Its 9pm , and im in my room at the hotel in Narita airpot fully fed and ready for sleep in preperation for the flight home Sunday lunch time . This visit has been the hardest for me yet in my adventures in Niigata , with the snow at some of the breedes premises being nearly 4m deep and even the roads being blocked and in some places , it has been extremely hard work and very frustrating .At one point mid week i have to admit questioning my sanity after so many fallls into deep slow and several nasty slips resulting in bumps and bruises ( plus two uncomfatably close visits to breeders filter systems ) , but as usual things worked out fine . Highlights of the week ? favourite breeders? well as alot of you know i really have been trying to cut the number of breeders i use so i can get to know them , and an understanding of thier fish better , which is fine untill they have sold out completely , ie Sakai nisai and over , Isa everything !including tosai , Oofuchi only has tosai and nisai , Hoshikins nisai and over all sold out . This time remaking old aquantances saved the day , Yamisazaki had many great fish ,and at Hiroi we bought many jumbo nisai . As for the high lights , id have to list them all , buying good tosai ( and a yonsai from marudo ) and talking to Marudo and Torazo . Hand picking tosai all over the place including Kaneco , Oomo , Tanaka to name but a few . As always the mad hatters tea party and Tanaka Satoshi , leaving a sansai showa to go to the mudponds with Tanaka (mushigame ). Buying at Miya for the first time including a showa that had record amounts of people trying to buy it , including some very well known people ( i did try to email the person who rang the shop and left his email with Chloe , but it kept bouncing back to me , sorry ! ) Remaking old aquantances with Yamazaki and Hiroi , so to summerise , basicall the whole trip ! We seem to be getting better know with most of the breeders ( hopefully not for smashing up thier fish houses ) and i think that shows in the level of koi we are now buying /try to buy , so upwards and forwards for Gatwick Koi . I hope youve enjoyed reading the blog , as i have enjoyed living it ! I always try to write the blog as i see it , trips are not always a bed of roses as this one certainly shows , i know from the responces i get that most people like it so thats the way it will stay ! If you want to join me on my mext trip in april/may where we are looking for very high grade tosai and jumbo tosai then feel free to contact me , we will also be arrangng our dates for the 2011 Autumn harvest if you are a group or couple or solo , looking to go then once again please contact us .If you cant make Japan then why not visit the shop , this year is our 20th anniversary and you wont believe how things are changing every year , untill then , all the best ..........................Gary