Award-winning koi breeder · Fukuoka
Ogata Koi Farm
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- Founded
- 1972
- Family
- Founder-run
- Run by
- Manabu Ogata
Ogata is the big Kyushu farm: Kurume, Fukuoka, founded 1972, and the one breeder we work with whose stated aim is to carry every variety in every size. Manabu Ogata spawned his first koi in the family pond as a high-school student, went north in 1973 to apprentice at Izumiya Koi Farm in Ojiya under Ichiro Mano, whom the trade called the god of nishikigoi, and came home in 1978 to breed full-time.
Nine years later his own Kohaku, Benimaiko, won Grand Champion at the 1987 All Japan Nishikigoi Show, and her outline is still the company mark. Home-bred fish then took the Kokugyo Prize three years running through 1995, and divisional championships and best-in-variety awards have followed at the national shows since.
Kohaku, Sanke and Showa lead the production, with Shiro Utsuri, Mukashi Ogon, Yamabuki Ogon, Chagoi, Karashigoi, Asagi and Kikokuryu behind them. The main site has eight greenhouses holding 79 concrete ponds from 10 to 70 tons, separate fry ponds, and a show-conditioning house opened in 2023 for the 50th anniversary. Exports began in 1985 and now go to more than 30 countries; the farm has run its own auction every year since 2012, and Manabu Ogata's book 'Swimming Jewels: Nishikigoi' (2011) has been translated into Chinese and Indonesian.
Buy Ogata when you want choice and a sound body at a sensible price across the whole variety list, from a farm that ships more koi out of Japan than almost anyone. ChampKoi imports koi from Ogata Koi Farm.
History
- 1972 Manabu Ogata's first successful home spawning; the farm counts this as its founding year.
- 1973 Begins apprenticeship at Izumiya Koi Farm, Ojiya, Niigata, under Ichiro Mano.
- 1978 Returns to Kurume and starts breeding full-time.
- 1985 Begins exporting.
- 1987 Home-bred Kohaku 'Benimaiko' wins Grand Champion at the All Japan Nishikigoi Show and becomes the company symbol.
- 1995 Home-bred koi win the Kokugyo Prize for the third consecutive year.
- 1997 Incorporated as Ogata Koi Farm Co., Ltd.
- 2011 Manabu Ogata publishes 'Swimming Jewels: Nishikigoi' (ę³³ćå®ē³ é¦éÆ).
- 2012 First Ogata auction, marking the 40th anniversary; held annually since. Book published in Chinese and Indonesian.
- 2022 50th anniversary.
- 2023 Anniversary event for more than 200 guests and opening of a new show-conditioning house.
Awards & Recognition
All Japan Nishikigoi Show Grand Champion 1987 (Kohaku 'Benimaiko'); Kokugyo Prize three consecutive years to 1995; Kyushu Young Koi Show Grand Champion 2025
Want a Ogata 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.