Page 31 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 78

Above: instructions on the judging procedure and some Above:
The Lake Biwa Museum information on the variety ‘Golden Corn’ – now
provided interesting insights
into life around the lake over becoming popular. There are five types recognised,
the years and displayed depending on the strength of their Matsuba-like
various uses of the reeds. patterns and the presence/absence of kin-gin-rin
scales. After the meeting, we went outside to look for
transport back to our hotel – slight problem – there
was none laid on for us! Taxis were ordered but had to
come from Kusatsu, about a twenty-minute trip, a long
time to wait with a wind like a knife off the lake. Quite a
few of us headed back into the museum – better than
TAXIS IN freezing outside! Back at the hotel, we could finally
register and get to our rooms. A nice surprise: the
KUSATSU room was relatively large, much better than in Kyoto,
APPEARED and I managed to unpack quite a bit.
TO BE VERY Dinner had been organised at a restaurant about
fifteen minutes away from the hotel. Again, everyone
LIMITED IN was in a quandary as to how to get there. Taxis in
NUMBER Kusatsu appeared to be very limited in number. We
decided it was better just to walk rather than stand
around – it wasn’t too difficult to find the place,
although it was a relatively cold evening to be walking.
The welcome dinner was fun, with some lovely food in
very generous quantities and excellent company. Lots
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All the judges and Show
assistants gathered together
for a Pre-show meeting.
Right:
We walked to the restaurant,
and although it was cold,
seeing all the Christmas
lights cheered us up.
more friends to meet and greet, including Ian’s soul
mate, Shoji Saito who was also going to accompany us
on the Niigata Koi Shopping spree. After a delightful
evening, it was good to walk back to the hotel and
collapse – my feet were exhausted!
Saturday dawned clear and bright. Waiting for the bus
outside the hotel it did not feel especially cold but upon
reaching the showground, the wind off Lake Biwa was
brutal (it felt about –10ºC) and there was little shelter,
other than the tents. On with the job! After photographs
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