Showa Development

by Brady Bradwood
Posted on NI

  Showa are a difficult Koi to assess the future of - the changes during the first few years are commonly severe. If we break down the elements of Showa though we can get a better grip on what path the fish will take. The Showa we are looking at here offers a few excellent examples of these “elements” of Showa development.

   Rather than looking at the fish as a whole, let’s look at the individual elements (separately) - this is a 10 month old Koi (a very, very young fish to be evaluating) We should always look at the body first - long, slender, everything symmetrical and in place - we can just glance at the sumi and see that it is a modern type - most of it resides deep under the skin. The few areas of the gill plate and the tail give us an idea of what it will look like when it’s mature, BUT we shouldn’t consider this a representation of the “pattern” of the sumi. Since we know this fish is only 10 months old we KNOW this beautiful finished looking sumi will disappear and the true adult sumi will emerge over the next few years - this type of sumi on young modern Showas and young Sankes can be considered like “birthmarks”, or the fuzzy soft down on baby geese - it will disappear - so, let’s focus on the underlying sumi and evaluate how the fish will look “roughly” when this emerges, as the white and red WILL play a role in just how much of this sumi is visible when the fish is a mature adult. Right now this “fake sumi, or baby sumi” is masking much of the beni patterning near the tail of this Showa, and is creating a false impression that the fish is a little heavy on sumi at the tail. When we consider that this sumi WILL disappear we see a different balance there. The sumi is of high quality, modern oily type, and is well placed, so we’ll move on to beni.
   Looks a little orange and thin doesn’t it - BUT, again we need to consider the age of this Showa (only 10 months) - very few hobbyists get an opportunity to see a Koi that has been kept back by a breeder to be grown out - most Tosai that have been chosen to sell are put in crowded, often heated, tanks, and fed color enhancing foods - this crowding and color food WILL affect the look of the beni creating a “redder” more finished look that most consumers desire. OTHER young Koi that are kept back by the breeder are generally kept in less crowded tanks over the winter, and are fed no color food - SO if we keep this in mind we see that we are actually looking at VERY GOOD beni on a young Showa - beni that is set up or conditioned for the “long haul”. Another point we should keep in mind here is that Showa and Sanke beni is different than Kohaku beni - Kohaku beni is more refined genetically, and therefore has a different look, particularly at this age. This is the beni I would choose every time when shopping for young Showas - the coloration is right for the age, and the edges are sharp. So let’s move on to pattern now.
   We have a white nose, a desirable characteristic that is difficult to find on Showa, we have a reasonably clean tail area, no stray beni into the tail fin, or pecks, a slight area of beni in the mid dorsal - will likely recede. The window at the shoulder area may break forming a 3 stepped beni pattern - given that the sashi and kiwa are clean now this break, if it happens, will likely be clean as well.

Let’s move forward and see how things are developing...

   Hummmmmnnn, umnnn, well,... - This is where some of us pace the pond side, feeling that maybe we were RIPPED OFF - what the HELL is happening with my “pricey” Showa???
   Look in the centre of each scale though,... look at the DEPTH of the sumi,... hummmmnnnn,...

   Your Koi pals come over to your pond to have a beer and look at your,... Showa, umnnnnn, “Man, have you checked your water lately?,... Where’d you get that umnnn, ... Showa?” You hear a little laughter in their voices,... you’re feeling embarrassed,... doubting your own once EXCELLENT Koi eye. You respond, “Yeah, damn Koi dealer,... I’m getting rid of it at the next cull auction.”

Moving on,...

   After your Koi pals have beaten you down to a little pile of ashes,... have drank ALL of your beer,... and have gone back to their respective pondside lairs,... you manage to pull yourself up from the dirt, and regain the confidence in your Koi eye, you decide to hold on to this ugly young Showa to see just where it takes you.
   Well,... the sumi IS emerging in all the right places, the beni IS showing its true quality, it’s becoming thicker by the day, and,... and,... wow, it is actually becoming more and more RED, and without the help of color enhancing foods. Is the beni maturing? Look at the shoulder area,... the break is happening,... and it’s a clean one. Is this young Showa following the genetic path laid out by its parents to grow into a beautiful work of living art?
   YES, it's on its way to becoming an eye catching adult, BUT, it still has a few years to unfold.

  

  No doubt the patience required for high quality Koi keeping is in direct conflict with our fast paced lifestyles. The journey CAN be frustrating,... if we spend every minute in anticipation.
   Enjoy the journey, and you will enjoy Koi keeping! Live in the day - appreciate the beauty of the day - take good care of the fish, and the beauty of a quality completed adult Koi will come to you,... in time.

Questions & Response:

"..... a tosai showa with a large patch of sumi. What is your opinion of this type of sumi on a koi so young ? How do you think it will develop ?"
  I think as the Koi grows the very dark sumi will fade, break up, and become blotchy as the red thickens and shows through. The Koi will go through a bit of an ugly phase, and then pull itself together nicely at 3 to 5 years of age as the "true" sumi establishes itself and the beni and white have matured.
   It will likely look a little like this Showa in another year, and then the sumi will continue to thicken and solidify over the next few years. Notice how the sumi is hovering just below the surface of the beni. This is the "unattractive phase" or what I call the teenage years. Destined to become more and more attractive.

"You mention shiro on the nose being important. I guess this is true but do you agree that shiro more than hi is more likely to be taken over by sumi ?"
  Shiro on the nose or face of a Showa produces a Koi that is a class above Showas with only red and black on the face - 3 colors on the face of Showa is a very desireable trait, and will also generally separate this type of Showa from others in price as well. I think sumi can fall on Hi or Shiro evenly on Showa, this is a characteristic we look for in young Showas and choose according to our taste - I find sumi that falls on Shiro more desireable personally though - the same on Sankes.
"As you say underlying grey sumi here can be an indication of sumi to come. Would you also agree that when choosing a showa at tosai/nissai some fixed sumi needs to be in evidence ? particularly in the pecs, or by the dorsal, or at the tail end ?"
   Sumi in the pecs, or dorsal or tail will change with the type of sumi the Koi has - older style sumi will start full on the pecs and recede in, and modern type sumi will often start as nothing and move outward from the pec joints to form motoguro, and other types of sumi fall somewhere in between with some evidence of motoguro, or stripes in the pecs. The Showa in the photos above shows no motoguro "yet". I don't think some evidence of fixed sumi in young Showa or Sanke is an accurate indication of strong stable sumi - strong looking sumi in tosai will almost always disappear as the Koi matures - the underlying sumi is more important to evaluate.
   As an example when the strong looking sumi seen at tosai disappears the true underlying sumi still may or may not emerge - this depends more on the overall quality of the fish. Older siblings are a better bet in determining the quality potential of sumi on a particular fish IF the breeder isn't changing his formulas too much from year to year.
   Here are three young Showas (around 22 months) with distinctly different sumi - the Showa on the left shows no motoguro, the one in the middle shows stripe type motoguro, and the one on the right shows a nicely balanced motoguro - the first two will change in look of motoguro more than the third will as they continue to develop.

 

Best Wishes,
Brady Brandwood