Leroy Taba on the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association

[koicluboftheair]

Did Leroy Get it right about them being the oldest?
(I'll repost responses that are not profane)

Leroy Taba, representing the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association opened conversation about their club with the traditional island aloha. Though it might be a controversial point for some the leaders of the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association state that their club is the oldest koi club dating back to 1959 predating the club traditions of Japan. According to Taba, after the Japanese saw the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association in operation they went back and started their own koi organization in Japan. When asked if he was joking Taba noted, “No, I am serious. A lot of people want to change our name to Hawaii Koi Club or something else and we say no this name goes back to 1959. So we have to hold on to it.” As an AKCA club they meet every few months or once a quarter. They are located on Oahu where most of their members likewise reside. Meetings are usually held in a church. Steeped in tradition many of the older Hawaiian families maintain koi ponds, but they tend to covet their privacy in paradise, which makes putting on a pond tour difficult as with that for the AKCA Seminar a few years ago. The hobby is growing in Hawaii with more diversity of people getting into it besides those traditionally interested of Japanese heritage. Besides the well-known natural beauty of Hawaii many of the hotels and parks have koi in their ponds and water gardens further enhancing aesthetics that continue to make Hawaii a top international tourist destination. Visit the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association at www.hawaiigoldfishandkoi.org for more information.
http://koicluboftheair.org/newslette...cember_06.html

[bekko]

HGCA appears to be the oldest hobbyist koi club. There were Japanese producer organizations prior to 1959 although it is not known (by me) if these same producer organizations still exist today.

Cut and pasted below is some info from Koi Talk - Newsletter of the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association, June, 2005.

"It would be interesting to document some of the early history of the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association. Below are some notes from the files of ZNA in Japan. After being translated and passed through several hands, the information may not be correct or may be incomplete. If you can add to or correct any of this, please let us know...

According to Doctor Takeo Kuroki, the first chairman of ZNA, koi were first exported from Japan in 1938 when one hundred specimens were sent to the International World’s Fair in San Francisco. For obvious reasons, the Second World War then effectively ended all exporting of nishikigoi.

In 1947 the staff of a Japanese fishery society visited the Yamakoshi area in Japan and decided to promote export of Nishikigoi. A few months later, there was the second export of koi from Japan when a group of 2,500 fish were sent to Hawaii. The Japanese dealer, Koichi Inouye, probably participated in these transactions. The fate of these koi is not well-documented, but a Japanese koi dealer named Kaneko noted that there were koi in the ponds surrounding the Pagoda Hotel in Honolulu in 1951.

Thus, it is not surprising that Hawaii is the home of the oldest koi club (our very own Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association) and a very early series of exhibitions and koi shows.

The first koi show in Hawaii was between 1959 and 1961. The manager of Miyakoya koi outlet in Japan took part in the 1961 show. A dealer named Konishi, form the Hiroshima area, started selling koi in Hawaii in 1962. He became acquainted with Mits Nakamura, who lived in Hawaii, and Nakamura did much to promote Konishi’s business.

The first ZNA All Japan Nishikigoi Show was held in 1968. As it happens, the Grand Champion at this show was owned by Mits Nakamura. There was evidently some controversy about the fact that someone form Hawaii won the first ZNA show.

Kuroki noted that he was invited to judge the HGCA show in 1964. After observing how much our members were enjoying the show, Kuroki regretted that there was no similar type of koi organization in its birthplace, Japan. Upon returning to Japan, he appealed to koi keepers there to form a similar koi appreciation organization. The West Japan Nishi Nippon Airinkai was created shortly thereafter and the name was soon changed to Zen Nippon Airinkai (ZNA) which we know today.

In November of 1965, the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association became a sister club to ZNA (before the name change). A total of seven ZNA judges came to Hawaii in those early years to assist with shows.

Since that time, ZNA has been reorganized into districts and chapters. Hawaii would be in the USA District. Presently, ten US-based koi clubs are listed as chapters in the USA District of ZNA. However, the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association is not one of them."

-ste vehok

[mitten]

Originally Posted by koicluboftheair

Did Leroy Get it right about them being the oldest?
(I'll repost responses that are not profane)

Would you like assistance checking your sources? Is there a reason to doubt Mr. Taba? Seems not.

Thank you Stevie Hop for another of your many dusty nuggets of good stuff. There is no way I would hope to keep my brain alive if I were living in Paradise.

Repost responses? Where? Another board?

Have you encountered some intolerable profanity here? Yukky.

You stimulate so many questions, John. I eagerly await meeting you in Orlando.

Mickey the windowman

[koicluboftheair]

Thanks for the info, which is archived at: http://koicluboftheair.org/newslette..._comments.html

Originally Posted by bekko

HGCA appears to be the oldest hobbyist koi club. There were Japanese producer organizations prior to 1959 although it is not known (by me) if these same producer organizations still exist today.

Cut and pasted below is some info from Koi Talk - Newsletter of the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association, June, 2005.

"It would be interesting to document some of the early history of the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association. Below are some notes from the files of ZNA in Japan. After being translated and passed through several hands, the information may not be correct or may be incomplete. If you can add to or correct any of this, please let us know...

According to Doctor Takeo Kuroki, the first chairman of ZNA, koi were first exported from Japan in 1938 when one hundred specimens were sent to the International World’s Fair in San Francisco. For obvious reasons, the Second World War then effectively ended all exporting of nishikigoi.

In 1947 the staff of a Japanese fishery society visited the Yamakoshi area in Japan and decided to promote export of Nishikigoi. A few months later, there was the second export of koi from Japan when a group of 2,500 fish were sent to Hawaii. The Japanese dealer, Koichi Inouye, probably participated in these transactions. The fate of these koi is not well-documented, but a Japanese koi dealer named Kaneko noted that there were koi in the ponds surrounding the Pagoda Hotel in Honolulu in 1951.

Thus, it is not surprising that Hawaii is the home of the oldest koi club (our very own Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association) and a very early series of exhibitions and koi shows.

The first koi show in Hawaii was between 1959 and 1961. The manager of Miyakoya koi outlet in Japan took part in the 1961 show. A dealer named Konishi, form the Hiroshima area, started selling koi in Hawaii in 1962. He became acquainted with Mits Nakamura, who lived in Hawaii, and Nakamura did much to promote Konishi’s business.

The first ZNA All Japan Nishikigoi Show was held in 1968. As it happens, the Grand Champion at this show was owned by Mits Nakamura. There was evidently some controversy about the fact that someone form Hawaii won the first ZNA show.

Kuroki noted that he was invited to judge the HGCA show in 1964. After observing how much our members were enjoying the show, Kuroki regretted that there was no similar type of koi organization in its birthplace, Japan. Upon returning to Japan, he appealed to koi keepers there to form a similar koi appreciation organization. The West Japan Nishi Nippon Airinkai was created shortly thereafter and the name was soon changed to Zen Nippon Airinkai (ZNA) which we know today.

In November of 1965, the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association became a sister club to ZNA (before the name change). A total of seven ZNA judges came to Hawaii in those early years to assist with shows.

Since that time, ZNA has been reorganized into districts and chapters. Hawaii would be in the USA District. Presently, ten US-based koi clubs are listed as chapters in the USA District of ZNA. However, the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association is not one of them."

-ste vehok

[MikeM]

This is consistent with my memory of an article in the early issues of Nichirin. There were koi shows in Japan far before, but not as part of a club structure. ZNA provided the structure and standards that allowed for development of nishikigoi to the levels we see today. There is good reason to revere the memory of Dr. Kuroki for the unstinting leadership he provided in creating the hobby as we now know it.

[dick benbow]

Mike, among some of my treasured mementos of the hobby is a signed letter from the good doctor after i wrote him in respose to a request as to how he could make their magazine better.

In all my studying and research/reading it is my understanding that what has been stated in this thread about the hawaiin club being the oldest is "spot on"....

[MikeM]

That is a treasure, Dick. ....In electronic Rinko there is often a page showing the photo of a "Unique Koi". It always makes me think of Kuroki (and that Rinko was linked with ZNA before Nichirin was founded).

[bekko]

The Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association has a lot of local history that is in danger of being lost. Many of the younger generation (in this hobby you're still young at 60) have been to the home of one of our older members, George Nagano. George has been a backyard breeder for 4-5 decades now. Mike Thompson was by there to get information about George for a newsletter article (Koi Talk, Newsletter of the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association, April, 2005). I was there to pick up some orphans and talk story. George never mentioned koi shows to us. But when Nelson was there Nelson's wife inquired about a group of trophies thinking they were sports trophies of some sort. Turns out they were koi show trophies for fish George had bred in the late 1960's or early 70's. Some were from Hawaii shows and some were from California shows.

By the way, anyone wanting to be part of this bit of koi history can join the HGCA. Dues are $30 per year - see the web site for details. Amenities include five issues of the newsletter per year, access to the members-only section of the web site, access to technical expertise as needed, etc.

-ste

[Akai-San]

Originally Posted by bekko

The Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association has a lot of local history that is in danger of being lost. Many of the younger generation (in this hobby you're still young at 60) have been to the home of one of our older members, George Nagano. George has been a backyard breeder for 4-5 decades now. Mike Thompson was by there to get information about George for a newsletter article (Koi Talk, Newsletter of the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association, April, 2005). I was there to pick up some orphans and talk story. George never mentioned koi shows to us. But when Nelson was there Nelson's wife inquired about a group of trophies thinking they were sports trophies of some sort. Turns out they were koi show trophies for fish George had bred in the late 1960's or early 70's. Some were from Hawaii shows and some were from California shows.

By the way, anyone wanting to be part of this bit of koi history can join the HGCA. Dues are $30 per year - see the web site for details. Amenities include five issues of the newsletter per year, access to the members-only section of the web site, access to technical expertise as needed, etc.

-ste

Wow, now I'm really getting some goosebumps...the mention of Hawaii koi shows in the 1960's and koi trophies. My dad and uncle had also started in the hobby at an early age. In the early 60's They bought a number of baby koi (2"-3") for a few cents and raised them in a pretty good size pond with filter 10'x16'x30" deep (built by my grandfather). Both my father (19 yrs at the time) and his brother (15 yrs) in 1964 had entered two koi (bought locally) that they had grown out to tosai and nisai age. My uncle to this day, still has those two koi trophies. I try to look at them everytime we visit my uncle.

I was born in 1966, and I still have memories of playing around that concrete koi pond (more like falling into the pond while trying to hand feed the HUGE Yellow Ogon they kept). I still remember opening my eyes under that pond water seeing the koi rush around me trying to get at the food in my hand....what a traumatic experience...I can still hear the koi sucking...hahaha.

[bekko]

Pretty weird Carl, because I was thinking about you while typing that. Your kids are third-generation koi keepers. There can't be many of those in the US of A.

Being a new-comer here, I am enchanted by trivia which you guys take for granted. With the 50th anniversary coming up it would be neat to put together a collection of koi-related stories about those days. The falling-in-the-pond tale should be one of them.

Regards,
-steve