Koi

Because there has been more snow than usual in Japan this year, preparation of the mud ponds and breeding have been delayed by about two weeks. It was still chilly in April and breeders were worried about the weather in summer, but in fact we’ve found that it’s been hotter than last year.

I was privileged this year to have full access to the setting up of this year's BKKS National Koi Show at Stafford. I was surprised at how few people were actively involved in setting up the Show and this little blog is dedicated to this group of people who give up many days of their valuable time to create and run the shows that we love to attend.

Anyone that visits any of the UK-based Koi-related forums will have seen the reactions to the inaugural EMKC Winter Show held last weekend (20–21 February 2010). If you’re bored of hearing praise heaped onto the Club and the Show, then stop reading now because you are going to get more of the same. I absolutely loved it.

As well as being a dedicated Koi nut I am a keen (but not very good) photographer. The two go hand in hand quite well sometimes and over the course of 2009 I have taken literally thousands of photographs. It’s that time of year when we look back and think about the places we have been and the things we have seen. The selected photographs are not always technically the best, but remind me most of the key points of my personal Koi year.

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The clocks have gone back, and it really feels like the end of the Koi year. It's dark in the morning when I leave for work and it is dark in the evening when I get home. The covers are on the pond and I do not see the fish much during the week at all – now you can appreciate the merits of having a window in your pond. All in all the hobby can be quite depressing at this time of year.

I have been trying hard at all the shows I've been to this year to improve my standard of photography. It should be simple – the Koi is captive in a nice round vat so why is it so hard to get a good photograph? Why am I often disappointed with the results? How do other people get so much better results than me?

This year the South African National Show was held at the Gateway shopping centre, on the beautiful KWA Zulu Natal Coast just north of Durban. The venue is excellent,

affording easy access and excellent facilities, plus (most important) lots of curious visitors!

The temperatures are hotting up over in Niigata, where Mark Gardner is getting stuck into the Koi breeding season...

Visiting the farms of Japanese Koi breeders makes for a Koi-packed holiday – but do organised Koi trips offer visitors the complete picture of Japan? Jasper Kuijper meets someone who wants to do just that...

Rick at Ichiban Koi hosted a koi health day at his premises on the 26 July. At the appointed time, around 25 of us gathered together. The weather could have been kinder but it stayed dry at the important times with just a little rain here and there.