And So It Begins……!
So once again our long journey to Japan has started, and unlike last year which saw us fly from Heathrow,this year we have manged to get flights with KLM from our local airport Norwich.
This trip as always will mainly be concentrating on selecting our Tosai for the coming season,along with the odd Nisai here and there along the way as we always seem to come across something we just can’t resist, it will also be an opportunity to see all the Koi we have left there as Azukari, which for me is such an exciting part of any trip and discussing with the various breeders on which to potentially leave again and what ones to ship etc, etc, as of course now leaving them for another growing season from Nisai through to Sansai or Sansei to Yonsai etc inevitably costs a lot more than what it does Tosai to Nisai for example, mainly due to mud pond or concrete pond growing space food etc etc, so very careful consideration has to be given to every single Koi we have out there, usually we would have seen these on our Autumn buying trip but as many of you know we opted last year not to go, as again flights were incredibly high with absurd long winded routes.
Breeders
We will of course be visiting on this trip the same breeders we have in the past Okawa,Ueno,Ogata why…..! because it works that’s the simplest answer to that question really , over the years we have built up such good relationships with the breeders we visit and this in my opinion pays off in the long term, don’t get me wrong it’s not always as easy to find every year what you are sometimes looking for, and we often come home after not finding certain Koi we would have liked, and we realise in certain parts of Japan there are literally hundreds of breeders where it’s easy to just walk out of one into another until you eventually finally see what you are looking for, but for us the risks of this is just to high, we have always tried to stick to as fewer breeders as possible thus trying to eliminate any potential health issues, so whilst we do also purchase from a few more breeders from the south and the north we will always try and stick to buying from a least as possible whilst we can.
Please do keep an eye on our Facebook Page, and our Japan Blog as we will be putting daily updates on there.
Lastly
We often get asked what exactly is the journey like and what’s entailed to get to where we go in Japan, for those interested ill list it below…..!
Norwich to Schiphol approx 40mins
Schiphol to Narita approx 14hrs
A quick bus ride to terminal 3 to the Narita Domestic terminal approx 15mins
Narita Terminal 3 to Fukuoka approx 2hrs
Taxi from Fukuoka To Hakata approx 20-30mins
Hakata Station Catch the Shinkansen to Kurume approx 18mins
Once at Kurume out of the station and literally 500yds to our base for the week the Station Hotel……….
