good base color for Bekko. So, it is a variety destined to never attain its potential as deserving of appreciation as Shiro Utsuri.

....just my opinions.

[bekko]

So, why does the koi community cling to these low-class relics? If bekko are never going to be anything more than sanke which did not develop or lost their hi, then why don't they remove the bekko category and put them in Kawarimono. Are there ANY (even one) serious bekko breeders out there - someone trying to select for a nice white head and no speckles?

-ste veho p k

[PapaBear]

If a bekko is really just a failed Sanke, (the Rodney Dangerfield of the Koi world) then what about Ki and Aka bekko? I can easily see that moniker tagged on a shiro, but not on the other two. We have all three in our pond.

[MikeM]

Ste ve Ho a/k/a Bekko: Relics of the past are seldom appreciated by koikeepers. We toss them quickly for the biggest, latest advance. But eliminating a show classification is something else. Tradition has meaning in itself for the elders of the hobby in Japan. In the West we follow that lead... perhaps just in search of the mystique? I would very much enjoy seeing examples of the original Torazo sanke, the better Showa from the 1930s and the blue-green Sumi of the Sanke introduced to the world at the Tokyo Exposition a century ago. I would not want to take up pond space with them. It could not happen, because the genetics are too fluid to be captured like a stamp collection. Show classifications, on the other hand, can endure forever. Without a Bekko class, something would be lost.

[mitten]

Quote: Originally Posted by PapaBear If a bekko is really the Rodney Dangerfield of the Koi world then what about Ki and Aka bekko?

Le Papa-

I believe I have heard said that ki and aka bekko are Rodney Dangerfield's drunken cousins that want to borrow money.

The two reddest fish I've ever seen were both aka bekko, both in Florida and both definitely pond fish. The crayon red color that is called purple red.

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by Super Kindai Here is some 4/$?? tosai last spring. Now, one fish stay since I 'd like to see her one more year..

Do you mean 4 for $100.00 Tosai?LOL