Ochiba Shigure

The Ochiba Shigure, usually abbreviated to Ochiba or even Ochi, is the most important (read: most popular) variety in the Kawari Moyomono class, under which it is classified in competitions. Kawari means "residual group" and Moyomono refers to patterned fish. This includes all patterned koi not yet classified in other patterned classes, such as Bekko and Utsurimono. The Ochiba Shigure is a cross between Soragoi (a solid gray-blue koi) and Chagoi (Cha is Japanese for tea, so this is a solid tea-colored (brown) koi).

Origin

Ochiba Shigure is often translated as "autumn leaves on the water." While this aptly describes the fish when you first look at it, it's not strictly accurate. The first specimen was bred in the early 1960s by Mutou Shouchi, a breeder located in southern Japan. I had the honor of asking this man personally about the origins of this variety. Ochiba, he told me, represents the falling leaves of the Japanese maple. So far, that makes perfect sense, as the brown pattern of this fish closely resembles it. So, I assumed Shigure meant "water." However, the breeder added this part of the name after Ochiba because a song called "Shigure" was often heard on the radio at the time, and Mutou Shouchi was very fond of it. As far as he was concerned, it had nothing to do with the variety's appearance, but it did sound appealing. Shigure is a term that refers to the rain that arrives annually from the north coast at the transition from autumn to winter, somewhat comparable to the "Mistral" in France. A better translation, which you might also hear for Ochiba Shigure, is "Raindrops on an autumn leaf."

To demand

A beautiful Ochiba must meet the following requirements. Besides a good body and skin quality, it's important that the brown pattern is evenly distributed across the koi (balance) and that the patterns are not too small. Ideally, the pattern should resemble that of a good Kohaku. The brown pattern may also appear at the base of the pectoral fins (motocha), but only on both sides (balance). A beautiful net pattern (anime) is also very important. This involves a dark line around each scale, which is created by the dark skin (fukurin) between the scales. Furthermore, the pattern should be evenly colored across the entire fish. This also applies to the underlying base color (grayish-blue).

Derived varieties

Of course, Ochiba Shigure is also available in Doitsu, GinRin, and Metallic varieties. GinRin, in particular, can be very beautiful on this variety and emphasizes the meaning of droplets on an autumn leaf. The metallic variety only emerged at the beginning of this century and is called Kochane Ochiba Shigure. There's still room for improvement and development. In recent years, a lighter variety has also been developed, the Koyo. In this case, the Soragoi is crossed not with a Chagoi, but with a Kigoi (Yellow Koi), resulting in a brown color that leans more towards yellow and a grayish-blue that leans more towards light gray. This variety is currently experiencing strong growth.