Glory ~ 榮耀

真正的榮耀將根深蒂固的散播，

虛假的幌子有如落花不會長久。

True glory takes root, and even spreads; all false pretences, like flowers, fall to the ground; nor can any counterfeit last long.
~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Ready to charge... 

With the festive mood in the air this time of the year, travelling on most roads is a bliss with much fewer cars. Presumingly many Singaporeans are having holidays overseas or just staying at home recuperating their energies for the new year ahead. I had my holidays too - just back from the cold winter in Korea for my family vacation. It was cold, indeed very cold in Korea and how I had wished that my Ranchus are hibernating in that weather!

Some of my local bred that would be
competing in the Nisai class

This is also the time of the year I got very excited to experiment on new techniques to condition my breeder Ranchus to spawn. Once again, it's the déjà vu of grappling with producing good quality and sizeable spawns. Alternatively, I could have taken the easier route to import Ranchus that are ready to spawn, but this is a last resort as I may have problem in maintaining my very own Ranchu bloodline in the long run.

The weather in Singapore is now optimal for spawning with huge temperature swings and very heavy rains, bringing about cooler days than most time of the year. I hope this would be the prelude to cultivating good quality eggs for the female Ranchus.  

Do look out for the Oozeki Annual Ranchu Show (OARS) on 1st January 2013. Now in our 12th year, this show will again be depleted of Oya entries due to a crisis two years ago. However, we have learned much and made good progress with quite some decent Nisai fishes to showcase. Hopefully these Nisais will close the gap for the Oya class in the following year.

It is a tough path to adhere to the traditional Japanese's show standard of categorizing our fishes by age rather than by their sizes, but we have learned to enjoy this challenge. The Ranchu art lies not only in keeping nice Tosai fishes but also in maintaining matured fishes beautifully year on year. All the Ranchus in the OARS are groomed from young imported BBR/CBR or locally bred in Singapore by our members. 

The OARS is a truthful and honest showcase of the Oozeki Club members' successes and failures in the Ranchu art for the year. To me, all the fishes that made it to the OARS are winners and a true pride and glory for their rightful owners.

Though competition entries are only restricted to club members, the public are most welcome to view and share their Ranchu journey with us in the OARS.

The time and venue of the show are:

1st January
12:00pm ~ 3:00pm
Telok Ayer Hong Lim Green CC
Upper Pickering Street


May I wish my readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! 

Preparation

Just Remember... if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.
~ Trevor Myers

Photo at 7 days old - the single tails
grew the fastest compared to the fancy tails

What's wrong with the world today? Everything from the economy to morale values sucks! The weather sucks too - wackier than ever before, switching between extreme warm and humid to torrential rain. Such drastic weather posed a great challenge for outdoor fish keeping - within moments, I can be as charred as a camp fire log and then became as wet as a fish. Nevertheless, there was some window of opportunity in between cooler days to spawn my Pearlscales just before the weather becomes too warm and humid again.

The main reason to breed my Pearlscales at least twice a year is to ensure that I have fishes from different parent combinations and maturing at different periods to backup the breeding plan. The other reason is to get done with Pearlscale breeding so that I can wholly focus on the TVR breeding in the beginning of the new year.

9 days old

I had collected about 15,000 Pearlscale fries from 2 spawns. There is an urgency to push them very aggressively to grow so that I can cull them fast. However, due to the sheer number of fries, their growth rate becomes uneven as the supply of daphnia is erratic due to the drastic weather conditions. The fries which are the fastest to grab the food are the bigger ones and they are usually the single tails. These are also the runts and bullies that would nib the tails or even devour their smaller, albeit more regal siblings if they are not culled away as soon as possible.

Now that they are 1 month old and their numbers reduced to about 300 odd, I can take a slight breather since they are big enough to eat small pellets and tubiflex worms. Nonetheless, I still need to cull them fast as the Pearlscale is one of the most greedy varieties that can literally eat till you broke.

Month-old blue-brown
Dragon Eyes Pearlscales
approx. 4 cm

Next year in May would be the much anticipated biennial Aquarama International Ornamental Fish Show. I would be even busier in the Aquarama year as besides grooming the BBRs, I would be preparing my other fishes for show too. Goldfish, Betta or Guppy, 6 months is a good time to start breeding them or sourcing for some young potential fishes to groom for competition. 

International Goldfish ~ 國際金魚

We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter, but our common humanities matters more.
~ Bill Clinton

International Judges brainstorming
- note the number of white bowls with Goldfish
for the first round of judging

Ranchu Champion

I was back not too long ago from the Inaugural World Goldfish Show in China-Fuzhou (15th ~ 17th September). With Alvin honoured as one of the 12 International judges of the Goldfish Competition, I was looking forward as a member of the Vermillion Goldfish Club entourage to support the show with our club's exhibits, but instead, found myself fully engaged as a translator for some of the International judges during the 2 days of intensive judging.

It was a great honour working with various Goldfish dignitaries, but a task that I was not mentally prepared as I am not a professional translator. Fortunately, the International judges were very accommodating of my translation. It was a great experience to witness the judges persevere to complete the judging of more than 2000 fishes under fatigue and time pressure - Everyone put their heads together and work relentlessly to solve various unforeseen problems arising from the complexities and logistics of running such a big show. It was also heartening to see the sincere mutual respect amongst the International judges in understanding and accommodating each others' aesthetic standards and judging criteria in this International congregation. Isn't this emblematic of the spirit of friendship and harmony of the Goldfish hobby?

Grand Champion Ryukin

Though there were various "hiccups" as expected of a relatively inexperience organising committee running their first International Goldfish Show, the grandeur and scale with which the motherland of the Goldfish showcase their proud Goldfish heritage is awe inspiring - many rare and beautiful varieties of Goldfish from different provinces of China graced the show and we were also very fortunate to meet up with some very famous Chinese breeders, who shared in-depth knowledges about Goldfish grooming and breeding. 

Rare blue brown fantail Pompom

It was a fruitful trip meeting old friends and making new friends. Till now I am still picking up the aftermath of the show - catching up on the backlog of tasks while I was away :P

I have also updated the Vermillion Goldfish Club website with more photos of our trip. Enjoy :)) !!!

Serenity ~ 心靈的寧靜

改變不可接受的，接受不可改變的。


Change what cannot be accepted and accept what cannot be changed.
~Reinhold Niebuhr

Hand-drawn TVR artwork -
metallic gold ink on Japanese tray

It is not every day that I could have the inspiration to let loose of my creativity. I need to feel calm and at peace before I can start working on my artworks. There is always this huge inertia to switch from a hectic life to work on my art pieces straightaway.

In my artworks, I strive for a style of simple elegance and spontaneity, which is very much inspired by happiness and inner peace - happiness in doing the things I love and feel morally right to do; inner peace in having a clear conscience and oblivious to the things that I cannot change, like how people persist with their own misguided speculations. I have learned to accept and disregard these distractions, for I have a lot more important things that I want to prove to myself than to others.

If the truth is deem too hard to believe, then let time do the work.  

Time never lies :))

Culling & Selective Breeding ~ 篩選與改良

It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion, to be secure of judging properly at first.
~ quote from "Pride & Prejudice" by Jane Austen.

Wouldn't it be great if we can judge and select our friends just from their phenotypic traits? We know it is not that straightforward as our intrinsic virtues should be valued above our extrinsic traits (ideally speaking). The fact is, it takes time to know someone and see who are our true friends :)) In the parallel context for selective breeding of livestocks, we tend to breed only animals with favourable physical traits, but in truth, genetics is far more than meets the eyes and it takes time for breeders to truly understand their bloodlines. 

One of my new creations - Pearl, Pompom or Dragon eyes?
the onus is on me to create a bloodline that is both healthy and
has good ornamental value...

In nature, culling is a definitive refinement process - by the fundamental law of nature, the weaker ones shall perish and the stronger ones will propagate their genes to ensure a better chance of survival for future generations. 

Big, broad and round lobed caudal fins, prevalent
in most Thai-bred Orandas is evidence in this
Chinese bred Oranda - a result of selective
breeding and outcrossing in the Thai Oranda bloodline

Selective breeding and culling of livestock by man is also a refinement process, but usually with the aim to enhance certain phenotypic traits. As such, the strongest ones may not necessarily be those we want to keep. Fancy Goldfish, like many pedigree animals bred for ornamental appreciation are "freaks of nature" that would not have been existed without the intervention of man, simply because their fanciful traits hinder their chances of survival in nature

One of my Okayama bloodline Female Tosai
with good colour depth and head wen
features.

In other words, selective breeding is about man meddling with mother nature, and so we can expect things to go awry. It is all too easy for breeders focusing on physical traits to neglect genotypic attributes like resistance to diseases, fertility and other genetical problems which are not easy to envisage, especially if the brood stocks are too young. Common examples in the human world are genetic heart disorders and the male pattern hair loss that manifest at a certain age. Hence, there is much wisdom in the age old adage that breeders should try to select their brood stocks from fairly matured individuals because their genetic attributes are more "stable".

Broad frame and big bone structure, rarely found
in the males of my bloodline makes this fish
one of the most favourable brood stock
candidates for next year's breeding

Back to the context of Goldfish breeding: besides resistance to diseases and fertility, it is important for the brood stock to process strong characteristic traits pertaining to its variety, having stable and good colouration as well as strong bones and finnage to balance and support its structure throughout its lifespan. Some very experienced Japanese Ranchu masters working for decades on their bloodlines know their bloodline so well that they could strategize the grooming techniques and growth for individual fishes for breeding or competitions. 

Sometimes, the breeder may hit a dead end and have to decide if it would be better off to outcross or restart from scratch than to delve in a vicious circle. Having said that, it should never become too easy to conclude that our bloodlines need major revamp without thorough analysis.

Inner Peace ~ 內心平和

我明白內心平和的那一天將是我看開一切的那一天。


The day I knew peace is the day I let everything go.
~ C. JoyBell C.

Inner peace is instrumental to bringing my hobby to higher level: When I fulfill my responsibilities in my job, I have the peace of mind to enjoy my hobbies without worrying about work commitments; When I exercise my duties in my family, I have the peace of mind to focus on my hobbies with full family support.




2012 Dragon Eyes Pearlscale


I also feel the peace of mind every time I completed a new breeding cycle, for it means I am assured the continuance of my bloodlines for the subsequent years. Ironically, I can no longer feel the peace of mind to travel abroad and leaving my fishes at home for too many days without worrying about them... my wife quipped that my "true inner peace" would be the day when I am totally free from keeping or breeding any Goldfish :))

Well, that I have to agree and the day will come when I am finally too old to breed Goldfish, but I have already felt so much inner peace that this hobby has brought me so many wonderful friendships. I am proud and confident to say that I have many good and truthful friends... I think I am really lucky to find inner peace amongst true friends and love ones :))

Insanity ~ 瘋狂

瘋狂是反復的做同樣的事情，但期待著不同的結果。
~ 阿爾伯特•愛因斯坦

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.
~ Albert Einstein

2012 Pearls - Many blue-browns 紫蘭花﹑五花龍睛珍珠鱗

I have never felt tired of breeding the Pearlscales and TVR all these years because every stage of progress becomes more and more challenging. Both breeds provide me with so much interesting insights about the Chinese and Japanese Goldfish Aquaculture. Sometimes, they can be so similar in different ways...  

I am extremely pleased with my Pearl breeding this year as I managed to revive the blue-brown morph that was once prevalent in my Pearl bloodline :))




Tosai 2012

Many a little makes a mickle ~ 積少成多

子曰:

學者自強不息，

則積少成多。

中道而止，

則前功則棄。

It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop ~ Confucius

Athough the TVR breeding this year falls short of my expectations, I find solace in having my TVR bloodline getting more stable over the years as more fishes in the spawns are converging to the traits I desire. The feeling of accomplishment as I reminisce about those earlier years of trial and error, learning the ropes and building the skills and knowledge step-by-step from basics.

In fact, many  wonderful things in life cannot be achieved in haste: trust, integrity, friendship, love and skills would have to be nurtured and mature through the test of time... I feel more confident now and fantasize about some interesting plans for my TVR in the following years... but before that, I must survive the pile of work from my day job.

Contrast ~ 對比

一個擁有邏輯思考的人與現實世界拼成了很好的對比。

Somebody who thinks logically is a nice contrast to the real world.

~ The Law of Thumb

I closed the chapter for year 2012 TVR breeding last week as it is getting too late in the year to spawn TVR. The tremendous efforts required to groom the BBR would become too much to cope when the workload in my day job ramps up by the middle of the year. Overall, I am glad with the improved consistency in features in the BBR but unfortunately, the overall quality of the fishes still fall short of my expectations. If only I could have a bigger spawn, I think the results will be much better.

For the past 4 months, I strive in vain to get a sizable TVR spawn. In fact, for the years breeding the TVR, this is a problem that keeps haunting me. I have come to accept that the low fertility of the TVR is attributed to genetic dead-end. Even when I had tried to out-cross to another breeder's line and avoid direct inbreeding as much as possible, the average spawn size for TVR is relatively much smaller compared to my Pearlscale. I reckon that in Japan, the bloodlines of TVR are still very closely related amongst different breeders.

2011 breeding - contrasting pair closer to the traits I aim for

In contrast, my Pearlscales are very fertile and never fail to overwhelm me with eggs. Within 3 days of conditioning the Pearlscales indoors for spawning, I have an egg glut!!! Very soon, I have to stop collecting Pearlscale spawns too.

 

Pearlie egg glut - collected on 30 April

Power & Dignity ~ 權勢與尊嚴

權勢好比一個淑女: 如果你必須告訴別人你有權勢，那你不是真正的擁有權勢。

~撒切爾夫人

Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.

~ Margaret Thatcher

Some of the BBRs are starting to change colour. They are also big enough to devour pellet food which provide a wholesome nutrition compared to a diet solely on bloodworms. While bloodworms are generally believed to promote head wen and streamline the body shape, the pellet food promotes bulk and "muscle", thus rendering the torso "strong and powerful". 

Nevertheless, the Ranchu keeper should beware the ill-effects of over indulging to attain size and power, for in the Law of Conservation of Nature, the exploitation and "abuse of power" will eventually backfire. A Ranchu should look strong, powerful and yet fluid and dignified in motion. Analogically to the human World, the cohesion of power and dignity is also very difficult to achieved in the Ranchu World. 

If we study the sumo wrestlers: they can be very agile despite their size and power, and that is how the art is truly respected. Extreme fatness lose out in agility while extreme power lose out in grace and dignity.  ;-)

Harmony ~ 和諧

藝術是與自然並行的和諧。

Art is a harmony parallel with nature.
~ Paul Cezanne

Having the water temperature ranging from 26˚C to 30˚C means that the Goldfish is in constant metabolic overdrive. The growth comparing the videos shot within a few days is exemplary of how fast the BBRs can grow in the tropical climate when given ample food.

The black-baby stage is a very critical stage because the foundations for resilience to diseases, future development of head wen and body structure, etc are established during this stage. After they changed colour, it may be too late to reinforce. The tropical warmth also expedite the process of colour changes for the BBR raised in tropical climates compared to BBRs in the cooler climates. As such, I am racing with time to push them very hard before their colour change.

Breeders residing in different climatic regions should not benchmark their growth rate too closely with each other. Making use of the "feel" from our experiences to develop grooming techniques that gel harmoniously with mother nature, things should not go too wrong.

Expectations ~ 期待

金玉其外，敗絮其中。
All that glitters is not gold.
~ a quote from the Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

The BBRs are nearly a month old. This is a critical stage where they will be undergoing dramatic changes over the next few months. The experienced breeder knows better than to jump to conclusion too early, for the changes that ensues could make one highly motivated one day and downright demoralized another day. Though higher expectations equate to higher disappointments, nevertheless, fishes seldom disappoint as humans do... 


Much of the pains of breeding the TVR can be alleviated by being humble and respectful, and be constantly appraising ourselves.

BBR Spawned in 27th FebruaryVideo taken on 25th March 

Looking for Consistency ~ 追求一致

如果不迷失，那就有可能永遠不會被發現。 

If you don't get lost,
there's a chance you may never be found.

~ Unknown author

BBR 2012: 27 February Spawn - photo taken on 22nd March

I wondered how I had managed to survive the past weeks. Work had been hell, but domestic matters just happened altogether. Nevertheless, I had squeezed in time to do the necessary culling and water changes for the BBR, usually late at night or in the wee hours of the morning. It's tiring but it's also how I keep my sanity in check amid the hustle and bustle of life.

Though there are more spawns this year, unfortunately, the fertility is not up to expectation. Perhaps the abrupt weather condition after the New Year messed up the biological clock of the seed fishes, inadvertently affecting the quality of the eggs. Until the reasons for successes/failures are known, I consider myself still in the stage of exploration as my results can never be consistent...

The next few weeks can be very busy again, depending on how things goes in the work place. Time permitting, I would embark on some experiments to collect more eggs. Otherwise, I would just make the best out of what I have and try do better next year.

Exceptions ~ 特例

自然界為每一條規律都按上了特例。

Nature provides exceptions to every rule.
~ Margaret Fuller

Local bred female F12KF02B3
good overall structure

1st choice - Local bred female F12YK01B1
Not much head wen, desired tail and tail seat

It is again the TVR spawning season. This year, I have prepared 6 pairs of seed Ranchus. So far, 4 females had spawned and amongst them, 2 are Oya fishes. 

If the eggs from these Oya fishes hatched successfully, it would be a new breakthrough for me - unlike the males, which I have no problem to breed for consecutive years, I had never been successful in breeding a female seed TVR successfully for two consecutive years. This is a very significant step in developing a bloodline, otherwise, I could only bet on the males to enhance the desired traits when I need to backcross to a prior generation.


I was also very excited when my first choice seed female are amongst the females spawned. This is a fish with my desired tail taste (Ogata) a tail bracelet, but unfortunately, it has almost no head wen. As such, I had crossed it with 2 males with good head wen.

Local bred male M12WW02B2

Though it is widely believed that the tail structure is inherited from the male fish while the head wen structure is inherited from the female fish, I reckoned that the rules of Nature are never that straightforward - there will always be exceptions. As far as I can, I try to select seed fishes with the strongest desired traits. Let's see how this spawn develop first before deciding to make more of the similar spawn combination.

Local bred male M12KF01B3

As per request by some readers, I would try my best to update my spawns in this blog. Please excuse me if I could not reply your mails in time during this busy period.

Goldfish Street of Hong Kong ~ 香港金魚街

朋友是你送給自己的禮物。

A friend is a gift you give yourself.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

So I visited Hong Kong for the 3rd time in 10 years. It was a short trip and purely a "Goldfish trip”, without having to worry about taking up family’s time :-). It was also a trip that I have long anticipated to catch up with my old hobbyist friend in Hong Kong. Moreover, with Alvin's company, the trip was already guaranteed to be hell of a good time with Goldfish and good food even before it started.

Goldfish monument candidly franking
a bikini poster advertisement

Somehow, Tung Choi Street in Mongkok, or better known as the “Goldfish Street” by the locals never fails to ignite my childhood euphoria of visiting LFS (Local Fish Shop). The LFS and Pet shops lined up along both sides of some 400 metres stretch of road selling canines, felines, fowls, amphibians, ornamental fishes and hobbyists’ accessories promise a great experience even for the window shopper. New shops have also sprouted in the upper floors of the street, orientated by splashy and prominent signboards. 

One of the few famous Tunghoi
"Tiger Oranda" in Lucky Aquarium

Eye-catching display of ornamental fish in one of the LFS

We also had the opportunity to visit the early morning Goldfish market. Just before 5 a.m. every morning, Goldfish vendors came with their truck loads of prepacked Goldfish and set up mobile stalls along the main road perpendicular to Goldfish Street. By 7 a.m., these mobile vendors would have packed up to make way for the hustle and bustle of the daytime traffic. The Flower Street and the Bird Street, adjacent to the Goldfish Street are also worth visiting. Like the Goldfish Street, both the Flower and Bird Streets boast a high concentration of shops selling very niche crafts and wares for the respective hobbies. Though many stores are plying the same goods, their businesses are well sustainable by the high human traffic and strategic location in the heart of Mongkok.

Mobile Goldfish market at 5 a.m.

Flower Street

We had a hearty time savouring the local delights near Tung Choi Street. The egg tarts and pineapple buns in one of the snack shops along Goldfish Street was simply fantastic to go with the local “Nai Cha” (奶茶 -> milk + tea). Two must-try dishes in Hong Kong are the local roasted goose (燒鵝) and “wanton noodles” (雲吞面). For the more adventurous, go for the “smelly toufu” (臭豆腐) at the end of the Goldfish Street – be sure to eat it while it is still hot!

Bird Street

Having fulfilled my long time wish to visit my friend after the trip in Hong Kong, I am now ready to spawn the TVR. Though this would be the 9th year that I spawn the TVR, it’s still the old patience game for some rain dance :) 

Year of the Dragon ~ 龍年

我打算永遠活著，或冒險嘗試至死。

I intend to live forever, or die trying.
~ Groucho Marx

A wood carving Goldfish artifact

This blog turns 3 years old today! Back then, many of my close friends couldn't believe how a man of few words could be blogging away. 3 years and totaling 104 blog postings - frankly, I am surprised too :)

Red is an auspicious colour for the Chinese

Time flies and the Lunar New Year is around the corner again.  From next Monday, 23rd January, the Year of the Rabbit will give way to the Year of the Dragon. The dragon is also a  very sacred and auspicious legendary animal in the Chinese culture, and it would be a very popular zodiac year for setting up new family and businesses.

As for me, What better way than to start the Year of the Dragon with a pair of Dragon Eyes Butterflies? I wish all a Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year.

新年快樂﹐萬事如意!!!

The Art of Patience ~ 耐心的藝術

耐心的秘訣:在同時間做別的事情。

The secret of patience is doing something else in the meanwhile.

~ author unknown

A couple of hours to work on
this anatomy of an aquarium rock

I love working with watercolour. This wonderful media empowers the artist to exploit transparency, colour layers and shadows to create natural effects in their works. Watercolour art, like the art of Ranchu, is also a lot about patience; starting from the lighter colour layers to the darker colour layers, Sometimes, waiting for the colours to dry before studying how best to continue with the painting. The visual effects created by different pigments, brushes, water quantity and paper texture in watercolour are always fascinating to explore.

My recent work: Chinese Ranchus

For the past few weeks, I've been spending a fair bit of time gazing at rocks and aquatic plants, engrossed by the simple beauty of which. These are the subjects that I always wanted to complement my Goldfish paintings. The natural contours of rocks and the fluidity of the foliage of aquatic plants are extremely pleasing to the senses.

As I feel the inspiration to paint again, I am patiently awaiting the right moment to spawn the TVR...

Trust ~ 信任

獲得信任比被愛是更大的恭維。

To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.
~ George MacDonald

This year's Oozeki Annual Ranchu Show (OARS) is a little disappointing: it is the first time in 11 years that we have not got enough fishes in the Nisai and Oya classes to showcase because we had a viral outbreak sometime ago that wiped out many of our members' fishes. It was a painful experience to lost so many fishes, but we have not lost the lesson and have learned a lot from the crisis. 

Unlike most shows where fishes are categorized according to size only, the OARS follows the Japanese benchmark of categorizing fishes by age. We hope some of the 50 or so Tosai fishes will be "graduating" as Nisai in the next OARS but we will still see the lack of Oya fishes in next year's OARS.

Team work in setting up

Regardless of good or bad results, the Oozekians feel proud to showcase our fishes in every New Year's day. After all, it is the Oozeki Ranchu Club's very own show and the show objectives is very different from that of Aquarama or even the Japan national level Ranchu event. Even in Japan, the objectives of the various Ranchu Club's internal shows are also very different from that of their national level competition. The later is about winning but the former, like the OARS is about learning and friendship - to learn the Ranchu art by improving our skills and bonding with fellow members. It is also a once-a-year opportunity where we try to share and promote the Ranchu hobby to people who wants to learn more about Ranchu keeping.

In this year's OARS, all the Ranchus were groomed from very small black/colour babies or bred locally in Singapore. Every year, the Oozeki Ranchu Club imports the economical and average grade baby Ranchus to make it affordable to most club members. Fishes are then allocated fairly to members through drawing lots. Though we cannot expect too much from buying average fishes and we try to showcase our best fishes we have, it is inevitable that some of the fishes with structural flaws will be field in the OARS.  Unfortunately, few people understands the true objectives of the OARS and expect to see all show grade Ranchus in every show bowls.

A fish with structural defects but
very well groomed by the owner

It is no miracle that the Oozeki Ranchu Club is able to hold our show for more than 10 years. The reason is none other than trust: trust is in the judging system that members will try their best to judge each others' fishes, even though they may make mistakes. Trust is in the categorization system by Ranchu age, where members will track and submit their Ranchus according to each age class; trust is in every member is committed and tried their best to help and attend the OARS, though we understand that some members do have genuine priorities on this day... and trust is in the passion that we can put on a show for more years to come... 

PS: The results of the OARS are published in the Oozeki Ranchu Club's official home page.