Latest KOI USA issue has arrived

[RayJordan]

Received my latest KOI USA issue and am enjoying reading many of the interesting articles.

One article that I read first was a interview with a kohaku breeder, Mr. Hasegawa by Mamoru Kodama. Mr. Hasegawa is very proud of his kohaku bloodlines which he states are a more "pure" bloodline. Most of the other kohaku breeders in Japan use combinations of several different types of kohaku bloodlines. Many famous kohaku breeders in Japan seek out Hasegawa kohaku for their parent koi. Mr. Hasegawa only uses a combination of Tomoin and Manzo and selects from his own stocks future parent koi. He never adds any new parent koi of another type in order to maintain a more pure line. He also makes a point about the best quality koi are the weakest baby koi. He says his first priority is to keep 100% of the baby fry alive for the 1st forty days when the first culling is done. If you lose a percentage of the fry before 40 days the odds are you lost the best potential koi as well.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the articles in this issue.

[paladin_k2]

Ray,

I have to agree with you that the translated interview article between Hasegawa-san and Kodama-san in the May/June 07 Koi USA magazine is one of the best and most informative interviews I have ever read with a specific and well known Japanese koi breeder.

I sort of interpret Hasegawa-san’s words more figuratively than literally. When he says “weakest” I believe he may mean “least likely to survive on their own.” Also when Hasegawa-san is translated as saying “because of disease” he may be really saying something about “death by natural causes.”

This quote from the article is just one of the pearl’s of wisdom but it is most enlightening:

“Making beautiful koi is the goal of koi breeding. Beautiful koi are weak. So when I release 70,000 fry, (and if 40 days later) I am only able to harvest 60,000 because of disease. Then I can guarantee that all the beautiful ones are already dead.”

I do not believe that this quote truly means that the 100 most beautiful koi out of 100,000 fry will always be the weakest and most infirmed fish in terms of health and sickness but instead I believe that Hasegawa-san is expressing the real fact that the most beautiful and unique fish in any spawn will in most cases be the least likely to survive if not selected and cared for by the breeder.

Even Kodama-san was amazed by some of the comments he heard from Hasegawa-san and that would have been in the original Japanese to Japanese version.

I think there is a subtle yet important difference in what Hasegawa-san is saying in the original Japanese interview versus what many English speaking readers will interpret.

Again I agree that the interview article was fantastic and eye opening.

[jnorth]

Quote: Originally Posted by paladin_k2 Ray, I have to agree with you that the translated interview article between Hasegawa-san and Kodama-san in the May/June 07 Koi USA magazine is one of the best and most informative interviews I have ever read with a specific and well known Japanese koi breeder. I sort of interpret Hasegawa-san’s words more figuratively than literally. When he says “weakest” I believe he may mean “least likely to survive on their own.” Also when Hasegawa-san is translated as saying “because of disease” he may be really saying something about “death by natural causes.” This quote from the article is just one of the pearl’s of wisdom but it is most enlightening: “Making beautiful koi is the goal of koi breeding. Beautiful koi are weak. So when I release 70,000 fry, (and if 40 days later) I am only able to harvest 60,000 because of disease. Then I can guarantee that all the beautiful ones are already dead.” I do not believe that this quote truly means that the 100 most beautiful koi out of 100,000 fry will always be the weakest and most infirmed fish in terms of health and sickness but instead I believe that Hasegawa-san is expressing the real fact that the most beautiful and unique fish in any spawn will in most cases be the least likely to survive if not selected and cared for by the breeder. Even Kodama-san was amazed by some of the comments he heard from Hasegawa-san and that would have been in the original Japanese to Japanese version. I think there is a subtle yet important difference in what Hasegawa-san is saying in the original Japanese interview versus what many English speaking readers will interpret. Again I agree that the interview article was fantastic and eye opening.

Maybe he was trying to quote Billy Joel..."Only the good die young" Sorry couldn't resist .

[JasPR]

Here is one of his breeders-

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by JasPR Here is one of his breeders-

Looks like Hirasawa brothers aka Seitaro...

[JasPR]

You da man! JR

[aquitori]

Thanks, JR...

[Joe White]

I agree with Ray that the Breeder's Profile in this issue is one of the most interesting interviews of a Japanese breeder. Summaries of all the articles are up now at koiusa.com including a full feature article by Ray on koi history Part 1; also very interesting reading (and Ray is too modest to mention this.) Joe White

[dick benbow]

Last time i was over in japan Hasegawa-san gave me a tour of his new house which had recently been built. Some of the old wood with exquisite grain was remarkable. While it looked very much typical japanese architecture with the narrow ladder to the second floor ( HIDDEN inside is a
elevator) which i thought made sense for an elder couple. Neat folks, great kohaku and creme ogon..........