This Week's Friday Night Online Release – Sekiguchi Jumbo Tosai Showa
We're pleased to say that work has now begun on this week's Friday night online koi release.
Amanda and I harvested the first of the koi today, and over the coming days we'll be photographing, filming and cataloguing the collection in preparation for Friday evening's release.
This week's release features Jumbo Tosai Showa from Sekiguchi — a breeder we've admired for many years.
We rate Sekiguchi Showa so highly that our relationship with this breeder goes well beyond importing koi. Some of the Sekiguchi Showa bloodlines have also found their way into our own breeding programme and now form part of our brood stock. As breeders ourselves, that's probably one of the strongest endorsements we can give.
🎥 First Harvest Video Now Available
We've put together a short video from today's harvest, giving you a first look at the koi that will be appearing in this week's release.
Over the next few days we'll continue adding:
- Individual preview bowl videos
- Photographs of every koi
- Our fully priced catalogue, making it easy to browse the complete release before Friday evening
Many of you commented on how useful last week's catalogue was for the Aoki release, so we'll be doing the same again this week.
📅 Release Progress
We'll be updating this page throughout the week as more content becomes available.
14th July - Harvest video added
Be sure to check back during the week as we continue adding new content.
Last Week's Aoki Release
Thank you to everyone who supported last week's Aoki Tosai release.
The response was exceptional.
Just a few days after the release, only seven koi remained unsold. Rather than keeping those fish available indefinitely, we've now removed them from sale and transferred them into one of our growing-on ponds for the remainder of the season.
We'd much rather continue developing them than leave them sitting on the website, and we're looking forward to seeing how they progress over the coming months.
Thank you once again to everyone who purchased from the release. We hope you're enjoying watching your new koi settle into their ponds.
Why We Love Showa
Few koi varieties offer the same combination of drama, power and long-term enjoyment as a good Showa.
Showa belong to the prestigious Go Sanke group alongside Kohaku and Sanke, but they have a very different character. Built around a black base colour, they develop bold bands of black, red and white that wrap around the body in constantly changing patterns.
One of the things we enjoy most about Showa is that they're never truly "finished".
Unlike many other varieties, Showa continue developing for years. The black (sumi) emerges, strengthens and sometimes changes position as the koi matures, meaning owning a young Showa is as much about enjoying the journey as appreciating the fish today.
What We'll Be Looking For This Week
One of the pleasures of selecting young Showa is trying to see not only what the fish is today, but what it may become in three, five or even ten years' time.
Here are a few things we'll be looking for ourselves when selecting these Sekiguchi Jumbo Tosai:
- Deep, inky sumi with clean edges. Even if only a small amount of finished sumi is visible, the quality of that black can be an excellent indicator of how the remaining sumi may develop.
- Menware — the lightning-strike or V-shaped black marking on the head. One of the classic and most desirable Showa characteristics.
- Motoguro — solid black at the base of the pectoral fins. Whilst not an exact science, good motoguro is often associated with strong future sumi development.
- Kage sumi (shadow sumi) — bluish-grey areas beneath the skin. These often hint at future black that will emerge over the coming years.
- Three colours on the head. On young Showa, seeing black, red and white all represented on the head usually produces a more balanced and attractive finished pattern.
- Consistent beni. Look for thick, even red with good colour intensity. Consistency and depth of colour are excellent indicators of future quality.
- Bright, clean shiroji. Particularly in these jumbo tosai, clean white skin provides the perfect canvas for the red and black to develop.
- Strong body shape. We always pay close attention to body conformation. Even as tosai, a broad head, thick shoulder and balanced frame often indicate excellent future growth potential.
- Pattern style. This release includes a range of styles, from lighter Kindai Showa, where the white ground plays a greater role, through to more traditional Showa with heavier sumi and stronger hi patterns. Every style has its own appeal.
Perhaps the biggest tip of all when buying tosai Showa is not to judge them solely on today's appearance.
More than almost any other variety, Showa are a journey. The very best young fish often carry subtle clues—underlying sumi, excellent skin quality, balanced conformation and strong lustre—that only reveal their full potential after several years of growth.
That's one of the reasons they're such a rewarding variety to keep, and one of the reasons we enjoy selecting them so much.
Learn More About Showa
If you're interested in understanding what makes a truly great Showa, we've written one of the most comprehensive guides available, covering their history, bloodlines, development, pattern styles and the characteristics we look for when selecting young fish.
Read our complete Showa Variety Guide here:
Koi Variety Spotlight – Showa: Bold and Powerful, the Magnificent Three-Coloured Koi
Coming Later This Week...
We'll continue updating this page throughout the week with:
- Preview bowl videos
- The full priced catalogue
We hope you enjoy following this week's release as it develops, and we look forward to sharing another fantastic collection of Sekiguchi Jumbo Tosai Showa with you on Friday at 8:00pm.
