- Family
- 2nd generation
- Run by
- Futoshi Maruyama
- Links
- dainichiobkai.com
Maruyama is a Kohaku farm first and everything else second. It sits in Minami-Alps City, Yamanashi, on the Tokyo side of the mountains, and has nothing to do with Niigata even though some dealer pages file it there. Gensuke Maruyama opened it in the mid-1960s; his son Futoshi runs it today. ChampKoi imports koi from Maruyama.
The farm's name rests on one fish. Gensuke bought a female Kohaku bred by Itaru Suda in Niigata, nicknamed her Kagura, and spent twenty years building a line on her. The deep, glossy red that came out of that work is what people mean by Kagura beni, and from 1985 the farm set about putting it on bigger-bodied fish. The line is still what you are buying: bright, even hi with a hard edge, on a frame that keeps growing.
Results back it up. A Maruyama-bred Showa won Grand Champion at the 36th All Japan Nishikigoi Show in January 2005, and a Maruyama Kohaku of 102 cm owned by Pan Zhi Cheng won Grand Champion at the 52nd All Japan in December 2021. Maruyama Ginrin Kohaku also take A-Ginrin size-class wins at the All Japan show most years.
What it is not: a Sanke or Kawarimono destination. The farm lists Kohaku, Sanke and Showa as its output, with Kohaku the bulk of it. Buy here for Kohaku and Ginrin Kohaku, and for a Showa if the sumi is already showing. An exact founding year and pond counts are not published by the farm, so we do not quote them.
History
Gensuke spent twenty years building a line on Kagura, and the deep, glossy red that came out of that work is what people mean by Kagura beni. An exact founding year is not published by the farm.
- Mid-1960s Gensuke Maruyama opens the farm in Yamanashi and befriends Minoru Mano of Dainichi; the two young breeders trade notes for years. Around the same period he buys the Suda-bred Kohaku female that becomes Kagura.
- 1985 The farm starts crossing Kagura descendants with large-bodied koi to put Kagura beni on jumbo frames.
- 2005 A Maruyama-bred Showa wins Grand Champion at the 36th All Japan Nishikigoi Show in January.
- 2021 A Maruyama Kohaku of 102 cm wins Grand Champion at the 52nd All Japan Nishikigoi Show in December.
- Today Gensuke's son Futoshi runs the farm in Minami-Alps City, Yamanashi.
Awards & Recognition
All Japan Nishikigoi Show Grand Champion, 36th show, January 2005 (Showa). All Japan Nishikigoi Show Grand Champion, 52nd show, December 2021 (Kohaku, 102 cm, owner Pan Zhi Cheng).
Want a Maruyama koi we don't have listed?
Tell Tom the variety, size and budget. He buys at the farm in Japan at harvest and will look for one on the next trip.