The first commercial importation of Nishikigoi in the UK was made by the late Mr. Gooding of G. H. Richard & Company in the London area during 1966, the shipment was made by Kamihata Fish Industries Ltd from their Chiba depot.
In the following year, the late Mr. Colin Roe of Shirley Aquatics near Birmingham imported Koi to his premises and built quite a name for ‘Koi Carp’ – as they were then known to the very small band of enthusiasts interested at the time. Incidently, Mr. Roe, together with Mr. Evans, also now deceased, wrote and produced the first ever publication in the English language on the subject of Nishikigoi, simply entitled ‘Koi’.
Soon afterwards the UK importers started to increase in number – Robinson Fisheries in London, L. Cura & Co. in Hemel Hempstead, StapeleyWater Gardens in Cheshire, Aquatic Nurseries in London and from there the list increases rapidly. It should be recorded that these companies were the true pioneers of the hobby in the UK and thanks must go to these people for bringing Nishikigoi to the attention of the British fish keeper, and thus by doing so, provided a new variety to the traditional British garden pond which was previously a home for goldfish, shubunkins and orfe etc.
Equally important was the formation, in 1970, of The British Koi-Keepers’ Society who pioneered the hobby from an enthusiasts viewpoint. The Society has grown over the years and nowadays has Local Sections in most areas of the UK. This growth in the membership is directly due to the hundreds of hard working members who have given time and labour, totally free of charge, in order to serve the membership at large. Today the BKKS has it’s own Judging and Standards Committee, Emergency Helplines for members, a National Show Committee who are responsible for staging the annual BKKS National Show, plus many Committees who run the Local Section Memberships to arrange monthly meetings, pond visits, intersection visits and their own annual Koi shows.
The UK has also several other independent Koi Societies, notably The Yorkshire Koi Society; The Midland Koi Association; The East Midlands Koi Club; Heart of England Koi Society; North Lincs Koi Society; Wessex Koi Society; South of England ZNA Chapter and the recently formed Northern Koi Club.
During the turn of the decade 1979/81, the interest in the hobby of Koi keeping in the UK began to accelerate at an unforeseen pace. Around this time the majority of outlets where one could buy Koi consisted of garden centre outlets, water garden centre outlets, small back garden businesses and aquarium shops, usually selling other varieties of pet fish and accessories. Since the early days many more specialist Koi companies have formed in the UK bringing better Nishikigoi to enthusiasts all over the country. Companies such as Infiltration, Harrow Koi, Koi Water barn, Shirley Aquatics, The Real McKoi, Japanese Water Gardens, Clearwater Koi, D.J’s Koi, World of Koi, Quality Koi, Cascade Water Gardens, Selective Koi Sales, Q.S.S, Cotswold Koi and Cleveland Koi to name but a few.
1985 saw the first ever UK Dealers Show, ‘Nishikigoi 85’ held at Nottingham and organised jointly between Infiltration and Japanese Water Gardens. This event brought the Japanese-style Show to the UK, where Nishikigoi from different enthusiasts, for the first time ever, were entered in common water alongside each other in variety and size. Hitherto previous UK show rules would not allow Koi from different sources to be exhibited together for fear of transmission of disease. Fifty Japanese display ponds were imported for the event, the Judging was carried out on the evening prior to the show by a combination of UK enthusiasts, dealers and BKKS Judges together with enthusiasts and dealers from Japan. The event was a resounding success and a milestone in the UK hobby. After this, there followed many UK Dealer Shows, for the past few years these have been held in Telford, Shropshire.
There is no doubt whatsoever that those, in the UK, involved in Nishikigoi in the early days, in a minor hobby shared between a few friends sparsely distributed around the country, could ever have dreamed it would reach the numbers it has today. As the numbers continue to increase so does the demand for knowledge and up-to-date information, demand for high grade Koi is higher than ever with several private collectors owning specimens of exceptional quality. The hobby itself has improved in leaps and bounds in just about every aspect, especially in the methods surrounding pond design, construction, filtration and heating techniques etc.
Reading matter for the UK Koi enthusiast today can be found in several publications, notably ‘Rinko’ and ‘Nichirin’ (mentioned earlier) both printed in English on a monthly basis and available by subscription from Japan. UK publications include the high quality ‘Nishikigoi International’ magazine, capably edited and produced on a quarterly basis by Nigel Caddock, and the monthly magazine of the British Koi Keepers Society sent to all members. Nishikigoi are covered more and more in monthly aquatic publications such as Practical Fishkeeping and The Aquarist and Pondkeeper, in December 1994, a new magazine called ‘Koi Carp’ was launched on a monthly basis.
