The Legend of Ubasuteyama....a famous Japanese folktale

The story of Ubasuteyama has been used to enforce morals of taking care of the elderly and to be a dutiful son (or daughter). In one story, the dutiful son from a poor family took his aging mother to a mountain on a snowy day, but decided to bring her home despite local customs of leaving aging mothers on a mountain to die alone. In the story, the local Daimyo heard of the incident and asked everyone to come up with an idea of taking care of their aging mothers.


Long time ago in a poor remote village, elderly on their past sixty has to be taken to the mountain and be abandoned. A mother on her sixties said to her son " My son, I'm already sixty. It's time for me to be thrown away in the mountain". Hearing what his mother said, there was bitterness on his face. It's such a great courage to take her to the mountain and desert her. " I can't be cruel to you, mother" he said. " The old woman next door and the old man next block were already taken to the mountain, so you have to take me also. It is a regulation in this village that old people had to be taken to the mountain." Upon hearing that he was forced to do what was asked of him.

He carried his mother on his back, trudged through hills and valleys until he was deep in the mountain, far away from all human habitation. He brought her down under the shades of trees. At the moment of parting, the son was hesitant to leave his mother alone until the sun started to sink. "It will soon be dark, she said. “All the time you’ve been carrying me here. Hurry and get home safe". Saying so, she bid him farewell, bowing with her palms together. Left alone in the mountain, the old mother had no means of returning home over fields and hills.

The son can hardly take a step away from his mother feeling so guilty of letting her die there. Not far from the place where he left her, it began to get darker and he lost his way. While looking for the way home, he stepped on twigs scattered on his way. He eventually thought that his mother dropped them one after another to serve as signs on his way home. There was so much pain in his heart after knowing that even in such a difficult situation and facing her own death, his mother has not abandoned him even if he has abandoned her. The son hurried back to his mother, took her back home and hid her in his barn.

Several days later

 

He hid her in his barn

The lord ordered his villagers to make a rope out of ash.
The son told his mother "The lord ordered us to make a rope out of ash. We tried it but it's impossible. If somebody can't do it, we will have to pay more tribute to him."
"My son. It's a piece of cake. I'll teach you." The young man made a ring of straw rope, put it into salt water, dried it and burned it as he was told to do. Then, he carefully brought it to the lord.

"You are a skillful man. It's wonderful. I'll give you a more difficult question.
This is a stick. You must tell me which end of this is the root and which end is the bough in a few days."
He took the stick back to his house.
The young man was at a loss with the stick and asked his old mother for advice.
"It's a very piece of cake. You only have to bring a basin full of water."
The young man prepared the basin and put it into the water.
"Look! One end in the water is the root and the other end up the water is the bough."

The young did the same thing in front of the lord and he was admired.
But the greedy lord did not give up to give a more difficult question.
"You're a very clever man. I will give you the most difficult problem. You must make a drum that will make a sound without being beaten by a man."

He came home pale with a drum and went to his mother for help.
"That's very simple. You only have to get a few bees in the mountain.
The mother loosened the leather of the drum a little, put the bees into it and fastened it again. The drum began to produce sound without being beaten.

The young man handed the sound drum to the lord.
"You are great, young man! Did you solve the three difficult problems by yourself?"
"My lord, forgive me for cheating. The truth is... it's not me but my old mother who solved them. I know that you gave an order to throw away the elderly in our village, but I couldn't do such a cruel thing to the person who had loved me more than herself. After trying to leave her in the cold depth in the mountain, I found the twigs she dropped one after another to serve as my guide home and so I got back to her, brought her home and hid her in my barn. She solved all the difficult problems you gave me. It is to say that the elderly know more things than the young, though they cannot work harder."
The lord silently thought a second and said "Young man, you are right. I was wrong to misjudge the elderly. From now on no more taking the old in the mountain to die and instead, I want everybody to take good care of the old very well."
Ref:

http://writing.wikinut.com/Legend-of-Ubasuteyama-,-a-famous-Japanese-folktale/1gep0jqy/

Sumoranchu Sittitanyakran.....

Affectionately known by his name Sumo and a soft spoken giant of a man, Sumo is one breeder that I been wanting to visit for a few years now. He is a business man by trade dealing in health related products and his free time is spent managing his fishes which are all housed in 15 tubs on the roof top garden of his home.

Sumo started out playing ranchu as a student and refined his craft along the way and all in all he had 15 odd years ranchu experiences.

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoy this trip to Bangkok...the food and the hobbyists I met are great and I get to learn much from Sumo especially the genetic side of breedings. Here is a breeder who is very confident in his fishes and have in depth feel of what might come out in his pairing of his seed fishes. Like quite a number of hobbyists and breeders in Thailand, Sumo is very into Okayama fishes especially Kashino. He have deep respect for Master Kashino and have glowing words of Kashino fishes and how he uses Kashino bloodline to develop his own line. From the three spawns I saw at his home...the uniformity in type and high percentage of good identical large tails are exemplary. I hope I have many chances to visit Mr Sumo again over the coming years and learn from this young master of his ranchu crafts.

All Thailand Ranchu Show 2103.....

 

 

It was with much deliberation and after much consultaion with my Thai friends that I decided to attend the 2013 All Thai Ranchu Show. Also on the agenda was the idea to visit some ranchu breeders. The political upheavals have caused much anxieties, traffic jams and escalated violence and the comp site was just 10 minutes from a university where students fought with police, someone got shot and a bus was burnt.

Nevertheless the only event I saw was this huge colum of cars all carrying the Thai national flag and from what I was told...they were heading to one of the TV Station to exert pressure on the Television Centre to broadcast their grievances.

According to the All Thai President Nattavut, there were much thoughts by the show committee deliberating whether to go ahead or to cancel this annual event as fear for safety of contestants and visitors is a heavy responsibility. Also will the turnout and participants be a dampener. As the event unfolded, entries dropped about thirty percent and instead of the two hundred odd bowls for this annual affair, this show only garner 150 bowls...taking into consideration the crisis facing the nation, those in attendance and participating must be true blue ranchu keepers.

Below are the winners and as the show was held in door with artificial lightings...the photos weren't well taken...my apology and also my photo skills are just click...click....click.

                                          Oya Class Winners.....

 

 Nisai Class Winners......

 

 

                                 Tosai Class Winners...

                           Small Tosai Class Winners....

 

 

 

 Junior Tosai Winners.....

 

The Oya winner and the Grand Champion Mr Prapun....

The Stork Came Early....Breeding Season 2014.....

Storks are considered harbingers of good fortune. In Germany, they are known as “adebar,” meaning “luck-bringer.”

I ran three spawns as a prelude to Breeding Season 2014. In a satiated way I am thankful that my knee replacement was a success and I am looking forward to the breedings ahead.

I redo my setup to make spawning more efficient and have managed to delay hatching of eggs to 4/5 days....tho' not as good as what the Japanese breeders are experiencing...5/6/7 days hatching of eggs...I am contented that at least eggs are not prematurely hatched at 2 1/2 days which is the norm in our climatic condition.

I did six spawns and culled three away because of poor trait issues....yes selective breeding and strong determination to cull strictly so that only fries of a certain standard can populate and be used for future breeding or for other hobbyists to enjoy. Self enforced discipline is a strong medicine and as breeders we must be mindful of those commercial entities who take much risks in dollars and manhours to import ranchu to sell....we must respect and show much consideration to fellow commercial ranchu farms.

Spawn A @ 32 Days

 

Spawn B @ 28 Days

Spawn B went through a bout of severe illness and I culled many away.

 

Spawn C @ 21 Days

After two rounds of culling and by final cull maybe and hopefully a good handful remain

 

Looking forward to more breeding and hopefully a fruitful Breeding Season 2014.

Mr Prapun Magnificent Oya.....

a Kashino I been making short trips to Thailand for ranchu farm visits and to procure new fishes for my breeding program. There are so much to see and learn visiting all the various farms, breeders and friends especially new friends that I get to know who share the same ranchu passion. Recently one keeper really fascinate me with the way he groom a young Tosai(2012)....a Kashino that he bought from Mr Ae Ranchustar .

In 2012 this fish won Tosai East Ozeki at the prestigious annual All Thai Ranchu Club Competition.

This year because the fish is already so big,  it graduated to the Oya Class skipping the Nisai Class altogether. In Oya Class competition, this Kashino won 1st three times and will be entered in this upcoming All Thai Ranchu Club Show this December 1st.

Below is the development of the fish as kindly shared by the owner Mr Prapun.....

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Mr Prapun feed eight times a day using timer and he also feed live red worms, He keep his fishes on the roof garden of his factory and I learned he is the boss of a motor generator company servicing the factories in Thailand. His tub size is about 170 by 130 Cm and depth varies depending on age...young ones in 20 cm and bigger fishes in 30-35 cm.

 

 Some of his other fishes.....

 

 

All Japan Ranchu Show 2013...

This year All Japan Ranchu Show was held at Tokyo Meiji Park. The Oya Class was won by Master Kazunari Saito and if we recall, this fantastic groomer/keeper have won the Oya class on numerous occasions with his almost white majestic Oya. My observation this year is the head growth even amongst the younger competitors is very impressive and like in all past All Japan Ranchu Shows, the magnitude of so much quality and quantity on display is just "mind boggling". Also impressive...like one Singapore hobbyist's friend pointed out that in his 10 odd years playing ranchu he have not seen such a finely balanced, well endowed and powerfully swimming fish as the Tosai winner by Akira Sato of Ehime.

 

References:

(1)http://nichiran.net/

(2)http://www.youtube.com/user/kaederanchu?feature=watch

Thailand Home Visit...Mr Louis Siri Prapakul

It has been a while since I visit Thailand for ranchu farm visits and to procure new fishes. Understandably so as after a recent knee replacement and being "no more young"...the recovery takes longer.

I been following from a distance.... mainly through the internet and especially on Facebook, the  various Thai Ranchu breeders and their fishes. There are so many good Thai passionate breeders and many are actually hobbyist breeders with day job or businesses to run...breeding and promoting ranchu is a hobby.

Recently I was offered a few Japanese imports for my breeding programme. On a hunch, I decided to make a day day trip to pick them up and hopefully have the time and opportunity to visit one or two farms along the way.

As day trip are very much a rush affair,  I only managed to visit Mr Louis Siri Prapakul. Mr Louis is a home breeder/keeper, a self employed  businessman having his own plastic moulding factory and breeding ranchus is his hobby. I have been following the development of his 2013 spawns and I very much like the quality and consistency in the breeding. Mr Louis is a soft spoken, unassuming ranchu keeper with an ever ready smile. Both side of his house were lined with tubs..approximately 20 tubs in all and all filled with beautiful ranchus and some of his this year spawns.


He uses tap water that he age overnite and he does not use any water conditioner. Mr Louis mentioned if he need to have fresh water fast, he will resort to using hypo crystals. Mr Louis asked me whether we use water conditioner in Singapore and I said it is a must as most of us are apartment dwellers and wouldn't have the space nor the right amount of Sunlight to age the tap water.

When  Mr Louis goes about showing his fishes in the basin, he will wash the basin clean with tap water and he will use a newly washed basin for every tub. By doing that, he eliminate the risk of cross contamination. I believe that is a very good discipline to pick up and practice whenever we need to show our fishes.

This is how he cultivate his brine shrimp...using inverted black plastic bottles. Thai fine duckweeds and  Mr Louis packaging some fine Thai duckweeds for me to bring home.

This is his cull pond where he throw all his culls...We have to respect breeders who have that kind hearted tendency to let culls have a chance to live their lives in a safe and  peaceful environment. I know of some great goldfish keepers who refused to breed because he cannot reconcile his conscience with the reality of destroying culls so that the better ones have a better chance of growing.

I am comfortable throwing away fries below three weeks of age, but once they start attaining body shape and the fries start developing character....it is very hard to just throw them away. I have my outlets where I seamlessly slip all these culls and let nature decide how long they live in quiet ponds away from public eyes.

 

 I managed to procure a very good Junior from his 2013 breeding and I am thankful that Mr Louis allow it to leave his hand....

 

Ranchu...the early beginning.

When I was deeply involved in German Shepherd, I used to have a bloodline chart of the various bloodlines and how they were all related to the first German shepherd Horand von Grafrath SZ 1
It was a tedious, but immensely enjoyable task to trace all the various bloodlines looking at all the dogs from a genetic perspective and juxtapositioning against the physical pictures and recorded videos(Vcr). That is how I build my framework to really profoundly understand  German Shepherd dog and how to breed them using the acquired knowledge.

In ranchu as many understand, the founding father of modern day ranchu dated 100 odd years ago to the day that Master Ishikawa decided to create ranchu. There wasn't much write up...not in a language as universal as English and I am always searching for more historical background of ranchu and how it was created.

 

 

 

I chanced upon this youtube video and with the kind permission of the owner Yasuo san, I like to share some historical background on the ranchu as shown in the video and the write up that Yasuo san did....   

Beauty and The Beast...The Synergy of Two Extremes.....

As I dwell deeper into my ranchu journey and the more notes and ideas I exchanged  with fellow ranchu keepers, I am very inclined to look at ranchu swimming as a marriage of two extremes. Ranchu swimming must be "GRACEFUL"  and yet must exhibit "RAW POWER". In a nutshell it is like visualizing "Gracefulness" as the "Walk of a Japanese Lady in Kimono" and "Power" as exhibited by "Japanese Sumo Wrestler".

 

  

The Gracefulness of a Kimono-clad Japanese Lady....

There is this sense of poise and elegant in how a kimono-clad Japanese woman walk. The upper body is always steadfast and the head is held in an elegant manner. The mannerism is dignified and self confident....that in a nutshell is how the front end of the ranchu should exhibit when it swim...the swimming is "purposeful"...very "deliberate". The head movement while the ranchu swim is never "wishy washy"....where the head swing wildly. In a good ranchu swim...the front end is eleagant and graceful...very intentional in movement....the head movement should be surging forward and not swinging sideway. A poorly constructed ranchu will use his head/upper body to generate power to swim and this is mainly so because where the power to be in the back part of the fish is poorly engineered(thin peduncle, small tail, small oza etcs). This is very similar when we watch a tiring marathon runner trying to cross the finishing line....the arms are flailing and the head is bobbling...trying to generate the power...tiring power to cross the Finishing Line.

The "Raw Power" of a Sumo Wrestler.....

Sumo wrestler display huge strength and power in all their endeavours...be it the ceremonial thumping of their huge torso and legs before a competition or movements during a competition. In ranchu movement,  the display of power lies in how the ranchu swim...a correctly constructed ranchu will have in place all the pre requisites like good size peduncle and oza that can hold up a big tail in as elegant manner as possible. The powerful swing of a beautifully crafted ranchu is a sight to behold just like the power displayed by Sumo Wrestler in all their pomposity.

As I narrow my search to put words into picture to share my feel of what "Beauty and The Beast" is like, Master Hiroshi Noguchi AJRS Oya is a fine example of what is elegant and yet powerful. Love how the ranchu carry its tail and the size of the oza....spellbinding/mesmerizing and powerful tail movements!!!

 

The above clip is taken from the original video as in here.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dBD0ERG1HI

Some younger ones that I am raising....

GREEN WATER...

Sydney was fun...it is a very vibrant city with wind swept surfing beaches, a beautiful harbour and Sydney Opera House providing the backdrop for casual dining and wining. Last month I was preparing to leave my ranchus to nature's calling and head down to Australia for a week holiday. It was a planned seven days hiautus with the family leaving no one at home to tend to my fishes. Seven days with no water change for my fishes put me in a dilemma...I must have in place a system where I need not change water for seven days and meanwhile the younger fishes must be fed daily. Feeding is a must for the younger fishes as they are still at that critical stage of their growth, but feeding will foul the water with all the waste the fishes produce.

The only solution was green water, but I have not keep green for seven days without changing the water and the dark green of the green water on the sixth or seventh day could cause much damage like oxygen burn or even death. I experimented and managed to gauged the green hue over seven days and calibrated the lighting and feeding so that the water will remain lighter green for a longer period and when the green intensify, it will not be too green to cause oxygen burnt, I been back for 3 weeks now and all my fishes recovered from the ordeal. I had some redness on the older fishes, but overall the green water have helped maintain my fishes for seven days...without any casualty.

Some updates on this year fishes....

Breeding Season 2013

A good deed is never lost: he who sows courtesy reaps friendship; and he who plants kindness gathers love....Basil

I remember when I had my first German Shepherd litter...it was in a makeshift garage on swampland behind my parent's shophouse. It was in early 1983 and as much as I had picked up reading on dogs giving birth, I was absolutely unprepared. When the mother dog went into gestation, I was both thrilled and wild with excitement, but I was also  ill prepared to deal with the mammoth task ahead... my dog gave birth to 9 puppies. In human terms..it is like a mother giving birth to triplets. I was very fortunate than as my Primary School teacher, Mr KY Chan was a reknown German Shepherd breeder and one phone call to ask for advice, found him rushing to my aid. It  was almost midnite and KY(as he was fondly remembered) taught me (with his fatherly kind of exuberance) my first lesson in breeding. He taught me how to clean the umblical cord with Iodine and how to tie the cord and vividly... I remembered he said "tie with red string as red is a lucky sign for birth".

 

I am also very fortunate in having friends in ranchu who are very kind and supportive in my pursuit of improving my grooming and breeding skills. In many ways because of time factor... when we have full time job and have to adjust and quicken some of the daily ranchu husbandry chores... advices and know hows shared by friends like Wee Yap, and a few others have helped me tremendously. Looking back when I first started breeding in 2007 and invited a few ranchu friends to my house to view my first amateur spawn....vividly I still remember how I fumbled through my first brine shrimp hatchery and how those friends pointed out that a few black babies got only one eye.

It is a long journey since then....breeding and gathering spawns after spawns. Year in and year out, I counted more than 30 spawns of various sizes that I did and I am still humbled by all the make up of the various spawns, their development and growth as I track as many of my self breds and try to improve and learn from my mistakes. Breeding is not a one size fit all nor does it entail continous success after one successful spawn...in an animated sense, it is like the game of snake and ladder... learn to avoid the snakes and climb the ladder. I am also humbled knowing some who has been breeding way longer than me...breeder like Wee Yap who bred more than 100 ranchu spawns and if taken into account the other goldfish varities that he bred and continously breed, it would have run into a few hundred spawns...somebody unassuming with deep in-depth knowledge and breeding skills who willingly share his experiences. Wee Yap famous quote "I am still learning"reminds me of how one should conduct oneself with humility.