Milestone Azukari purchase ✔
Ever since I have had a pond I have wanted to develop as a hobbyist and I am certainly not alone in that.
Most will probably be familiar with the following milestones:
- Your first pond
- Purchasing your first Koi
- Your first Koi pond
- Visiting your first Koi show
- Your first Koi to pass 70 cm (a Chagoi?).
- Taking your first course
- Your first time in Japan
- Your first Azukari
For every hobbyist, the end point will be different and I could write down more milestones, up to becoming a judge myself and judging at the All Japan. I was able to tick another one off my list and that is that I purchased an Azukari Koi (✔). Something I would not have dared to do before, say about 2 years ago.
Azukari
For those who do not know what Azukari is: You purchase a Koi, however, it is still swimming at the breeder. Even after purchase, this Koi does not come to your pond, but stays even longer at the breeder. Often this is then one more growing season.
There are some risks to such an Azukari. Perhaps the Koi will never be found again. A Koi is a living animal and of course it can die in a pond in the mountains where predators also have free access to the mudpound and of course it’s difficult to intervene when something is wrong with a fish, you don’t just catch it. Often good arrangements are made for this. I myself am not so afraid of this.
If the Koi gets prettier, it’s a bargain, if it gets uglier then I paid too much
What I personally find scary is that I am actually purchasing a Koi when I don’t know what it will look like when it comes to my pond. Maybe that one turned out ugly, but maybe it also turned out very beautiful. Well, that’s the gamble. Simply put, you could say, If the Koi gets prettier, it’s a bargain, if it gets uglier, then I paid too much.
Mudpond Games
Enough general talk about Azukari. I took the risk and thus purchased a Koi that will go into Azukari. First, I purchased this Koi because it appealed to me greatly and I was looking for a Showa.
But what won me over even more is the fact that I myself am going to Japan this fall. I will be present at the ikeage. This Azukari adds to the experience of my Japan trip and it also makes the anticipation more fun. Would you like to know more about the Azukari project I am participating in. There is a facebook group and the project is called the Mudpond Games. These Koi are from Marujyu Koi Farm.
Video by Stefan Koster of Arts&Ants and Marujyu about the Ikeage filmed with a drone
De Showa
I am very curious to see what the Showa will look like in October 2020. Looking at the Koi myself, I see a nice beni pattern. There is slightly weaker sashi, especially at the tail. But there is very little sashi and it is a young fish. I think the sumi is a bigger gamble. There’s enough black on it as far as I’m concerned, including underneath. I hope this will soon be a Showa with enough black, white and red so that it remains recognizable as a Showa. Black remains unpredictable. The question is whether it’s going to be a nice black pattern. At worst, it gets messy.
Movie of my purchased Showa
The body in the photo looks a bit narrower than in the video. I assume for a moment that the Koi inside are not full on feed during the colder periods. So that body, that needs to be worked on in the mudpond! I do not yet know whether it is a female or male and dare not make a statement about that at this time. In conclusion, I am now looking forward to October even more and of course I will share the results with you then.
