Page 47 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 68

LOOKING BACK IS

GOOD, BUT LOOKING

FORWARD IS BETTER

Martin Symonds of Japan Koi Export
and KoiVision TV.

A Koi Masterclass Tour for
UK Koi Enthusiasts

Martin first visited and started selling koi from
Japan in 1981. He created Tewin Mill Fish Farm and
Water Garden Centre in the UK, which became the
largest importer of Japanese koi in the 1990s. He
helped create Koi Ichi Ban and then TMI (Tewin Mill
International). In 1999 he moved to Niigata and was
the first westerner to live in Mushigame for three years
and then in Ojiya for over seven years. In 2000 he
Martin Symonds.
created Japan Koi Export, working closely with the
breeders on a daily basis throughout this period. Both
Shigeyoshi Tanaka (Maruju Koi Farm) and Manabu
Yamazaki (Yamasan Koi Farm) lived in the UK with
Martin to learn English. He also started in 2000 Koi
Masterclass which has grown into Koi Masterclass
Tours. He has taught English classes to the breeders in
Ojiya. He’s also been promoting koi and writing articles
in all the leading koi magazines worldwide about the
breeders since 1994. He started KoiVision TV in 2019
and over the last 40+ years, hundreds of koi enthusiasts
have joined him on buying trips and he has shipped
hundreds of thousands of koi around the world. His
relationship with the breeders is unique, which allows
him to give people an enjoyable Masterclass Tour with
a distinct insight into the breeders’ histories, working
life and Japanese culture.
This year’s Koi Masterclass
Tour will be visiting all the Today the koi industry and hobby has developed into
leading Koi Farms and see
1000s of high quality koi a multi-million pound industry and grown out of all
from the top breeders. recognition from the early years when the industry and

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