This year was the second time we manned a JBL booth at the most important professional koi breeder show in Tokyo. Between my specialist discussions with breeders and visitors from all over the world I, of course, found a little time to view the koi on show. About 1800 koi were shown and evaluated. The 81 judges went around in groups and viewed all of them.
With so many koi this took more than one day! But before all the koi could be evaluated individually it was time for the election of the overall winner (Grand Champion). The Grand Champion is usually found amongst the big koi with a body length of 80-95 cm. All the judges parade past the top koi in the running from this size category in single file and choose their favourite. This is noted down on a small piece of paper and thrown into the head judge’s letter box, which is shown around at the beginning so that everyone can see that it is EMPTY. Since the first round of election rarely gives a clear decision, a second round, and often a third or a fourth round takes place. Only then, after all the votes have been counted, is the Grand Champion decided. Then at the latest it becomes apparent why there are 81 and not 80 judges. This prevents a stalemate situation. When we found out that the Grand Champion was sold for US$ 300,000 to a Chinese citizen (the exact price is, of course, kept secret), it became clear why the letter box is always shown around to everyone at the beginning to show it is empty. Any attempt to influence the decision has to be eliminated.
It’s somehow strange that the election of a koi is conducted more fairly and impartially than the election of a government in some countries...
