Torazo Koi Farm

Torazo Koi Farm, formally Torazo Urakawa Koi Farm, has been breeding koi in Uragara, Ojiya since 1917, which makes it one of the oldest working farms in Niigata. Tsuyoshi Kawakami runs it. ChampKoi imports koi from Torazo, and the reason to buy is Gosanke with the body and skin that a century of selection produces.

The farm's place in the history books is Sanke. Hiroshi Kawakami, Tsuyoshi's father, produced the original Torazo Sanshoku between 1949 and 1952. The parent fish died in an accident, but their offspring carried the line on, and Torazo Sanke became one of the foundations of the modern variety, with sumi that holds instead of fading with age. Breeders across Niigata still use Torazo-line parents.

Today the emphasis has shifted toward Kohaku. Kawakami's method, in his own telling, is simple: buy the best parent koi whatever the cost, keep fewer fry than most farms, and trust his own eye. The farm has about 40,000 square metres of raising area, and volume is deliberately limited.

Kohaku and Sanke are what to look for from Torazo. Showa are bred in smaller numbers. If you want a Kohaku with sharp white and deep, even beni from a farm that has been doing this since before the All Japan show existed, this is the one.