OUR JAPANESE BREEDERS
Respected farms. Generations of expertise.
One shared homeland.
Every Japanese koi we sell traces back to one of our partner
breeders in Niigata Prefecture, the mountainous region of
central Japan that has been the heart of Nishikigoi breeding for
over two centuries. The cold winters, pure mountain water, and
natural seasonal cycles of Niigata produce koi with deep
coloration, strong immune systems, and the kind of body
development that comes from being raised the way nature
intended.
Each farm we work with has its own specialties, its own
bloodlines, and its own story. Each one represents generations
of accumulated knowledge passed down within the same family or
community of breeders. When you buy a Japanese import from us,
you'll know exactly which farm produced it, because that
lineage matters.
We're actively expanding our relationships with Japanese
breeders, with new farms being added as we grow. This page will
grow with us.
HIROI KOI FARM
Location: Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture
Founded: Around 1938
Specialty: Goshiki, Ginrin Goshiki, Doitsu varieties, Gosanke
(Kohaku, Sanke, Showa), Ochiba Shigure, Kujaku
One of the most established koi farms in Niigata, Hiroi Koi Farm
has been breeding koi for nearly 90 years across three
generations of the Hiroi family. The farm spans nearly 100,000
square meters and produces over 40,000 koi a year.
Hiroi is best known for their award-winning Goshiki and Ginrin
Goshiki, which regularly win prizes at Japanese koi shows.
They're also one of the relatively few farms producing a wide
range of Doitsu (scaleless) varieties to a very high standard.
The farm's reputation is built on something unusual in the koi
world: breadth combined with consistency. Most breeders
specialize narrowly. Hiroi produces a broad range of varieties
and maintains high quality across all of them.
SUDA KOI FARM
Location: Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture
Run by: The Suda family
Specialty: Hirenaga (long-fin/butterfly koi), Ginrin varieties
Suda is one of the only farms in Japan dedicated to breeding
world-class Hirenaga, what's commonly called butterfly or
long-fin koi. While Hirenaga aren't especially popular in Japan,
they're enormously popular internationally, and Suda has built a
global reputation as the breeder to go to for high-quality
long-fin koi.
What sets Suda's Hirenaga apart is that they're not just
butterfly koi, they're proper Japanese koi with butterfly fins.
The farm produces Hirenaga across many traditional varieties
(Kohaku, Sanke, Showa, Hariwake, Platinum Ogon, and more),
bringing the same selection standards to Hirenaga that other
breeders bring to standard-finned koi. The result is butterfly
koi with the body conformation, color, and pattern quality of
traditional Japanese imports, just with long, flowing fins.
All of our Hirenaga come from Suda. Every long-fin koi you see
in our inventory traces back to this farm.
OTSUKA KOI FARM
Location: Koguriyama, Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture
Founded: 1962
Specialty: Asagi, Goshiki, Ki Utsuri, Kage Shiro Utsuri, Aka
Matsuba, Ochiba Shigure, Budo Goromo, Kawarimono
Otsuka Koi Farm has been breeding for over 60 years and is
widely regarded as one of Japan's leading specialists in Asagi,
the blue-scaled variety considered one of the foundational koi
types. The farm is also recognized for its work in preserving
and refining less common varieties like Ki Utsuri and Aka
Matsuba.
Otsuka is the kind of breeder serious hobbyists go to when
they're looking for something other than Gosanke. While many
farms focus heavily on Kohaku, Sanke, and Showa, Otsuka has
built a reputation by producing exceptional examples of the
varieties, that in the
right pond, can be the most striking fish in the water. Their
koi are known for being unusually hardy and well-formed.
MARUHIRO KOI FARM
Location: Minaminigoro, Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture
Run by: Hironori Maruhiro
Specialty: Gosanke (Kohaku, Sanke, Showa), Hikarimono,
Kawarimono, Chagoi, Ochiba, Soragoi
Maruhiro Koi Farm is run by Hironori Maruhiro and is one of
Niigata's most respected breeders for a single reason above all
others: size. Maruhiro koi grow big. The farm specializes in
producing koi with strong body conformation, broad frames, and
the kind of long-term pond presence that doesn't fade as the
fish matures.
The farm produces an unusually wide range of varieties, Gosanke
alongside Kawarimono and Hikarimono, and is particularly
well-known for jumbo Chagoi, Ochiba, and Soragoi. These earthy,
large-bodied koi are favorites among collectors who want fish
with personality and presence rather than show-perfect patterns.
Maruhiro is often described as one of the first and last stops
for buyers in Niigata, because of the sheer variety and volume
of quality koi available at any given time.
MARUDO KOI FARM
Location: Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture
Run by: The Hirasawa family (third generation)
Specialty: Showa, Kohaku, Sanke, Asagi, Hikarimono, Karashigoi,
Chagoi
Marudo Koi Farm has one of the most interesting backstories in
modern Japanese koi breeding. Hisashi Hirasawa, who founded
today's iteration of the farm, spent 18 years training under one
of the legendary figures of Japanese koi breeding before taking
over Marudo from his father in 1987. He brought that training
back to the family farm and developed the Marudo bloodline,
which has become a respected name in its own right.
Marudo's Showa, Kohaku, and Sanke regularly compete at the All
Japan Koi Show, and the farm's culling discipline is famously
rigorous: of approximately 1,500,000 Showa fry hatched each
year, only about 5,000 are kept past the first cul, roughly 1
in 300. That number gives you a sense of just how brutal
Japanese culling can be at the top end of the industry.
The farm is now in its third generation, with Hisashi's son
Toshihiro continuing the work.
LOOKING FORWARD
Our relationships with these breeders are the foundation of
everything we're building. As we grow, we plan to add more farms
to our sourcing, bringing new bloodlines, new varieties, and
new stories to our customers.
Long-term, our goal is to develop direct relationships with
Japanese breeders rather than working through importers. That
will take time, repeated visits to Japan, and the kind of trust
that's only built over years of doing business honestly. But
it's the direction we're heading. The koi industry in Niigata is
built on personal relationships, and we want Waterwheel to
eventually be part of that network.
When new breeders join our sourcing list, this page will be
updated to reflect it. Every farm gets named. Every fish stays
traceable to its origin.
That's a promise.