Hi
In my blog stats I saw people coming from here so came to have a look.
Shintaro is a relatively low volume high end Koi breeder, he is well known in Japan, the UK and the USA primarily. He counts Masao Kato, previously chairman of the ZNA, amongst his customers each year. Peter Waddington describes him as a 'living genius in the big wide world of Nishikigoi'.
I was introduced to Masaru Saito, owner of Shintaro, for the first time in April 2007. In October 2007 when I returned to Yamakoshi he invited me into the house for tea. As we entered he introduced me to his wife Hiromi as 'Mark Gardner from KoiChat.com'. KoiChat.com is a primarily UK centric discussion forum I've been running since 2001. I was gobsmacked that he knew me so well!
I stayed in Japan for 6 weeks in October/November 2007 and spent many hours with him and his family.
As you'll see from the blog I has spent a tremendous amount of time with them through 2008. The fact that anyone would want to go and live in Ojiya/Yamakoshi for a year (now to be 4 years) just because of the Nishikigoi takes all the breeders with complete surprise and disbelief. At the same time they have welcomed me with open arms, none more so than Shintaro.
Mark
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