New Face Interview with the Promotion Association
Torii Nishikigoi／Mr. Takafumi Torii (Shizuoka)
Fascinated by Showa and Kujaku
Aiming for “Tategoi” to Share the Fun
While domestic membership in the Nishikigoi Promotion Association has been declining yearly due to factors like an aging population, “Torii Nishikigoi” from Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture, joined as a new member in July this year, the first in the prefectural branch in about 12 years.
Owner Takafumi Torii went to a university in Yamagata with a dream of becoming a car racer, but faced setbacks. It was then that he remembered the beautiful koi he had seen in his student days. He moved to Hiroshima to learn koi farming for three years. After that, he enjoyed koi as a hobbyist until he turned 50, when he felt, “If I don’t do it now, I’ll never get the chance.” His passion was rekindled. He named his business “Torii Nishikigoi” after himself and officially started as a koi dealer. With a focus on long-time contacts in Hiroshima, his motto is to sell “koi that are fun to raise,” and he handpicks each one.
From seeing Nishikigoi in Yamagata to becoming a hobbyist
Also trained in production work in Hiroshima
― You became a member of the Association All Japan Nishikigoi Promotion in July. Have you been involved with koi for a long time?
Torii : Yes. I started when I was in my late 20s. I’m originally from Iwata City in Shizuoka, but I went to university in Yamagata and worked part-time as an assistant for a local TV station. There’s an area called Jomyoji where many koi and goldfish dealers are located. Every spring, they have their first koi auction. I went with the camera crew to cover it, and I saw the koi and thought, “They’re so beautiful.”
― So that was the first time you saw koi in person?
Torii : A few days after the coverage, I went back to have another look. There were three koi shops there: Komabayashi Koi Farm, Ohki Koi Farm, and AbeKata Koi Farm. At first, I bought cheap koi for about 500 yen, but I killed them right away. I had no knowledge about keeping them back then; I put gravel in a 60cm tank and filled it directly with tap water without dechlorinating. After that, I started visiting Mr. Abe Katata’s place, talking with the owner, buying koi, killing them, repeating that cycle two or three times while enjoying keeping them.
― Why did you go to a university in Yamagata in the first place?
Torii : I wanted to be a car racer. I chose a university close to a racetrack because I wanted to work in that field someday.
― So you chose the university based on that?
Torii : Yes (laughs). I did car racing activities while attending university, but I decided to take a one-year leave of absence after six months. While doing various part-time jobs, someone introduced me to a shop involved in racing, and I got a job there after graduation. But I was naive about the world back then, always getting scolded, and things didn’t go well. While wondering what to do, I thought, “Now that I think about it, those Nishikigoi were beautiful…” I looked into working with koi on my computer and found that Mr. Konishi from Hiroshima (Konishi Koi Farm) was hiring. I immediately went for an interview and started seriously.
― That’s quite proactive, going from Yamagata to Hiroshima.
Torii : I was young back then (laughs).
― Did you put your dream of car racing on hold?
Torii : It wasn’t so much that I put it on hold; it was more like I couldn’t do it anymore.
― In that situation, your new interest in koi emerged because of your part-time experience, right?
Torii : That’s definitely true. At Mr. Konishi’s, I was assigned to the production department and worked there for about three years.
