Yagenji Koi Farm sits high on the slope above Mushigame in Yamakoshi, and the thing it is famous for abroad is the Karashigoi: big, plain yellow fish that keep growing and regularly pass a metre. If you want a tame giant for a large pond, this is one of the few farms where that is the house specialty and not an afterthought.
Two brothers run it, Daisuke and Toshinori Ishihara, who took over from their father Yaiichi in 2002 and run the farm as partners rather than handing it to the elder son. Two years in, the 2004 Chuetsu earthquake flattened nearly all of their koi houses and killed more than 11,000 fish; they had the damage repaired within about eighteen months and the farm has been back at the top of Yamakoshi since. Beyond Karashigoi they breed Kohaku, Ginrin Kohaku, Sanke, Doitsu Sanke, Showa, Ginrin Showa, Asagi, Goshiki, Goromo, Kikusui and Kujaku, and in October the place is full of foreign buyers.
Buy here for range and value rather than for one famous bloodline, and ask about the Ginrin Kohaku and Goshiki as well as the Karashigoi. The brothers welcome visitors.
ChampKoi imports koi from Yagenji Koi Farm.
