We got off to a good start - breakfast in the hotel, a good run in to Tokyo station on the metro, a straight forward connection to Narita airport. . . and then we found out our flight was delayed by 3 hours!

It was a long day sitting around the airport - there's only so much coffee you can drink and so many times you can walk around the shops. Anyway, by the time we got away we were too late to catch the connection to Dublin so we ended up staying overnight in Amsterdam. At least KLM looked after us well! And I suppose it was an extra day. . . 10% extra free!

Well, now we just look forward to all the koi coming at the start of March. Hope it warms up a bit before then.

Friday 12th February.

In the morning we spent a couple of hours around Yodobashi Camera - the huge home electronics store in Akihabara. After coffee we took the train across to Hamatsucho Station and enjoyed walking around the beautiful Kyu-Shiba-rikyu Gardens which dates back to 1678.

The afternoon was taken up with a tour of the city, visiting the Tokyo Tower, passing the Parliament buildings and going through the grounds of the Imperial Palace. We of course visited Nakamise street and the Senso-ji Temple, finishing up in Ginza.

Having spent to much on koi we decided to skip shopping in Ginza (lol) and headed back to the hotel.

I was disappointed not to have had any Yakiniku this trip so we sought out a restaurant in Akihabara. Excellent Yakiniku!! Going home happy!

Thursday 11th February.

Today we spent the morning in Nagaoka before taking the Shinkansen back down to Tokyo. Having found our way to the hotel using the Metro we decided to talk a walk around. The nearest shopping area (quite close by) was Akihabara - the electronics centre of Tokyo. It is always amazing to mill around and watch the activity.

We had a later dinner this evening with a Japanese friend. Tomorrow is the last full day.

Wednesday 10th February.

Today was our last day in the mountains and most of it was spent searching for specific orders for customers. We began up at Kanno's own home - generally inaccessible - excpet for the tracked dozer which they use to semi-clear the road in!

Some very good 6-8" koi were purchased. Kanno-san was happy to have his photo taken.

We called with Otsuka-san and Izumiya before stopping in with Kentaroh at Miyaishi. His father, Tokuzo, has been a close friend since my first visit to Niigata. He passed away at Christmas. It is very different to be having tea in the house, but he is not there. We took time to measure up my Showa which had stayed in Niigata since last year. Also had a look at this year's tosai.

The final morning visit was to Marusei where I bought these nissai - a broad selection of varieties.

After lunch we took time to look around the koi museum and the shop across the road. After one final visit to Miyatora to check out a nice Shusui (63cm) we made our way back to the hotel. Tonight we ate in the famous Nomole's - very tasty food!

Tuesday 9th February.

The first call this morning was with Manibu at Yamazaki Koi Farm. As usual he has a huge selection of excellent tosai.

Next we went to Torazo. Here are some excellent nissai - approx 18-20" and reasonably priced.

Here is Wesley with Kawakami san and the koi.

No trip to Niigata would be complete without a visit to Yamasan Koi farm and Toshiyuki Sakai. Here are two top quality Matsunosuke Sanke ready for the trip to Ireland!

Last year I left a showa at Miyaishi. It is now 53cm and looking absolutely stunning. I will be bringing it home this year.

The next farm was Shinoda, probably the best breeder of Doitsu koi. It's been a couple of years since we brought koi from Shinoda, so here are a few picked up today.

Finally we headed right over to Igarashi. He breeds some unusual koi - the selection includes beni-kumonryu, Goshinohagoromo, Kikokuryu and Kikusui.

Monday 8th February.

Today we made our way to some of the breeders, starting with Hosokai. The snow is incredibly deep in the mountains. It is a different way of life for these people - and certainly not easy.

Here a some of the koi bought at Hosokai - approx 14-18" long.

Junior with Miyatora after purchasing some nice nissai.

Two outstanding metallics from Miyatora - about 16" each.

After lunch we went to Kanno - he has some of the best Goshiki in Niigata at present and won best in size at the show. Then we went up to Yamakoshi. Here are a couple of pics taken at Tanaka. They were very badly affected by the earthquake and are only now geting back to the production levels they had before then.

Paul checking out the tosai.

The day was finished off with visits to Yagengi and Kazuto Ikarashi. Too many amazing fish to take in in one day!

Sunday 7th February.

This morning we had a final wander around the show before catching the bullet train back to Nagaoka. Here are a few other photos from the show.

A nice selection of koi. Many of these won awards.

Wesley inspects a huge Sanke.

Junior takes a good look at the grand champion.

A magnificent Doitsu Chagoi - well over 1m is removed from the vat ready for the trip home. In the background you can see the pictures of the previous 40 show winners.

Saturday 6th February.

After breakfast we simply had to go down to the 2nd floor and along a corridor to the Exhibition Center to get to the show. The picture below shows the view from my room. Given the amount of snow, I sure am glad we're in the Nikko Hotel!

The show is very well organised. Outside the main hall there are several stalls selling local produce and a registration stand. Entrance to the show is free.

The first impression of the show is awesome - almost 600 tanks set out in perfect rows.

The grand champion is a beautiful kohaku bred by Dainichi - 99cm long and perfect body shape and condition. No picture ever conveys the beauty of such a koi!

Here are a couple of other fish that took my eye, but the shear numbers of koi are mind blowing. Of course there are many Kohaku, Showa, Sanke & Utsuri, but also many beautiful goshiki and asagi.

Friday 5th February.

We had a good trip to Japan. Everything went according to plan. We were held up a bit with a long queue at Immigration in Narita Airport. This meant we had to wait an extra 30mins for the next Narita Express train, which in turn meant we had an hour to spend in Tokyo Station before catching the Shinkansen Bullet train for Niigata.

It was strange travelling through Nagaoka station this time, however this year we are staying for a couple of nights in Niigata city to see the All-Japan Koi Show. It's about another 25mins in the Shinkansen.