Christmas Opening
Please note, although we are closed, generally we go to the shop everyday to check the fish. S...
Please not we are closed all over the bank holiday weekend including Saturday, Sunday and Monday. WE NOW TAKE PAYPAL Tamasaba and other Japanese goldfish now in stock.
Shipping and Auctions.
We are very sorry, but with the extreme cold, we can not send koi out on over night couriers. ...
NO SHIPPING TODAY Tuesday 19th November.
Good morning all. After to speaking to APC first thing today, we have decided there will be no...
New auction Sunday the 3rd of November 8pm.
A lot of people have asked about our auctions, so i thought i would do one last one before the...
Website and prices.
We have now changed all ages on koi from GK-1000 Onwards. This means when the harvests begin i...
SALE AND WEBSITE
Good afternoon every one. This time of the year gets confusing with koi on the website, all be...
SALE AND BANK HOLIDAY OPENING
As you know, we close all bank holiday weekends. This is because week days are so busy, and ba...
Three day sale in the main pond and one other.
Super sale for three days this week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in our main pond, and pond ...
Easter Bank Holiday closure.
PLEASE NOTE WE WILL BE CLOSED ALL OVER THE BANK HOLIDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY SUNDAY AND MONDAY. W...
WEBSITE
Just to let everyone know, we have reset the fish page back to 001 . This so we can up date al...
New opening hours and Tamaura auction.
Please note hour new working hours, which will start on Wednesday the 2nd of August. The busin...
Cefas restrictions lifted
Today cefas visited us to ensure all koi infected have been destroyed and removed from the pre...
KHV Conformation July 2023
On Tuesday,( July 2023 ) we received conformation that our samples had tested positive at the ...
Suspected khv in quarantine centre update.
Just as an up date re the samples taken by cefas, today we had our first round of tests by a r...
Suspected problem in quarantine.
In one of our separate quarantine centres known as the forge, one pond from our shipment two w...
Gatwick Koi second Dainichi auction.
Today i have started to add some koi for our second Dainichi auction, These koi are all in the...
Koi Auctions.
As some of you may have noticed, we have now launched our live koi auctions, on the website. T...
Christmas Opening times, auctions and new koi on the website.
Christmas Opening. We will close at 4pm Friday the 23rd. But we will be around on the morning ...
Online auctions and afternoon closing.
As you may have seen, we have the facility to run online auctions. We are now up and running a...
Winter hours.
Please remember that from now on, we close at 4pm, as per our winter hours. Although we are no...
WELCOME TO THE NEW LOOK GATWICKKOI.COM
So after many years of running our old site, we have finally up dated, and up graded our websi...
Dry goods on the website .
Please note, that we try and keep our prices of dry goods up to date, but plastics are going u...
Our first Show and Grow competition
Today we launch our first ever show and grow style competition. We have never done this before...
Re opening
Hi all , very sorry , but the shop must now stay closed , until Monday night . Freddie had a p...
Shop closure
Morning everyone , I’m very sorry to inform you all , but our son Freddie has tested positiv...
Shipment from the South of Japan
Good morning , just had some bad news , our shipment from the South of Japan tomorrow has just...
Opening times
We will now be closing on 2.30 on Tuesday and Saturday.This is a permement move , to help us h...
Shipments and early closing today.
Last night we shipped from Niigata , and finished late .Today we have another shipment from Ni...
KHV
Its our very sad duty ,to inform you that we have found KHV in a shipment from Japan , in one ...
Quarantine
Good morning everybody . Id just like to explain a little about our quarantine , i know alot o...
Bank Holiday Friday
Good morning everyone , stunning day in Sussex , as usual were busy still buying koi from Japa...
Easter Bank Holiday hours .
Bank holiday hours ...... Friday closed , but we may be working in the forge , so if you need ...
Hours
Please note , we have now changed our hours to 11-3pm weeks days , and 10-2pm Saturdays.This i...
Opening during the Corona outbreak .
Good morning all , yesterday i spent all day watching the news, and although i always try and ...
Sale this weekend !
Morning all , with all the moving of koi we have to do , for the shipments next week , we have...
Quarantine finish dates .
Good morning everybody , as most of you know , our quarantine is running a little late , with ...
Saturday 26th Omosako
We wanted to go to Omosako first thing today , but he was out harvesting until lunch time .Thi...
Friday the 27th Takigawa .
       Today we started off at Momotaro koi farm . Our aim was to do exactly the...
Thursday 24th Matsue
    The night before i was walking with our agent , and he told me i was driving with ...
Weds 23rd Isawa on then down South !
          Hearty breakfast, and then off to Sakuma koi farm . This farm i...
Tuesday 22nd October Onwards to Isawa
          Today was our last day in Niigata , before we...
Monday Busy busy busy .
Woke up a little bit groggy today ,...
Sunday 20th Maruhiro
Today is the of the Nagaoka koi show so we based the day around it ,...
Saturday 19th New and old breeders revisited .
          Today we visited a new breeder on the way to koide , and found tw...
Friday 18th Great day . Goshiki galore .............
             Good evening and welcome to the short version of the bl...
Day three .Thursday 17th . The longest day !
     Over the years , i have spent many hours writing the blogs , and hope you have ...
Day two , Weds 16th . Its getting hectic already !
       Today , we arrived at Oofuchi a little early , and was horrified to find ...
Day one , arrived at last .
           I thought id not start the blog , with the almost compulsory p...
KOI FOR SALE PAGE RESTARTED / JAPAN TRIP
       Please dont worry about the koi for sale page being empty . Around this ti...
Next Japan trip October 2019
On the 14th of October , i return to Japan for my next buying trip . This time we are visiting...
PLEASE NOTE 29TH JUNE
Please note , that we will NOT be open on the 29th June . Back open on the Monday as usual . ...
Probites recovery
                Finally back in the uk , Probites recovery. Ava...
Tuesday - Sakauma farm visit .
     Early start today , breakfast at 6.45 , and out the hotel by 7.20 , and on the t...
Last day in Niigata , but Isawa calling ......
                   Today was to be our last day , we the...
Ive probably had better days , but i cant remember one at the moment ........
First stop today , Shinoda koi farm . I heard he was totally sold out ,...
Saturday
After yesterdays almost heat exhaustion , I was horrified to find temperature was 24 degrees a...
Best laid plans part two . Pm Friday
i can tell the last time I spilt the blog into two parts , last night I was truly exhausted ...
All best laid plans ................AM Friday
Followers of my blog , know that I always have some sort of game plan , when I come to Japan...
Now in Japan
I arrived yesterday in Japan , and we have already been to the breeders looking for koi , have...
Arrrived in the mountains
         I never sleep on the plane much , today was no exception . Large am...
And were off ............
       Good morning to you all . I am now airside waiting to board my plane . Iv...
All systems go !
Cefas have visited a month ago , and all the koi in the forge put to sleep . They then rev...
SHOP CLOSURE
Good afternoon everyone , tomorrow the shop will closed all day, ( Wednesday 9th January ) ,...
Latest news .
Hi all , its with a heavy heart to inform you , that it looks like we have found KHV in import...
Maruhiro harvest
Last friday , we went to the farm , very late , to see our koi come in from the mud pond . 22 ...
Isawa calling .
   Today we packed our bags , and checked out of the hotel , and walked to the train sta...
Saturday -Last day in Niigata.
 Today was going to be a little tricky ,as it is the Nagaoka koi show , so a lot of breeders ...
Friday - The longest day
Today we were starting off at one of my favourite farms , Oofuchi ! Athough its a bit of a tri...
Thursday - Just three breeders ?
         Sometimes i hear people complain , that when in Japan , they only v...
Weds 17th Another perfect day .
Its a long time since ive shared a car with another dealer . My last agent was told it was a c...
Odds and sods and thingamy bobs ...............
I dont think there has been a time , where my interest in non go sanke has been so high . Meta...
Monday 15th looking for the non go sanke
Last night , we finished very late , with a quick visit to chogoro koi farm , famed due to his...
Sunday 14th Into the unknown ...................
It may or not be common knowledge , but this trip is very different than other . This trip we ...
Saturday 13th October
           As usual a 20 hour trip , of planes , trains and automobiles ...
Website and getting ready for Japan
Good morning all , today the koi pages of the website , will all be reset to koi 001 , ready f...
Next trip to Japan
Two weeks today , i will return to the mountains , of the Niigata region in Japan . Ill be the...
SALE SALE SALE
 From the 1st September ( tomorrow ) we will be offering 25 percent off the price of all our ...
Bank Holiday Opening times
Please note , although we are open on the Saturday , we will be closed Bank Holiday Sunday and...
Oase pond eco jet , floating fountain .
Back in stock , this great floating fountain with lights , for larger water features .  ...
Easter bank holiday hours
Easter bank holiday hours , Friday open 08.30 - 3pm or later if we are busy , Saturday 09.30 -...
Saturday : One visit and then off to Tokyo/koi from the south
     Good start to the day , diddnt think i was buying much , news from the South...
Friday : Almost a perfect day
After visiting Yamamatsu yesterday , we were promised a hand selection of some very high grade...
Thursday : Breeders stocks are running low !
    The main topic of conversation , among dealers in the hotel , is that most are stru...
Wednesday : Mad dogs and Englishmen
My original plan was to head down the South of Japan , to carry on the success of my visit the...
Tuesday : Tosai day , all day !
     I think its fair to say , were not known for stocking a lot of tosai , but with...
Monday : Back to my roots
Once again , i had pretty much a fair nights sleep . 4-6 hours is not too bad at all , as thos...
Sunday : News from the South and Marusei
This morning , we were to have a late start , as its Sunday . So i walked down stairs for brea...
Satruday PM : Niigata bound
A few stops on the monorail , same on a local train , and i was soon at Tokyo station to catch...
Saturday AM : All Japan Koi Show .
As usual , i flew into Tokyo Haneda airport . This is great , as its close the the Ryutsu cent...
On my way
Its 7am , and im at the airport nice and early . In the next 24 hours i have to make an import...
All Japan Show and buying trip
On Friday the 2nd of February , i leave for Japan , to visit the all Japan koi show . The grea...
Dry goods
As most of you know , last year we launched this new website . I have resisted adding an onlin...
Christmas opening hours .
Morning all , last day for us before Christmas . We are open till three today , and then we cl...
Black Friday week specials TUESDAY KUSURI PRODUCTS
From now untill Christmas , we will match Kusuri products and offer 30 percent off THEIR websi...
Black Friday week specials MONDAY SAKI MULTISEASON
As most of you know , its black Friday sales week , so to join in the fun , were going to make...
SHOP CLOSED WEDNESDAY 8TH NOVEMBER
Please note we will be closed on the above date . Sue and myself need a day off together , t...
Sunday North v South
Its now Sunday , and i have had a full day to catch up on all alot of the work i had to do , s...
Friday Taniguchi
This was to be my last buying day in the south , so a great place to visit was Taniguchi , i h...
Thursday Takigawa and Omosako
 After a livley night out with Matsue , I awoke with what I thought was a hangover . I really...
Wednesday 25th Matsue koi farm
          It was nice to awake before the alarm clock , with the Sun bea...
Tuesday 24th First day in Hiroshima .
       As most of you know , im quite a restless sleeper when im in Japan . Th...
Monday On to Hiroshima
   So today finds me leaving Tokyo , to go to the south on the bullet train . I decided ...
Sunday last day in Niigata
Today is my last day in Niigata , and we move operations to the south of Japan ,to see if this...
Saturday , another day as good as the rest !
Many people have been asking us to find all sorts of koi this year , so we have had to return ...
Friday , harvest day and we didnt know !
IÂ am a man of habbit , i like to awake to the alarm clock , drink coffee , bathroom , drink ...
Thursday showa time , and then others !
We left the hotel a little earlier today , as our first destination was Sekiguchi koi farm . T...
Show quality doitsu and unusuals
      I woke this morning , after quite a reasonable sleep for a first night in Ja...
Tuesday PM Maruhiro where else ?
After lunch , we visited Hinori san at Maruhrio koi farm . After he showed us round , he gave ...
Arrival Tuesday AM
            Travelling to Japan , can be at best a little testing ! T...
Matsue Kohaku
Seems i have looked the fact , that i have a special offers page , that hasnt been used in a y...
WEBSITE
As i prepare to leave for Japan on Monday , i have taken all the koi off the website , the koi...
End of the season , or the start of a new one ?
Morning all , six more days ,and I'm on my way to Japan . Our sale is now over , and all the k...
Success for Gatwick Koi customers at the Show this weekend !
Congratulations to Tom Nicklin , who won Grand champion and Jumbo champion with koi supplied b...
SALE ON KOI
SALE . As we now move to the end of the season , we still have some koi left to sell before i ...
Scottish show
Congratulations to Robert Robson , who won mature champion at the Scottish show this weekend Â...
Special offer on Pumps
Thinking of a new pump ? Then look no further than the superfish eco e range . Proven track re...
New koi into the shop .
This week we have bought many new koi into the shop , from our quarantine centers . Just an ex...
Sekiguchi showa
Yesterday , we brought in around 30 jumbo tosai from Sekiguchi , they are all now photographed...
Worthing Photographic show Clean sweep for Gatwick Koi custsomers
Congratulations on the Worthing club on another well organised club show. This show involves t...
Bank Holiday weekend 27th -29th
As normal we will be open on the Saturday and Monday this bank holiday weekend . Opening at 09...
Lots going on !
I know i keep saying i will keep this news page up to date , it does seem that every one tends...
Isa jumbo tosai
Just purchased for us in Japan ! These very nice quality Isa jumbo tosai showa . Sizes 30-40cm...
Sunday 7th May
Hi all , we have customers collecting koi tomorrow , so we will be open from 11am to 1pm ( Sun...
Satoshi Tanaka nisai
 Coming in next week , these very nice nisai from Satoshi Tanaka . His kujaku are always ver...
Bank holiday opening 26th May
Bank holiday weekend , we will be open on Saturday and Monday , from 09.30-3 pm both days , if...
Bank holiday opening hours
We are open over the weekend , Bank holiday Friday 9.30 -3pm , Saturday 9.30-3pm and Monday 9....
New Azuakri
Just purchased in Japan for us , this superb sandan kohaku from Tamaura koi farm . 58cm and ni...
Sunday 9th April
Tomorrow ( Sunday ) we will be open for a club visit . Sue and myself should be here around 10...
Jumbo tosai time
  Arriving in April , jumbo tosai from Torazo . Around 35cm and nice quality !   ...
Breeders secret clay
Now back in stock , 1.9kg £16.95     5kg   £39.95  Dealerships to be announced Â...
South of Japan
 As a few of you know , we have purchased some nisai from the south of Japan . We havnt swit...
Breeders secret
Breeders secret , one of the best clays on the market , also one of the finest and doesnt send...
Second koi of our four for Feb offer
Second koi of our four for Feb offer , this time its a nisai Murata kohaku , 45cm and £200 , ...
Four days of Feb , first koi
First of our four days of February , special offer koi , this will only last today and then it...
Feb offer
FOUR DAYS OF FEB , as our special monthy offer for February , we are going to make a special o...
25th Anniversary
Hi all, been asked what specials we are doing for February, for our 25th anniversary. To be ho...
Last Autumn fish repriced
As most of you know , its the 25th anniversary of Gatwick Koi this year . As a thank you to al...
Saturday and last day
Today I was leaving for Tokyo , for an over night stay and an early flight back to the UK , so...
Friday and its nearly all over
Today we started off with a visit to Otsuka , havnt been here for a while , as we are trying ...
Thursday
First appointment today , was at Shinoda koi farm . Famous for his doitsu , gin rin and hi uts...
Wednesday
A lot of people have been asking for showa of all levels , and to be honest , havnt really see...
Tuesday
Over night snow had left its mark on the town of Ojiya , first thing in the foyer of the hotel...
Monday
First visit today , was to Maruhiro koi farm . Spent a good time looking through the nisai pon...
New purchases
Already been busy in Japan , 8 sansai today , and saw the Yagenji sansai and yonsai we were of...
Up to the mountains
Today was going to be hard to see breeders as a lot , if not most would still be breaking do...
Japan
I am now in Japan , if there is anything you are looking for , please email me info@gatwickkoi...
Arrival in Japan
For the first time that I can remember , I could be possibly be accused of not having built a ...
Exchange rate and koi prices
When i went to Japan last October , as most of you know, the pound crashed down to as low as 1...
Shop Closure 11/01/17 Thursay
Very sorry but we have to close tomorrow Thursday 11/01/17 all day . As many of you know my ...
New koi into the shop
We have just added more sansai and yonsai to the website . These are between 51and 61cm , and ...
Gatwick Koi 25th year anniversary
Hi all , as you already know, this is the 25th year anniversary of Gatwick Koi . At the end of...
New koi purchases
Today we have managed to buy some new koi in Japan . The first one is a 69cm sanke , yonsai an...
Christmas opening hours
From Sue , Tom and myself , id like to wish you all a very happy Christmas , and a prosperous ...
End of quarantine
The  last pond will be up to 24 degrees tomorrow , so ALL koi will be out of quarantine by Fr...
New sansai on the website
Today we have added some new sansai to the website . These are nisai we have had left over fro...
Dainichi auction success
Today we have obtained 6 nisai from the Dainichi auction , four females and two females . All ...
Shiro utsuris
Also now on the website , shiro urtsuri from Kaneco , measeured this week 38-46cm , all £195 ...
New koi
There are still more new koi being brought into the shop , and still many more that need to ha...
New koi in the shop
Today we have moved some new koi in from the quarantine centre . Go sanke , chagoi and one miz...
Autumn shipment
This Thursday ( 17th November ) , our fish from our Autumn harvest trip arrive in the UK . Mos...
Oase drum machines
If your looking at a new filter with low maintanace , then look no further at the Oase drum ma...
Back from Japan
Hi , for those who follow the blog , you will see we have had another very successful trip in ...
Last day and back to Tokyo
Last day today , so had to clear out the hotel room , pack my bags and check out of the hotel ...
New fish for the mudpond next year and Nagaoka show
Last night we had an appointment to meet Hinori san of Maruhiro koi farm , but he was late due...
Shintaro and Hosokai
Its getting towards the end of the week now , ive bought quite a lot of koi , and thought id c...
New farms, old farms and farms revisited
I was looking forward to today , we were going to visit a couple of breeders we havnt dealt th...
Wednesday and a quiet one at that
Wednesday was a fairly quiet day , we started off at Marudo , and selected 3 very nice femake ...
A quality day in more ways than one
Most days when you get up , you just never know what is going to happen , or what your going t...
Ichi ban Ikeage
Ichi ban Ikeage , ok loosely translated as number one harvest , that's because how it felt t...
Sunday
First job today was to visit Isa and see how our two Azukari showa had come out of the mud pon...
Saturday
Today I woke up with a little bit of half glass empty syndrome again Going through in my mind...
And now for something completely different!
For those of you who arnt old enough to remember , todays title was a line from Monty Pythons ...
So it begins - Maruhiro and Yagenji koi farms
Its a hell of a long journey , from door to breeder around 23 hours or so , to add to that a...
Arrived !
Hi all , ive finally arrived in Niigata , managed to get up to some of the breeders today , so...
New website and Japan trip.
Hello everyone , and welcome to our new look website . Tomorrow I leave for Japan for ten days...
Next Japan Trip....
Hi everybody , welcome to our new look website and blog . I am hoping that if all goes well yo...
More Pics
Sorry , i forgot to add the photos of the koi from Suzuki , very impressed with these , sorry ...
Friday
Woke up today to a sound I recognised straight away , the gentle tapping of snow on the window...
Thursday
With so much work to do , and as we finished very late last night , we started a an hour later...
Wednesday
After crashing out twice for a grand total of 7 hours , I really did feel like taking on the w...
Tuesday
After a restless nights sleep , about three hours in all , I awoke with a massive headache , a...
Monday
After a good nights sleep ,( when i say a good night i mean four hours straight through is goo...
Sunday
Ill forgo the usual explanation of travel across Japan , and what seems compulsary pics of pla...
The day has come...
Well the day has finally come , and im sitting in terminal 5 drinking coffee ( surprise surpri...
Time to go, almost...
Today was supposed to be pack away and get to Tokyo and have a day doing the tourist thing , b...
Sunday
Awoke today to a massive hangover , and a new found respect for saki . It’s a nice drink and...
Saturday
Finding it hard to get to breeders this week due to the international junior koi show , for so...
Friday
Today we started off at Hirasawa looking for some sanke , the ones we bought on our February t...
Thursday
Sometimes this trip in April/May can be very frustrating , sometimes its hard to still find qu...
Wednesday
First appointment this morning , was at one of my favourite go sanke breeders Kazuto. Always k...
Expect the unexpected
When you have been dealing with different breeders on and off over 30 trips to Japan , you lea...
Arrived
Im finally in the hotel after a 21 hour journey . Things were not looking to good for me getti...
Thoughts...
Back at home now , and thinking back over the week , and what a week it has been  ! I think t...
Last Day!
Last day today , and definately a mixture of ups and downs .Trying to hand select tosai , runn...
Wednesday
Hi all , its been a hell of a week , only really came out to hand select some tosai and top up...
Tuesday
I managed to get some sleep last night , but probably no where enough .Jet lag has well truly ...
Monday!
The spring trip can be a little more frustrating than the Autumn one , in the sence you can st...
Sunday : One farm ??????
Today we started ( as seems the normal now ) at Maruhiro koi farm .After we finished there las...
Sat : PM Onwards to Niigata!
Got the monorail , train and bullet trian back to Nigata and arrived around 3 . Being picked u...
Sat AM : Arrived ! All Japan Show
After a two hour delay i was glad to finally touch down at Hanneda airport in Tokyo . I prefer...
Friday - Last Day!
The day you have to go to Narita airport is always the worst .You still want to try and get as...
Thursday PM
After an early lunch brought forward by the fact that the breeders are so busy , we still coul...
Thursday : All shapes and sizes ! ( AM )
Its nearing the end of our trip , as always it been very rewarding and enjoyable , and today w...
Wednesday PM
After lunch we started our journey back to Ojiya , popped into Kobyashi to have a look at some...
Wednesday AM
Alot of people have been asking me for some showa , so today ill try and not to disapoint , so...
Tuesday PM Maruhiro
Harvest time at mad monkeys ! Mark chetter had purchased a showa last spring on our visit to t...
Tuesday AM Kanno
I've had many enquireys for Kanno koi since we went there the other day , so this morning we w...
Monday
Back in the hotel room , looking at the virtual mountain of work i have ahead of me , second n...
Sunday
I'd like to start of by apologising for my even more terrible spelling on the blog , looks lik...
Saturday
With an entertaining night in Ojiya behind me , half a nights kip ad cold meatballs and salmon...
Friday
Woke up at half nine , hoping to have beaten the jet lag in one night , and as i write this it...
Thursday : Arrived /putting the world to right !
Due to a good flight offer , i found myself flying out a day or two earlier than i had intende...
Back Home
A good nights sleep and up at 4.30 but cant complain with 7 hours sleep ill settle for that . ...
Saturday - Last Day!
The last buying day of the week is always a strange one , money and space is running out , alo...
Showa Time!
Today we started off by heading over to see the guys at Sekiguchi koi farm . Stunning quality ...
Thursday - Back on track !
Although we managed to buy some nice koi yestreday , i felt today i was playing catch up as so...
Wednesday
Today had all the hall marks of a great day , appointments made and fish available and off fir...
Tuesday - Nothing short of excellant!
After having five hours sleep in the last two/ thjree days , i ventured into the car in the ho...
In Japan ! April Monday
Arrived on a differant route today courtesy oF BA and Hanneda airport instead of Narita , ive ...
Friday....last day
As today being our last one in Niigata , I wasn’t expecting to see or buy a great deal .Due ...
Thursday
With the snow getting heavier and no let up in sight  , i knew today was going to be a long s...
Wednesday PM
After the most unpopuler lunch ever , we went round the corner to talk about tosai with our ol...
Wednesday AM
Feeling a bit out of sort sat the start of the today as i actually had to be awoken by the ala...
Tuesday
Today diddnt start off to well , an early appointment booked with Marudo koi farm , will have ...
Monday
Today we were joined by Mark Gardner whome im sure most of you will either  know or heard of ...
Sunday
After having may be a few drinks too many the night before , i awoke this morning in a panic ,...
Saturday - Day One!
Myself and Mark Chetter arrived safely at Narita Saturday morning . We then spent an amazing f...
Tuesday : Trip summed up !
This trip was once yet again a very sucessfull one for Gatwick koi . I think we raised the sta...
Monday - The jouney home
Today was just about doing some work in the hotel room untill our 3pm train to Tokyo .After br...
Nogyosai show
Sunday morning was a good chance to catch up on alot of the internet work that needed doing . ...
Perfect end to a mad week!
Today is the last day with our agent , so with the Nogyosai show tomorrow and traveling back t...
Doitsu and the wierd and wonderfull!
This morning we were really looking forward to getting back to Shinoda today as we hear he had...
Not all the time , but sometimes size matters !!!
We left the hotel in high spritis today knowing that we were looking for some rather large koi...
Harvest Time
Todays adventures started with a trip over the top of Mushigame to harvest a mudpond of Maruhi...
Ups and downs
Since yesterday afternoon when we made the appointment with Sekiguchi , ive not been able to g...
Carlsberg doesn't do koi buying days, but if they did...
Monday morning and we had a lot to get round and do today , appointments were made the day bef...
Sunday
Last night i just seemed not to be able to sleep and the raging stomache bug ive had since i l...
The start of things to come ?
As some of you already know , three years ago i sat down with a very close friend of mine and ...
And were off , or are we ..........yes we are!
Finally left the shores of the UK for the mountains of Niigata this morning at 8am ( Thursday ...
Stiched up completely, totally and utterly!
Finally got some sleep last night , but when i awoke i realised that i really was ill and not ...
Monday
By now , most of you will know that we have started a sister comoany to Gatwick koi called Nis...
Exhausted !
Today was a great day , but unfortuantely ive not been able to sleep again since i arrived , i...
Showa Time!
Awoke today to a slighlty cooler 16 degrees , but that wasnt going to bother us any , as today...
Friday 10th : and we're off...
After a very favourable flight landed us in to Narita airport 30 minutes early , i found mysel...
All Japan show trip -thoughts and views
This trip was always going to be a bit tricky , we didn't really want to buy too many koi as w...
Friday PM
With the snow really falling down , i was starting to worry about how we are going to get roun...
Friday am - The most perfect day !
Plans had been made earlier during the week to meet up with Toshiaki from Sakai koi farm to al...
Thursday PM
A customer has asked us for a 80-90cm chagoi , So first port of call had to be Marudo , he has...
Thursday AM
Due to the late harvest last year , we still havnt seen all the koi we have left in Japan last...
Wednesday PM
A Â quick spot of lunch and we thought of popping back to a breeder to look at a 60-65cm hi ut...
Wednesday AM - Perfect day
As i got up this morning it started snowing , not too bad as theres only about a meter at the ...
Tuesday part three
Having virtually a free afternoon , we headed down to Marusei , this farm is absolutley massiv...
Tuesday- part two
Videos links for the koi bought this morning After leaving Yangeji we seemed to struggle to ti...
Tuesday - long day and longer night ! ( part one )
Having such a busy day today im not looking forward to the amount of work it has left me to do...
Monday part two
After a two hour sleep and a walk down the 7-11 for beef curry and rice i feel abit more human...
Monday part one - Tosai time!
Today we sarted off at Kaneko koi farm , well know for shiro utsuri and kujaku . We have alway...
Sunday Part Two
No start of the week would be complete with out a visit to Maruhiro koi farm , by know most of...
Sunday Part One
When i arrived yesterday i was quiet happy to see about a metre of snow laying around the outs...
All Japan Show
After not the best flight in the world , i battled my way through the madness of Tokyo on a sa...
Saturday night - thoughts and views.
Its 11.30pm and ive just set my alarm clock for 4.45 for the early cab ride to the train stati...
Saturday - last day and what a day .
Today was all about a mopping up operation , going round trying to find bits and pieces , may ...
Maruhiro mud pond
Im not really into watching harvests , seen one net dragged through the water ive seen loads ....
Thursday - slow start, good in the middle, finished off great, and the night was excellent...
May be a strange title , but after the day ive had i cant even begain to put into words how on...
Wednesday - Seeing my koi out of the mudponds
Over the last few years we have tried / gambled on leaving koi in Japan . Its always a gamble ...
Tuesday - PM
After leaving the hospital painless ( due to lack of pain from sundays experiance , and the mu...
Tuesday - AM
Hi all , thanks for all the messages and sorry for the dealy in getting back to you last night...
Monday night............late
Sorry about the website crashing , its all back up and running , id like to think it was down ...
Monday - First full day
It doesnt matter how many times you go to Japan to buy koi , everything changes from one visit...
Sunday - the good, the bad and downright painfull!
For those of you who have travelled with me to Japan will know two things , our agents work ve...
We've arrived
Arrived nice and early into Narita airport , racing  through customs and baggage hall in what...
Final thoughts and purchases
Left the hotel at 5am for the start of the journey home. From today i have a new found admirat...
Thursday
Getting up today i realised that it was getting to be a nightmare getting round , it had snowe...
Carlsberg dont do koi buying days, but if they did....
This week has been a nice steady pace with koi available of all qualitys and varietys and size...
Tuesday
Today was always going to be about tosai , either hand selecting or getting the breeder to sel...
Monday
This morning we started out just round the corner from our hotel at Marudo koi farm .After hav...
Sunday - Excelled myself today!!
Today we started out at our old friend Maruhiro koi farm . As usual he had many differant vari...
Friday and Saturday
As usual we left Heathrow on our Virgin flight bound for Narita , after a two hour delay waiti...
Highs and lows!
Well , after 20 hours travelling im home at last , for me this was quite a long trip that seem...
Last day today!
Most of this week the weather has been awful , raining every day , and one day it didnt stop f...
Weds 26th
First thing this morning we headed out to go to Hosakai to buy some massive 65-70cm orenji ogo...
Tues 25th
Our first appointment today was at Kawakami , this made a nice change as we were only round th...
Tuesday am ........early
Just woke up to some emails asking why i haddnt replied from a few days ago , im very sorry if...
Mon 24th Sekigchi and Oofuchi
Today we were joined by Stephano from Koi Italia , thinking this would increase our buying pow...
Sun 23rd Relaxing around Ojiya!
With Rod and Diane Taylor joining us from Sussex mid day on Sunday , there wasnt too much driv...
Sat 22nd Lazy day , but still on the case
As the Nagaoka showa was on today , we decieded not to rush as most of the breeders will be at...
Friday the 21st Perfect end to a perfect week !
Today was the last day for our customers and they had all said they had finished buying so i d...
Thursday 20th Just a perfect day...............
I always think that the good follows the bad , and as soon as i found out an appointment at Ma...
Thursday the 20th Keeping fish for the winter
As most of you know we now have two facilitys and are looking for a third ,.This means it is p...
Weds 19th Trouble in paradise !!
Reguler readers of my blog , and people who have visited Niigata will probably know there is a...
Tuesday 18th final part
On the way home we were going to go past Maryhiro , and as the agent had left a camera there i...
Tuesday 18th part 3 Oofuchi
On this leg of our trip there is a lot of driving as the breeders are quiet a distance apart ,...
Tuesday 18th part two Satoshi Tanaka
After spending 45 minutes taking a slow drive to Satoshi , im still pondering about the two sh...
Thanks
ust a quick thanks to all the comments and emails i have recieved while out in Japan .This has...
Monday PM :Iwashita , Tanaka and Yagenji
Some times things dont always go to plan , and it can be disheartening when you go to two grea...
Monday AM .First full day /Mos burgers RIP !
It is with great sadness , that i have to inform you of the demise of Mos burgers in Ojiya cit...
All arrived safely.......................
Arrived at Narita airport , Tokyo at 10am with four customers from Worthing section of the bkk...
Tuesday 18th part one
An early start today found as on the motorway heading for Sekiguchi , very famous for breeding...
Last day today
First stop today was our old friend Tanaka , this breeder is becoming very famous for gin rin ...
Saturday night - final thoughts...
Its 9pm , and im in my room at the hotel in Narita airpot fully fed and ready for sleep in pre...
Friday - Afternoon
Feeling that i was a bit short on good quality tosai , i was really pleased when Hoshino the k...
Friday - All good things come to those who wait !!
As this was the last day for our new friend from Holland Fresso , we were all hoping for a goo...
Thursday continued
The afternoon had me expecting to buy a lot of koi as we were off to Oofuchi , but when we got...
Thursday
Today we were off to a breeder just off the main road out of Ojiya called koda . I was looking...
Wednesday - The British are coming!
That will be the warning shout that goes around Niigata breeders for the next couple of days ,...
Wednesday continued - time for tosai
Our next appointment was at Maruhiro , just a quick visit to look at some of the tosai mixes a...
Tuesday - Back on the job!
Now ive had a good old moan we can get back to the good stuff . First appointment today was at...
Tuesday - Danger money !
As most of you know , im partial to a good old moan from time time to time (arnt most of us ) ...
Snow
Just to give an idea of the problems we will be having this week , here are some pictures of O...
Monday Day 3
This now being the third day in Japan , im getting real twitchy to bowl some koi , so i was ge...
Monday Continued
After lunch we visited the tosai house of Marudo , we were invited into his tatgoi house and w...
All Japan Show kokugyo Winners
Thought id mention some of the winners of best in size . Best 15cm , a cracking lttle tancho s...
All Japan Show continued
These next photos show the sort of koi that were over looked in the major awards but would sti...
All Japan Show
Arrived yesterday in Tokyo early afternoon , but by the time we were booked into the hotel eve...
Home , safe and sound
After a 30 min taxi drive , 3 hoiur train journey , 12 hour flight , hour and a half coach jou...
Going home........
As i write this its 4.45 am and im packed and ready to go home . This was another fantastic tr...
Winding down................
Today was our last day and it wasnt to disapoint at all ! We started at Hosakai in Ojiya , thi...
So many breeders.............
Niigate will always be the place for me , i know there are some fantastic breeders down south ...
Azukari ...............3 down , four to go!
For those who know , Azukari is what is asked when a koi is wished to be left in Japan to go t...
Wesnesday .......Nagashima and Marasaka.
Earlier on in the week we visited Nagashima and purchased a nice sanke from Momataro bloodline...
Wednesday .......Maruhiro , Hirasawa and Miyatora
After lunch we visited Miyatora , his fish were fantastic , many varietys and prices were quit...
Wednesday .............Oofuchi
Japanese food is differant , there can be no doubting that , breakfast this morning cold scram...
19th second half
Torazo had harvested some more nigh grade nisai , so i still needed another one to go with a t...
oops................ part one
With the time differance its nice to get the blog done by 12 at night here so its all ready fo...
The day just got better ............Part two
There has been alot of talk about pearl gin rins , so we where very happy when we arrived at S...
Oh , just a perfect day ...............Tanaka
The guy who sang the song couldnt have said it better . Scrambled egg on toast with what taste...
Lazy Day
As our guide has sundays off , we were pleased when he offered us a chance to go to a sansai h...
First full day . First stop Torazo
Today we started out at Torazo to look at the koi we saw the night before when the light was f...
Masaki
Right at the top of the mountain we found ourselves at Masaki , very famous for his shiros , a...
Connias, Sakai, Kaneco and Otsuka
A quick drive around the corner to Connias , with tanks and tanks of many varietys , this plac...
Nagashima
Below is the Tategoi showa that im having a little think about .After returning to the hotel w...
Saturday 24th
This morning I awoke and laying in bed contenplating the day a head, and suddenly aware of a f...
Friday 23rd
World exclusive!!! === World exclusive!!! === World exclusive!!! Was it an amazing tategoi? a ...
Thursday 22nd
Today we started off at oofuchi looking for more unusual varietys, never disapointed we bought...
Wednesday 21st
Had a shock this morning when the agent handed me a list of what I had bought, im really runni...
Tuesday 20th
Woke up to a wet and dreary day but I wasnt going to let that get me down. Two customers wante...
Monday 19th
Apologise to those waiting for news or to read the blog, half way through the work I fell asle...
Sun 18th
Today was a busy day in Niigata, with the famous sakai auction and a show going on it was alwa...
Sat 17th
First stop today was Hoshikins, a very serious kohaku breeder indeed. On this ocasion we purch...
Friday 16th
Here we are 22 hours after setting off from home finally arriving at our hotel in Ojiya. Only ...
Last Day
The last day today, so a little down in the mouth it was off to hoshikins to see his beautiful...
Day Sixteen
Scond to last day, and straight off to Kawakami where i thought I could pick up some cheaper n...
Day Fifteen
Today was a day we were catching up on things we needed to do, ie go back and look at good koi...
Day Fourteeen
With four days to go and most of the orders and shop stock found the pressure is a little less...
Day Thirteen
Leaving the hotel and out onto the high way we came to our first stop Nogami. I have to say th...
Day Twelve
Up to now we have had a great week with some great fish bought by all our party and with the n...
Day Eleven
Another day another dollar, or should i say yen, but lets not get on about the exchange rate!!...
Day Ten
New week new customers, Ron from kent, our nearly yearly regulars Rod and Diane and some new g...
Day Nine
Sunday started off with a bit of headache as we had the new group arrive so they all wanted to...
Day Eight
Got up this morning and decided that today was going to be more positive! First stop to the ho...
Day Seven
Stood out the front of the hotel and the glorious sunshine had turned to rain, not to be deter...
Day Six
With the news that the yen is getting worse by the day i think its safe to say we were struggl...
Day Five
After a good run yesterday we had thought our luck had changed. All day running round mushigam...
Day Four
1st appointment today Igarashi Kazuto right up in mushigame. As usual he did not fail to impre...
Day Three
Quick stop for egg sandwiches and we were off to our first stop Maradoh, amazing selection of ...
Day Two
After a late night at the bar with over 10 English and South African koi dealers and watching ...
Day One
Finally arrived at our hotel in Nagaoka ready to go sraight out to the breeders. First stop Fu...
Safe and sound
Arrived at Nagyoka at 2pm after a fairly uneventfull journey , well except me shaking a undera...
Ready to go!
Bags packed , hopefully nothing forgotten ! Tomorrow at 8am i leave for the 24 hour journey to...