Shipping and Auctions. We are very sorry, but with the extreme cold, we can not send koi out on over night couriers. ... 22/11/2024
NO SHIPPING TODAY Tuesday 19th November. Good morning all. After to speaking to APC first thing today, we have decided there will be no... 19/11/2024
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... 31/10/2024
Website and prices. We have now changed all ages on koi from GK-1000 Onwards. This means when the harvests begin i... 10/09/2024
SALE AND WEBSITE Good afternoon every one. This time of the year gets confusing with koi on the website, all be... 09/09/2024
SALE AND BANK HOLIDAY OPENING As you know, we close all bank holiday weekends. This is because week days are so busy, and ba... 03/05/2024
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 ... 10/04/2024
Easter Bank Holiday closure. PLEASE NOTE WE WILL BE CLOSED ALL OVER THE BANK HOLIDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY SUNDAY AND MONDAY. W... 28/03/2024
WEBSITE Just to let everyone know, we have reset the fish page back to 001 . This so we can up date al... 07/10/2023
New opening hours and Tamaura auction. Please note hour new working hours, which will start on Wednesday the 2nd of August. The busin... 01/08/2023
Cefas restrictions lifted Today cefas visited us to ensure all koi infected have been destroyed and removed from the pre... 18/07/2023
KHV Conformation July 2023 On Tuesday,( July 2023 ) we received conformation that our samples had tested positive at the ... 13/07/2023
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... 12/07/2023
Suspected problem in quarantine. In one of our separate quarantine centres known as the forge, one pond from our shipment two w... 28/06/2023
Gatwick Koi second Dainichi auction. Today i have started to add some koi for our second Dainichi auction, These koi are all in the... 15/01/2023
Koi Auctions. As some of you may have noticed, we have now launched our live koi auctions, on the website. T... 10/01/2023
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 ... 21/12/2022
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... 09/12/2022
Winter hours. Please remember that from now on, we close at 4pm, as per our winter hours. Although we are no... 02/11/2022
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... 01/11/2022
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... 09/07/2021
Our first Show and Grow competition Today we launch our first ever show and grow style competition. We have never done this before... 05/07/2021
Re opening Hi all , very sorry , but the shop must now stay closed , until Monday night . Freddie had a p... 24/06/2021
Shop closure Morning everyone , I’m very sorry to inform you all , but our son Freddie has tested positiv... 23/06/2021
Shipment from the South of Japan Good morning , just had some bad news , our shipment from the South of Japan tomorrow has just... 16/06/2021
Opening times We will now be closing on 2.30 on Tuesday and Saturday.This is a permement move , to help us h... 15/06/2021
Shipments and early closing today. Last night we shipped from Niigata , and finished late .Today we have another shipment from Ni... 14/05/2021
KHV Its our very sad duty ,to inform you that we have found KHV in a shipment from Japan , in one ... 13/05/2021
Quarantine Good morning everybody . Id just like to explain a little about our quarantine , i know alot o... 06/07/2020
Bank Holiday Friday Good morning everyone , stunning day in Sussex , as usual were busy still buying koi from Japa... 07/05/2020
Easter Bank Holiday hours . Bank holiday hours ...... Friday closed , but we may be working in the forge , so if you need ... 09/04/2020
Hours Please note , we have now changed our hours to 11-3pm weeks days , and 10-2pm Saturdays.This i... 01/04/2020
Opening during the Corona outbreak . Good morning all , yesterday i spent all day watching the news, and although i always try and ... 23/03/2020
Sale this weekend ! Morning all , with all the moving of koi we have to do , for the shipments next week , we have... 20/03/2020
Quarantine finish dates . Good morning everybody , as most of you know , our quarantine is running a little late , with ... 10/01/2020
Saturday 26th Omosako We wanted to go to Omosako first thing today , but he was out harvesting until lunch time .Thi... 26/10/2019
Friday the 27th Takigawa . Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Today we started off at Momotaro koi farm . Our aim was to do exactly the... 25/10/2019
Thursday 24th Matsue     The night before i was walking with our agent , and he told me i was driving with ... 24/10/2019
Weds 23rd Isawa on then down South !           Hearty breakfast, and then off to Sakuma koi farm . This farm i... 23/10/2019
Tuesday 22nd October Onwards to Isawa           Today was our last day in Niigata , before we... 22/10/2019
Sunday 20th Maruhiro Today is the of the Nagaoka koi show so we based the day around it ,... 20/10/2019
Saturday 19th New and old breeders revisited . Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Today we visited a new breeder on the way to koide , and found tw... 19/10/2019
Friday 18th Great day . Goshiki galore ............. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Good evening and welcome to the short version of the bl... 18/10/2019
Day three .Thursday 17th . The longest day ! Â Â Â Â Â Over the years , i have spent many hours writing the blogs , and hope you have ... 17/10/2019
Day two , Weds 16th . Its getting hectic already ! Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Today , we arrived at Oofuchi a little early , and was horrified to find ... 16/10/2019
Day one , arrived at last . Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â I thought id not start the blog , with the almost compulsory p... 15/10/2019
KOI FOR SALE PAGE RESTARTED / JAPAN TRIP Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Please dont worry about the koi for sale page being empty . Around this ti... 08/10/2019
Next Japan trip October 2019 On the 14th of October , i return to Japan for my next buying trip . This time we are visiting... 02/10/2019
PLEASE NOTE 29TH JUNE Please note , that we will NOT be open on the 29th June . Back open on the Monday as usual . ... 27/06/2019
Probites recovery                 Finally back in the uk , Probites recovery. Ava... 20/06/2019
Tuesday - Sakauma farm visit . Â Â Â Â Â Early start today , breakfast at 6.45 , and out the hotel by 7.20 , and on the t... 21/05/2019
Last day in Niigata , but Isawa calling ...... Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Today was to be our last day , we the... 20/05/2019
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 ,... 19/05/2019
Saturday After yesterdays almost heat exhaustion , I was horrified to find temperature was 24 degrees a... 18/05/2019
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 ... 18/05/2019
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... 17/05/2019
Now in Japan I arrived yesterday in Japan , and we have already been to the breeders looking for koi , have... 16/05/2019
Arrrived in the mountains          I never sleep on the plane much , today was no exception . Large am... 16/05/2019
And were off ............ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Good morning to you all . I am now airside waiting to board my plane . Iv... 15/05/2019
All systems go ! Cefas have visited a month ago , and all the koi in the forge put to sleep . They then rev... 22/02/2019
SHOP CLOSURE Good afternoon everyone , tomorrow the shop will closed all day, ( Wednesday 9th January ) ,... 08/01/2019
Latest news . Hi all , its with a heavy heart to inform you , that it looks like we have found KHV in import... 27/12/2018
Maruhiro harvest Last friday , we went to the farm , very late , to see our koi come in from the mud pond . 22 ... 23/10/2018
Isawa calling . Â Â Â Today we packed our bags , and checked out of the hotel , and walked to the train sta... 21/10/2018
Saturday -Last day in Niigata. Â Today was going to be a little tricky ,as it is the Nagaoka koi show , so a lot of breeders ... 21/10/2018
Friday - The longest day Today we were starting off at one of my favourite farms , Oofuchi ! Athough its a bit of a tri... 19/10/2018
Thursday - Just three breeders ? Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sometimes i hear people complain , that when in Japan , they only v... 18/10/2018
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... 17/10/2018
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... 16/10/2018
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... 15/10/2018
Sunday 14th Into the unknown ................... It may or not be common knowledge , but this trip is very different than other . This trip we ... 14/10/2018
Saturday 13th October            As usual a 20 hour trip , of planes , trains and automobiles ... 13/10/2018
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... 06/10/2018
Next trip to Japan Two weeks today , i will return to the mountains , of the Niigata region in Japan . Ill be the... 29/09/2018
SALE SALE SALE Â From the 1st September ( tomorrow ) we will be offering 25 percent off the price of all our ... 31/08/2018
Bank Holiday Opening times Please note , although we are open on the Saturday , we will be closed Bank Holiday Sunday and... 22/08/2018
Oase pond eco jet , floating fountain . Back in stock , this great floating fountain with lights , for larger water features .  ... 17/08/2018
Easter bank holiday hours Easter bank holiday hours , Friday open 08.30 - 3pm or later if we are busy , Saturday 09.30 -... 29/03/2018
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... 10/02/2018
Friday : Almost a perfect day After visiting Yamamatsu yesterday , we were promised a hand selection of some very high grade... 09/02/2018
Thursday : Breeders stocks are running low ! Â Â Â Â The main topic of conversation , among dealers in the hotel , is that most are stru... 08/02/2018
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... 07/02/2018
Tuesday : Tosai day , all day ! Â Â Â Â Â I think its fair to say , were not known for stocking a lot of tosai , but with... 06/02/2018
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... 05/02/2018
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... 03/02/2018
Satruday PM : Niigata bound A few stops on the monorail , same on a local train , and i was soon at Tokyo station to catch... 03/02/2018
Saturday AM : All Japan Koi Show . As usual , i flew into Tokyo Haneda airport . This is great , as its close the the Ryutsu cent... 03/02/2018
On my way Its 7am , and im at the airport nice and early . In the next 24 hours i have to make an import... 01/02/2018
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... 31/01/2018
Dry goods As most of you know , last year we launched this new website . I have resisted adding an onlin... 13/01/2018
Christmas opening hours . Morning all , last day for us before Christmas . We are open till three today , and then we cl... 23/12/2017
Black Friday week specials TUESDAY KUSURI PRODUCTS From now untill Christmas , we will match Kusuri products and offer 30 percent off THEIR websi... 21/11/2017
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... 21/11/2017
SHOP CLOSED WEDNESDAY 8TH NOVEMBER Please note we will be closed on the above date . Sue and myself need a day off together , t... 07/11/2017
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... 29/10/2017
Friday Taniguchi This was to be my last buying day in the south , so a great place to visit was Taniguchi , i h... 29/10/2017
Thursday Takigawa and Omosako  After a livley night out with Matsue , I awoke with what I thought was a hangover . I really... 28/10/2017
Wednesday 25th Matsue koi farm           It was nice to awake before the alarm clock , with the Sun bea... 25/10/2017
Tuesday 24th First day in Hiroshima .        As most of you know , im quite a restless sleeper when im in Japan . Th... 24/10/2017
Monday On to Hiroshima    So today finds me leaving Tokyo , to go to the south on the bullet train . I decided ... 22/10/2017
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... 22/10/2017
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 ... 21/10/2017
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 ... 20/10/2017
Thursday showa time , and then others ! We left the hotel a little earlier today , as our first destination was Sekiguchi koi farm . T... 19/10/2017
Show quality doitsu and unusuals       I woke this morning , after quite a reasonable sleep for a first night in Ja... 18/10/2017
Tuesday PM Maruhiro where else ? After lunch , we visited Hinori san at Maruhrio koi farm . After he showed us round , he gave ... 17/10/2017
Arrival Tuesday AM             Travelling to Japan , can be at best a little testing ! T... 17/10/2017
Matsue Kohaku Seems i have looked the fact , that i have a special offers page , that hasnt been used in a y... 13/10/2017
WEBSITE As i prepare to leave for Japan on Monday , i have taken all the koi off the website , the koi... 13/10/2017
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... 10/10/2017
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... 02/10/2017
SALE ON KOI SALE . As we now move to the end of the season , we still have some koi left to sell before i ... 08/09/2017
Scottish show Congratulations to Robert Robson , who won mature champion at the Scottish show this weekend Â... 14/08/2017
Special offer on Pumps Thinking of a new pump ? Then look no further than the superfish eco e range . Proven track re... 28/07/2017
New koi into the shop . This week we have bought many new koi into the shop , from our quarantine centers . Just an ex... 01/07/2017
Sekiguchi showa Yesterday , we brought in around 30 jumbo tosai from Sekiguchi , they are all now photographed... 09/06/2017
Worthing Photographic show Clean sweep for Gatwick Koi custsomers Congratulations on the Worthing club on another well organised club show. This show involves t... 07/06/2017
Bank Holiday weekend 27th -29th As normal we will be open on the Saturday and Monday this bank holiday weekend . Opening at 09... 26/05/2017
Lots going on ! I know i keep saying i will keep this news page up to date , it does seem that every one tends... 19/05/2017
Isa jumbo tosai Just purchased for us in Japan ! These very nice quality Isa jumbo tosai showa . Sizes 30-40cm... 07/05/2017
Sunday 7th May Hi all , we have customers collecting koi tomorrow , so we will be open from 11am to 1pm ( Sun... 06/05/2017
Satoshi Tanaka nisai  Coming in next week , these very nice nisai from Satoshi Tanaka . His kujaku are always ver... 05/05/2017
Bank holiday opening 26th May Bank holiday weekend , we will be open on Saturday and Monday , from 09.30-3 pm both days , if... 28/04/2017
Bank holiday opening hours We are open over the weekend , Bank holiday Friday 9.30 -3pm , Saturday 9.30-3pm and Monday 9.... 13/04/2017
New Azuakri Just purchased in Japan for us , this superb sandan kohaku from Tamaura koi farm . 58cm and ni... 11/04/2017
Sunday 9th April Tomorrow ( Sunday ) we will be open for a club visit . Sue and myself should be here around 10... 08/04/2017
Jumbo tosai time   Arriving in April , jumbo tosai from Torazo . Around 35cm and nice quality !   ... 27/03/2017
Breeders secret clay Now back in stock , 1.9kg £16.95     5kg   £39.95  Dealerships to be announced Â... 25/03/2017
South of Japan  As a few of you know , we have purchased some nisai from the south of Japan . We havnt swit... 22/03/2017
Breeders secret Breeders secret , one of the best clays on the market , also one of the finest and doesnt send... 27/02/2017
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 , ... 26/02/2017
Four days of Feb , first koi First of our four days of February , special offer koi , this will only last today and then it... 25/02/2017
Feb offer FOUR DAYS OF FEB , as our special monthy offer for February , we are going to make a special o... 25/02/2017
25th Anniversary Hi all, been asked what specials we are doing for February, for our 25th anniversary. To be ho... 25/02/2017
Last Autumn fish repriced As most of you know , its the 25th anniversary of Gatwick Koi this year . As a thank you to al... 20/02/2017
Saturday and last day Today I was leaving for Tokyo , for an over night stay and an early flight back to the UK , so... 11/02/2017
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 ... 10/02/2017
Thursday First appointment today , was at Shinoda koi farm . Famous for his doitsu , gin rin and hi uts... 09/02/2017
Wednesday A lot of people have been asking for showa of all levels , and to be honest , havnt really see... 08/02/2017
Tuesday Over night snow had left its mark on the town of Ojiya , first thing in the foyer of the hotel... 07/02/2017
Monday First visit today , was to Maruhiro koi farm . Spent a good time looking through the nisai pon... 06/02/2017
New purchases Already been busy in Japan , 8 sansai today , and saw the Yagenji sansai and yonsai we were of... 05/02/2017
Up to the mountains Today was going to be hard to see breeders as a lot , if not most would still be breaking do... 05/02/2017
Japan I am now in Japan , if there is anything you are looking for , please email me info@gatwickkoi... 05/02/2017
Arrival in Japan For the first time that I can remember , I could be possibly be accused of not having built a ... 05/02/2017
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... 27/01/2017
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 ... 11/01/2017
New koi into the shop We have just added more sansai and yonsai to the website . These are between 51and 61cm , and ... 05/01/2017
Gatwick Koi 25th year anniversary Hi all , as you already know, this is the 25th year anniversary of Gatwick Koi . At the end of... 05/01/2017
New koi purchases Today we have managed to buy some new koi in Japan . The first one is a 69cm sanke , yonsai an... 30/12/2016
Christmas opening hours From Sue , Tom and myself , id like to wish you all a very happy Christmas , and a prosperous ... 23/12/2016
End of quarantine The  last pond will be up to 24 degrees tomorrow , so ALL koi will be out of quarantine by Fr... 22/12/2016
New sansai on the website Today we have added some new sansai to the website . These are nisai we have had left over fro... 01/12/2016
Dainichi auction success Today we have obtained 6 nisai from the Dainichi auction , four females and two females . All ... 01/12/2016
Shiro utsuris Also now on the website , shiro urtsuri from Kaneco , measeured this week 38-46cm , all £195 ... 21/11/2016
New koi There are still more new koi being brought into the shop , and still many more that need to ha... 21/11/2016
New koi in the shop Today we have moved some new koi in from the quarantine centre . Go sanke , chagoi and one miz... 15/11/2016
Autumn shipment This Thursday ( 17th November ) , our fish from our Autumn harvest trip arrive in the UK . Mos... 14/11/2016
Oase drum machines If your looking at a new filter with low maintanace , then look no further at the Oase drum ma... 29/10/2016
Back from Japan Hi , for those who follow the blog , you will see we have had another very successful trip in ... 29/10/2016
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 ... 23/10/2016
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... 22/10/2016
Shintaro and Hosokai Its getting towards the end of the week now , ive bought quite a lot of koi , and thought id c... 21/10/2016
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... 20/10/2016
Wednesday and a quiet one at that Wednesday was a fairly quiet day , we started off at Marudo , and selected 3 very nice femake ... 19/10/2016
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... 18/10/2016
Ichi ban Ikeage Ichi ban Ikeage , ok loosely translated as number one harvest , that's because how it felt t... 17/10/2016
Sunday First job today was to visit Isa and see how our two Azukari showa had come out of the mud pon... 17/10/2016
Saturday Today I woke up with a little bit of half glass empty syndrome again Going through in my mind... 15/10/2016
And now for something completely different! For those of you who arnt old enough to remember , todays title was a line from Monty Pythons ... 14/10/2016
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... 13/10/2016
Arrived ! Hi all , ive finally arrived in Niigata , managed to get up to some of the breeders today , so... 13/10/2016
New website and Japan trip. Hello everyone , and welcome to our new look website . Tomorrow I leave for Japan for ten days... 11/10/2016
Next Japan Trip.... Hi everybody , welcome to our new look website and blog . I am hoping that if all goes well yo... 06/10/2016
More Pics Sorry , i forgot to add the photos of the koi from Suzuki , very impressed with these , sorry ... 25/07/2016
Friday Woke up today to a sound I recognised straight away , the gentle tapping of snow on the window... 29/01/2016
Thursday With so much work to do , and as we finished very late last night , we started a an hour later... 28/01/2016
Wednesday After crashing out twice for a grand total of 7 hours , I really did feel like taking on the w... 27/01/2016
Tuesday After a restless nights sleep , about three hours in all , I awoke with a massive headache , a... 26/01/2016
Monday After a good nights sleep ,( when i say a good night i mean four hours straight through is goo... 25/01/2016
Sunday Ill forgo the usual explanation of travel across Japan , and what seems compulsary pics of pla... 24/01/2016
The day has come... Well the day has finally come , and im sitting in terminal 5 drinking coffee ( surprise surpri... 19/01/2016
Time to go, almost... Today was supposed to be pack away and get to Tokyo and have a day doing the tourist thing , b... 27/04/2015
Sunday Awoke today to a massive hangover , and a new found respect for saki . It’s a nice drink and... 26/04/2015
Saturday Finding it hard to get to breeders this week due to the international junior koi show , for so... 25/04/2015
Friday Today we started off at Hirasawa looking for some sanke , the ones we bought on our February t... 24/04/2015
Thursday Sometimes this trip in April/May can be very frustrating , sometimes its hard to still find qu... 23/04/2015
Wednesday First appointment this morning , was at one of my favourite go sanke breeders Kazuto. Always k... 22/04/2015
Expect the unexpected When you have been dealing with different breeders on and off over 30 trips to Japan , you lea... 21/04/2015
Arrived Im finally in the hotel after a 21 hour journey . Things were not looking to good for me getti... 15/04/2015
Thoughts... Back at home now , and thinking back over the week , and what a week it has been  ! I think t... 08/02/2015
Last Day! Last day today , and definately a mixture of ups and downs .Trying to hand select tosai , runn... 05/02/2015
Wednesday Hi all , its been a hell of a week , only really came out to hand select some tosai and top up... 04/02/2015
Tuesday I managed to get some sleep last night , but probably no where enough .Jet lag has well truly ... 03/02/2015
Monday! The spring trip can be a little more frustrating than the Autumn one , in the sence you can st... 02/02/2015
Sunday : One farm ?????? Today we started ( as seems the normal now ) at Maruhiro koi farm .After we finished there las... 01/02/2015
Sat : PM Onwards to Niigata! Got the monorail , train and bullet trian back to Nigata and arrived around 3 . Being picked u... 31/01/2015
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... 31/01/2015
Friday - Last Day! The day you have to go to Narita airport is always the worst .You still want to try and get as... 24/10/2014
Thursday PM After an early lunch brought forward by the fact that the breeders are so busy , we still coul... 23/10/2014
Thursday : All shapes and sizes ! ( AM ) Its nearing the end of our trip , as always it been very rewarding and enjoyable , and today w... 23/10/2014
Wednesday PM After lunch we started our journey back to Ojiya , popped into Kobyashi to have a look at some... 22/10/2014
Wednesday AM Alot of people have been asking me for some showa , so today ill try and not to disapoint , so... 22/10/2014
Tuesday PM Maruhiro Harvest time at mad monkeys ! Mark chetter had purchased a showa last spring on our visit to t... 21/10/2014
Tuesday AM Kanno I've had many enquireys for Kanno koi since we went there the other day , so this morning we w... 21/10/2014
Monday Back in the hotel room , looking at the virtual mountain of work i have ahead of me , second n... 20/10/2014
Sunday I'd like to start of by apologising for my even more terrible spelling on the blog , looks lik... 19/10/2014
Saturday With an entertaining night in Ojiya behind me , half a nights kip ad cold meatballs and salmon... 18/10/2014
Friday Woke up at half nine , hoping to have beaten the jet lag in one night , and as i write this it... 17/10/2014
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... 08/10/2014
Back Home A good nights sleep and up at 4.30 but cant complain with 7 hours sleep ill settle for that . ... 29/04/2014
Saturday - Last Day! The last buying day of the week is always a strange one , money and space is running out , alo... 26/04/2014
Showa Time! Today we started off by heading over to see the guys at Sekiguchi koi farm . Stunning quality ... 25/04/2014
Thursday - Back on track ! Although we managed to buy some nice koi yestreday , i felt today i was playing catch up as so... 24/04/2014
Wednesday Today had all the hall marks of a great day , appointments made and fish available and off fir... 23/04/2014
Tuesday - Nothing short of excellant! After having five hours sleep in the last two/ thjree days , i ventured into the car in the ho... 22/04/2014
In Japan ! April Monday Arrived on a differant route today courtesy oF BA and Hanneda airport instead of Narita , ive ... 21/04/2014
Friday....last day As today being our last one in Niigata , I wasn’t expecting to see or buy a great deal .Due ... 07/02/2014
Thursday With the snow getting heavier and no let up in sight  , i knew today was going to be a long s... 06/02/2014
Wednesday PM After the most unpopuler lunch ever , we went round the corner to talk about tosai with our ol... 05/02/2014
Wednesday AM Feeling a bit out of sort sat the start of the today as i actually had to be awoken by the ala... 05/02/2014
Tuesday Today diddnt start off to well , an early appointment booked with Marudo koi farm , will have ... 04/02/2014
Monday Today we were joined by Mark Gardner whome im sure most of you will either  know or heard of ... 03/02/2014
Sunday After having may be a few drinks too many the night before , i awoke this morning in a panic ,... 02/02/2014
Saturday - Day One! Myself and Mark Chetter arrived safely at Narita Saturday morning . We then spent an amazing f... 01/02/2014
Tuesday : Trip summed up ! This trip was once yet again a very sucessfull one for Gatwick koi . I think we raised the sta... 29/10/2013
Monday - The jouney home Today was just about doing some work in the hotel room untill our 3pm train to Tokyo .After br... 29/10/2013
Nogyosai show Sunday morning was a good chance to catch up on alot of the internet work that needed doing . ... 28/10/2013
Perfect end to a mad week! Today is the last day with our agent , so with the Nogyosai show tomorrow and traveling back t... 26/10/2013
Doitsu and the wierd and wonderfull! This morning we were really looking forward to getting back to Shinoda today as we hear he had... 25/10/2013
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... 24/10/2013
Harvest Time Todays adventures started with a trip over the top of Mushigame to harvest a mudpond of Maruhi... 24/10/2013
Ups and downs Since yesterday afternoon when we made the appointment with Sekiguchi , ive not been able to g... 22/10/2013
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... 21/10/2013
Sunday Last night i just seemed not to be able to sleep and the raging stomache bug ive had since i l... 20/10/2013
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 ... 19/10/2013
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 ... 18/10/2013
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 ... 14/05/2013
Monday By now , most of you will know that we have started a sister comoany to Gatwick koi called Nis... 13/05/2013
Exhausted ! Today was a great day , but unfortuantely ive not been able to sleep again since i arrived , i... 12/05/2013
Showa Time! Awoke today to a slighlty cooler 16 degrees , but that wasnt going to bother us any , as today... 11/05/2013
Friday 10th : and we're off... After a very favourable flight landed us in to Narita airport 30 minutes early , i found mysel... 08/05/2013
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... 10/02/2013
Friday PM With the snow really falling down , i was starting to worry about how we are going to get roun... 08/02/2013
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... 08/02/2013
Thursday PM A customer has asked us for a 80-90cm chagoi , So first port of call had to be Marudo , he has... 07/02/2013
Thursday AM Due to the late harvest last year , we still havnt seen all the koi we have left in Japan last... 07/02/2013
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... 06/02/2013
Wednesday AM - Perfect day As i got up this morning it started snowing , not too bad as theres only about a meter at the ... 06/02/2013
Tuesday part three Having virtually a free afternoon , we headed down to Marusei , this farm is absolutley massiv... 05/02/2013
Tuesday- part two Videos links for the koi bought this morning After leaving Yangeji we seemed to struggle to ti... 05/02/2013
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... 05/02/2013
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... 04/02/2013
Monday part one - Tosai time! Today we sarted off at Kaneko koi farm , well know for shiro utsuri and kujaku . We have alway... 04/02/2013
Sunday Part Two No start of the week would be complete with out a visit to Maruhiro koi farm , by know most of... 03/02/2013
Sunday Part One When i arrived yesterday i was quiet happy to see about a metre of snow laying around the outs... 03/02/2013
All Japan Show After not the best flight in the world , i battled my way through the madness of Tokyo on a sa... 02/02/2013
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... 20/10/2012
Saturday - last day and what a day . Today was all about a mopping up operation , going round trying to find bits and pieces , may ... 20/10/2012
Maruhiro mud pond Im not really into watching harvests , seen one net dragged through the water ive seen loads .... 19/10/2012
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... 18/10/2012
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 ... 17/10/2012
Tuesday - PM After leaving the hospital painless ( due to lack of pain from sundays experiance , and the mu... 16/10/2012
Tuesday - AM Hi all , thanks for all the messages and sorry for the dealy in getting back to you last night... 16/10/2012
Monday night............late Sorry about the website crashing , its all back up and running , id like to think it was down ... 15/10/2012
Monday - First full day It doesnt matter how many times you go to Japan to buy koi , everything changes from one visit... 15/10/2012
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... 14/10/2012
We've arrived Arrived nice and early into Narita airport , racing  through customs and baggage hall in what... 13/10/2012
Final thoughts and purchases Left the hotel at 5am for the start of the journey home. From today i have a new found admirat... 11/02/2012
Thursday Getting up today i realised that it was getting to be a nightmare getting round , it had snowe... 09/02/2012
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... 08/02/2012
Tuesday Today was always going to be about tosai , either hand selecting or getting the breeder to sel... 07/02/2012
Monday This morning we started out just round the corner from our hotel at Marudo koi farm .After hav... 06/02/2012
Sunday - Excelled myself today!! Today we started out at our old friend Maruhiro koi farm . As usual he had many differant vari... 05/02/2012
Friday and Saturday As usual we left Heathrow on our Virgin flight bound for Narita , after a two hour delay waiti... 04/02/2012
Highs and lows! Well , after 20 hours travelling im home at last , for me this was quite a long trip that seem... 29/10/2011
Last day today! Most of this week the weather has been awful , raining every day , and one day it didnt stop f... 27/10/2011
Weds 26th First thing this morning we headed out to go to Hosakai to buy some massive 65-70cm orenji ogo... 26/10/2011
Tues 25th Our first appointment today was at Kawakami , this made a nice change as we were only round th... 25/10/2011
Tuesday am ........early Just woke up to some emails asking why i haddnt replied from a few days ago , im very sorry if... 24/10/2011
Mon 24th Sekigchi and Oofuchi Today we were joined by Stephano from Koi Italia , thinking this would increase our buying pow... 24/10/2011
Sun 23rd Relaxing around Ojiya! With Rod and Diane Taylor joining us from Sussex mid day on Sunday , there wasnt too much driv... 24/10/2011
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... 22/10/2011
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... 21/10/2011
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... 21/10/2011
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... 20/10/2011
Weds 19th Trouble in paradise !! Reguler readers of my blog , and people who have visited Niigata will probably know there is a... 19/10/2011
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... 18/10/2011
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 ,... 18/10/2011
Tuesday 18th part two Satoshi Tanaka After spending 45 minutes taking a slow drive to Satoshi , im still pondering about the two sh... 18/10/2011
Thanks ust a quick thanks to all the comments and emails i have recieved while out in Japan .This has... 17/10/2011
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... 17/10/2011
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... 17/10/2011
All arrived safely....................... Arrived at Narita airport , Tokyo at 10am with four customers from Worthing section of the bkk... 16/10/2011
Tuesday 18th part one An early start today found as on the motorway heading for Sekiguchi , very famous for breeding... 11/10/2011
Last day today First stop today was our old friend Tanaka , this breeder is becoming very famous for gin rin ... 05/02/2011
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... 05/02/2011
Friday - Afternoon Feeling that i was a bit short on good quality tosai , i was really pleased when Hoshino the k... 04/02/2011
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... 04/02/2011
Thursday continued The afternoon had me expecting to buy a lot of koi as we were off to Oofuchi , but when we got... 03/02/2011
Thursday Today we were off to a breeder just off the main road out of Ojiya called koda . I was looking... 03/02/2011
Wednesday - The British are coming! That will be the warning shout that goes around Niigata breeders for the next couple of days ,... 02/02/2011
Wednesday continued - time for tosai Our next appointment was at Maruhiro , just a quick visit to look at some of the tosai mixes a... 01/02/2011
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... 01/02/2011
Tuesday - Danger money ! As most of you know , im partial to a good old moan from time time to time (arnt most of us ) ... 01/02/2011
Snow Just to give an idea of the problems we will be having this week , here are some pictures of O... 31/01/2011
Monday Day 3 This now being the third day in Japan , im getting real twitchy to bowl some koi , so i was ge... 31/01/2011
Monday Continued After lunch we visited the tosai house of Marudo , we were invited into his tatgoi house and w... 31/01/2011
All Japan Show kokugyo Winners Thought id mention some of the winners of best in size . Best 15cm , a cracking lttle tancho s... 30/01/2011
All Japan Show continued These next photos show the sort of koi that were over looked in the major awards but would sti... 30/01/2011
All Japan Show Arrived yesterday in Tokyo early afternoon , but by the time we were booked into the hotel eve... 30/01/2011
Home , safe and sound After a 30 min taxi drive , 3 hoiur train journey , 12 hour flight , hour and a half coach jou... 25/10/2010
Going home........ As i write this its 4.45 am and im packed and ready to go home . This was another fantastic tr... 23/10/2010
Winding down................ Today was our last day and it wasnt to disapoint at all ! We started at Hosakai in Ojiya , thi... 23/10/2010
So many breeders............. Niigate will always be the place for me , i know there are some fantastic breeders down south ... 22/10/2010
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... 21/10/2010
Wesnesday .......Nagashima and Marasaka. Earlier on in the week we visited Nagashima and purchased a nice sanke from Momataro bloodline... 20/10/2010
Wednesday .......Maruhiro , Hirasawa and Miyatora After lunch we visited Miyatora , his fish were fantastic , many varietys and prices were quit... 20/10/2010
Wednesday .............Oofuchi Japanese food is differant , there can be no doubting that , breakfast this morning cold scram... 20/10/2010
19th second half Torazo had harvested some more nigh grade nisai , so i still needed another one to go with a t... 19/10/2010
oops................ part one With the time differance its nice to get the blog done by 12 at night here so its all ready fo... 19/10/2010
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... 18/10/2010
Oh , just a perfect day ...............Tanaka The guy who sang the song couldnt have said it better . Scrambled egg on toast with what taste... 18/10/2010
Lazy Day As our guide has sundays off , we were pleased when he offered us a chance to go to a sansai h... 17/10/2010
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... 16/10/2010
Masaki Right at the top of the mountain we found ourselves at Masaki , very famous for his shiros , a... 16/10/2010
Connias, Sakai, Kaneco and Otsuka A quick drive around the corner to Connias , with tanks and tanks of many varietys , this plac... 16/10/2010
Nagashima Below is the Tategoi showa that im having a little think about .After returning to the hotel w... 15/10/2010
Saturday 24th This morning I awoke and laying in bed contenplating the day a head, and suddenly aware of a f... 24/10/2009
Friday 23rd World exclusive!!! === World exclusive!!! === World exclusive!!! Was it an amazing tategoi? a ... 23/10/2009
Thursday 22nd Today we started off at oofuchi looking for more unusual varietys, never disapointed we bought... 22/10/2009
Wednesday 21st Had a shock this morning when the agent handed me a list of what I had bought, im really runni... 21/10/2009
Tuesday 20th Woke up to a wet and dreary day but I wasnt going to let that get me down. Two customers wante... 20/10/2009
Monday 19th Apologise to those waiting for news or to read the blog, half way through the work I fell asle... 19/10/2009
Sun 18th Today was a busy day in Niigata, with the famous sakai auction and a show going on it was alwa... 18/10/2009
Sat 17th First stop today was Hoshikins, a very serious kohaku breeder indeed. On this ocasion we purch... 17/10/2009
Friday 16th Here we are 22 hours after setting off from home finally arriving at our hotel in Ojiya. Only ... 16/10/2009
Last Day The last day today, so a little down in the mouth it was off to hoshikins to see his beautiful... 03/11/2008
Day Sixteen Scond to last day, and straight off to Kawakami where i thought I could pick up some cheaper n... 02/11/2008
Day Fifteen Today was a day we were catching up on things we needed to do, ie go back and look at good koi... 01/11/2008
Day Fourteeen With four days to go and most of the orders and shop stock found the pressure is a little less... 31/10/2008
Day Thirteen Leaving the hotel and out onto the high way we came to our first stop Nogami. I have to say th... 30/10/2008
Day Twelve Up to now we have had a great week with some great fish bought by all our party and with the n... 29/10/2008
Day Eleven Another day another dollar, or should i say yen, but lets not get on about the exchange rate!!... 28/10/2008
Day Ten New week new customers, Ron from kent, our nearly yearly regulars Rod and Diane and some new g... 27/10/2008
Day Nine Sunday started off with a bit of headache as we had the new group arrive so they all wanted to... 26/10/2008
Day Eight Got up this morning and decided that today was going to be more positive! First stop to the ho... 25/10/2008
Day Seven Stood out the front of the hotel and the glorious sunshine had turned to rain, not to be deter... 24/10/2008
Day Six With the news that the yen is getting worse by the day i think its safe to say we were struggl... 23/10/2008
Day Five After a good run yesterday we had thought our luck had changed. All day running round mushigam... 22/10/2008
Day Four 1st appointment today Igarashi Kazuto right up in mushigame. As usual he did not fail to impre... 21/10/2008
Day Three Quick stop for egg sandwiches and we were off to our first stop Maradoh, amazing selection of ... 20/10/2008
Day Two After a late night at the bar with over 10 English and South African koi dealers and watching ... 19/10/2008
Day One Finally arrived at our hotel in Nagaoka ready to go sraight out to the breeders. First stop Fu... 18/10/2008
Safe and sound Arrived at Nagyoka at 2pm after a fairly uneventfull journey , well except me shaking a undera... 15/10/2008
Ready to go! Bags packed , hopefully nothing forgotten ! Tomorrow at 8am i leave for the 24 hour journey to... 13/10/2008