Why I like the All Japan Koi trip

I visited the All Japan first back in 2002. It was something I had never done before because a week in Japan in February was really just a pure luxury for a dealer. No business was done, it was more just to show your face and say hello to breeders. The Internet was not massive then either and posting online, while it happened was much harder. One occasion finding a side room at the show and plugging into a telephone socket!

So most of the time it was never an option for Koi business’s unless they could afford it. Thank fully back then we could.

Having been to Japan around 60 times I have never ever been sight seeing. Many people tell me how beautiful certain area’s of Japan are and I don’t doubt that but in all my visits I have very rarely left Niigata and Isawa and sometimes Tokyo. So the AJKS is nice for a change.

In the buying trips we do in Spring and Autumn they get quite hectic, and I mean REALLY hectic. Selling Koi to clients with us in Japan, selling Koi to clients overseas and trying to run round like a crazy person trying to find Koi, trying to see when more Koi will arrive, fitting in Harvests etc etc…It can be a nightmare, and a busy nightmare.

With the modern day Internet, the All Japan Koi Show is now not such a crazy luxury. With the phones and the way the breeders have changed, Koi are pretty much available 12 months a year from Japan, so any trip now can turn into a business trip. Koi I maybe did not find in the Autumn can maybe found in February.
It also gives me a good opportunity to source the Tosai for the Spring trip. I can talk to breeders and see what they have available later, when the selections will be, what size and varieties I need.

However, on the All Japan Koi Show trip its much more relaxed, it can actually even feel like a break. There is no rushing around, there are people from all over the world I have met online maybe, exchanged a few emails or Facebook messages, I can now put names to faces, go for a coffee at the show site, stand over a vat of Koi and appreciate them knowing I am not looking for Koi to buy. I can see what Koi are picked above other Koi. No matter how many times you visit Japan, you are always learning, and anyone thinking that is not the case are very stupid.

We arrive on the Friday afternoon to the hotel, and instead of getting trains to the mountains and being pretty drained, its a chilled out afternoon in Tokyo, go for a walk, stay in the hotel… no problem.

The Saturday after breakfast its a leisurely taxi, or mono rail to the show. Grab a nice coffee at the show entrance, walk upstairs and pay the minimal charge to get in and spend the rest of the day admiring around 3000 Koi! What an experience.

The Saturday afternoon we head back in no rush at all to the Hotel, get changed for an evening meal and maybe explore a little bit of the night life in Tokyo, or maybe just chill at the hotel.

Sunday morning make the quick trip back to the show, chat with some people who may have turned up just for the Sunday (Like any Koi Show) then we grab a bit of lunch at the show site, then we head to Tokyo station on the subway.

Get the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station and 2 hours later (around 4Pm) arrive in Nagaoka.
A quick shower and change and head out for dinner.

Monday morning have breakfast, jump in the truck…Then Koi!!

No reason at all to rush around unless I have lots of orders. The customers with us get to see the amazing snow scenes, and wonder why all the roads are perfectly clear and drivable even after 2m of snow fall the previous night!

Spend the day going round the mountains, calling into plenty of breeders who usually have much more time to have a chat, talk Koi…

That is the the theme of the trip for the rest of the time we are in Japan too. Just a chilled out trip.
I worry that the way the other trips have gone over the last 3/4 years, which all started nice and relaxed and then turned into the current monster! I hope that never happens to the All Japan Koi Show trip.

Obviously the Koi Show is the very best in the world. I think with the cost of flights and hotels, and the shorter stay its more affordable than it ever has been.
Maybe the price of a couple of Koi these days. It is a must for any serious Koi keeper.
Dont just think you have to come with us either, I know many people who fly out on a Friday, visit the show, then fly back Monday…

Take the chance to visit though, you will not be disappointed!