Well , after 20 hours travelling im home at last , for me this was quite a long trip that seemed to go faster than ever , everyday flew past and there never seemed to be enough time to do everything . The amount of work ive had to do on the blog and internet ,  and the amount of emails ive had to answer meant that even the evenings flew past with me only leaving the hotel twice to get to a bar for a cup of coffee so i wouldnt go stir crazy in my room ! As for the trip , it was high points all the way  , has to rate as one of the best .The first week with Steve , Angie , Phil and Maggie was great , with many fish brought by every one including myself .The second week just as good with Rod and Diane with them buying differant fish than they would normally , ie non go sanke , cant remember the last time they bought a doitsu ,gin rin , ki goi and aigoromo in the same week !!!!! Most of the breeders prices seemed very fair , although some thier koi are now so good we cant afford to buy them for stock in the shop . Ive always found Niigata a great place , you bank your hopes on one breeder hoping to buy many koi and you find nothing , you remember someone you havnt bought from for a long time and you buy lots , theres always an alternative to start looking and you dont have travel far . A good example was Mano , his Kohaku are very good quality and i dont know why we stopped going there , i think a few visits with nothing purchased and the breeder falls from the priority of places to visit , i wont make the mistake with Mano  , a very serious breeder and the nisai box of kohaku was one of my favourites of the week , my only regret was not going back again ! As ever two of my favourite breeders Maruhiro and Oofuchi , did not let me down , Maruhiro had so many fish at the right price i dont know why i go elswhere , small cheap nisai , better quality nisai , better quality fish to grown on and sansai to die for , and if im honest ive not really even got into buying his very high class koi , a wonderfull guy always seems to be laughing and always makes the visit great . Oofuchi was as usual as good as ever , his fish just get better and better every year and prices stay about the same , his top qualiy pond was amazing and his kujaku amoung the best, i really dont remember buying so many koi from this farm before  . So many others to mention such as Sekiguchi and Satoshi buying some amazing koi there , especially the expensive male at sekiguchi and satoshis best sansai gin rin showa . As im writing this its around 2am saturday morning and the jet lag has already kicked and i cant sleep , but who cares , its all part of the game .Although we all moan about the travelling , the time away from out familys , the price of koi , shipping etc etc we all have a great time and i know all the customers who travel with us feel the same .Our next trip will be at the end of January /begining of february for the all japan show and travelling around Niiagata to buy koi , if you are intereasted then please call the shop to discuss your requirements . I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog as much as i have writing and living it , and hope to see you all soon .................................Gary