Koi hobbyist interview　Kota Nozaki (Niigata)

The university student captivated by Sanshoku aspires to become a koi breeder
“Preserving the lineage of local producers for the future”〈Part1〉

It’s rare for our magazine to receive postcards from teenagers, and coupled with the sender’s address being Niigata, we couldn’t help but wonder, “What kind of boy is this…?” Amidst such thoughts, I met Kota Nozaki at a booth during the 12th International Young Koi Show held this year.
“I am renovating the pond during Golden Week.” Two months after hearing those words, on June 21st, I visited Nozaki’s home in Tsunan Town, Nakauonuma District. The neatly organized and cohesive setup behind his house felt like a secret hideaway, reflecting a boyish charm. Beyond his passion for Nishikigoi, his innocent and earnest love for the fish shone through in his unassuming demeanor.
Here, we introduce the tranquil space of Nozaki, who has dreamed of becoming a Nishikigoi breeder since kindergarten.

The thawing pond sparked their interest in raising koi—

At three, they first touched them, then flourished in a new pond.

― I heard you graduated from high school this past March and started attending Niigata University in April. Was that because of the “Nishikigoi Study Center” (featured in the June 2024 issue)?
Nozaki: Yes, that’s right. Until around my second year of high school, I was considering either working at a koi farm right after graduation or studying aquaculture at a university with a fisheries-related program. But when I learned in 2023 that Niigata University had established the Nishikigoi Study Center, I quickly changed direction in the spring of my third year and decided to enroll there. That said, while the center’s official activities start in the third year when students join a professor’s lab, I’ve been in touch with Professor Hasegawa (Director Haseo Hasegawa) for a while now, and he’s been very kind to me.
― You’re so passionate about Nishikigoi that you considered becoming a koi breeder right after graduating from high school. How did you first come to love Nishikigoi?
Nozaki: My grandmother’s house was close to my home, and there was a pond there used to melt snow. Back then, it had black and orange koi, and I think I became hooked while feeding them. When I look at old photos, I even found pictures of myself at around three years old taken at Nishikigoi no Sato (Ojiya City), so I must have loved Nishikigoi since then.
― So were those koi in the pond meant for eating?

Nozaki: I think my great-grandfather just liked koi, so he kept them as ornamental fish.

― It seems you were involved in loach research in high school, and your work was featured in the local newspaper. Does that mean you like all kinds of fish, not just koi?
Nozaki: I’ve tried keeping various types of goldfish and small tropical fish—pretty much all kinds of ornamental fish—but I ended up giving up on them one by one to focus solely on koi (laughs).
― After experiencing various things, in the end, what remained was koi, wasn’t it?
Nozaki: Rather than that, it’s more like koi was always the main focus from the beginning. The other ornamental fish were just like snacks—something I kept casually for fun. The foundation has always been koi.
― When did you start keeping koi yourself?
Nozaki: I think it was probably a birthday present when I was around five years old. There’s a farm produce market nearby, and in early spring, they sell culled koi—the ones that didn’t make the cut—at a low price. That’s how it all started for me, with one of those discounted koi.
This area, Tsunan and Tokamachi, is one of the heaviest snowfall regions in Niigata Prefecture, so many people have snowmelt ponds. To add some color to their ponds, they often keep Nishikigoi in them. That’s why there’s a decent demand for lower-grade koi around here.
― Did your parents originally have an interest in koi as well?
Nozaki: They help take care of the koi, but they basically have no interest in them. It’s more like they’re being forced to listen to me talk about it.