 351 pages dedicated entirely to the study of Gosanke varieties including
origins, skin quality, growth development and characteristics of certain bloodlines,
and breeder information.
Koi Volume 1 Gosanke is divided into four parts; (1)
Maintenance, (2) General Information on
Koi, (3) The Gosanke Varieties, and
(4) The Gosanke Breeders.
Gosanke is the term used
for the three major Japanese koi varieties… Kohaku, Sanke, and Showa. The remaining varieties, popularly termed Kawarigoi, are
covered in Volume 2, together with their breeders.
Breeder sections include a detail history and description of production
values for breeders in Nagaoaka, Ojiya, Uonuma, Isawa, Fukui, Hiroshima, and
Fukuoaka regions. Just a partial lists includes Maruboshi, Hasegawa, Isa, Torazo,
Shinoda, Izumiya, Hoshikin, Oomo, Maudo, Jinbei, Tanaka, Shintaro, Murata,
Matsunosuke, Kachi, Sakai, Ueno, and Ogata.
This book is a fascinating read not only for the committed koi enthusiast,
but also for anyone with a special interest in Asia or Japan.
The sections on the individual koi farms read like family histories; they
tell a fascinating story and demonstrate the problems experienced across generations
during the past 60 years. The Chuetzou earthquake in
October 2004 is also described, along with photographs.
There are numerous shots of the farms and mountains of Niigata taken before
the earthquake. After the earthquake, in spring of 2005,
the author returned to many of the places photographed previously and was thus able
to take pictures that permit a direct before and after comparison. In the interviews with breeders which the author conducted
post-2004, he took the opportunity to ask the breeders about both their losses and
the changes to their operations necessitated by the new conditions. All in all, the final part of the book is by and large a
family chronicle of the koi farms of
Japan. |