This morning we left bright and early at 08:30 as we had a lot of koi hunting to do

Martin and Marjike were leaving this afternoon and so we quickly called in at Ojiya train station to check the timetable before travelling to Mushigame.  First stop was Yamamatsu where we had a look at the older koi first before going to the tosai house.  Unfortunately the tosai of the quality we are seeking will not be selected unitl next week and so were not available.

Next we took the short walk over to Shintaro to look at the tosai.  I explained to Saito san that we were having difficulty obtaining true high class tosai and asked if he could help us.  He eventually agreed to allow Gene to select a limited amount from one of his tategoi ponds even though he has not yet selected, and needless to say Gene had shaken his hand before I had finished explaining.  We will be returning tomorrow to select the koi.

After that we made a couple of visits before travelling over to Ikarashi on the other side of Nagaoka.  He is a great guy and I havent been able to visit there for a couple of years so it was good to return.  He had some great examples of more unusual varieties including some which we were looking for although unfortuantely these were sold.  We did get some prices on a couple of ponds and will be bearing this in mind for a return later in the week.

Our visit had been timed to allow us to drop Martin and Marjike back at their hotel so they could collect their bags and go to catch the shinkansen, rather them having to have got the train back from Ojiya, and after this we went to meet Toshiyuke Sakai as had been arranged this morning so that Gene could present him with the framed picture.

Sakai san was obviously pleased with his present and we spent a good while having a chat with him and several laughs.  He gave me a Nishikigoi shaped cake which he explained was Yamamatsu Tategoi Chagoi, but when he jokingly quoted me the price of "ju man" or 100,000 yen I nearly choked on it.  He insisted on taking a picture of me eating it, after which he said if I didnt like it I could give it to the dog.  Obviously i protested and explained it was delicious and in his true joking style he promptly put a box full in front of me to eat. Hmmm