One of the most asked questions I hear as a koi dealer besides do you eat them is how do you ship a koi? If I can remember back properly to when I first began with koi, it was a fascinating, puzzling prospect to me as well. After all, koi need water and doesn't water  play havoc with cardboard boxes? 

First of all, you don’t ship a koi. You fly them. If you shipped via a ship, the koi would be held in a container far too long with far too much maintenance required, increasing the adversity it would face. Until time travel is perfected, the only alternative is air cargo.

Today’s airplanes have specially controlled cargo holds for live animals. These areas are heated since the outside temperature at 37,000 feet is around -60º F. This is a snapshot of how koi get from Japan to the USA, but there are many detailed steps that take place long before a koi receives its boarding pass.

So, let’s follow this fish tale of travel. 

This is the story of a koi that was purchased from a Niigata breeder and all that happens before it arrives in its new home. 

Since these world-renowned koi breeders come from humble roots and are far removed from the international business language of English, I use a shipper/interpreter/breeder named Fujio Oomo. Fujio’s bilingual talents are vital. On the off chance that I’m touring Niigata or other regions on the hunt for koi solo, I employ the other universal language all the breeders understand. The calculator. 

The koi in question is a beautiful two year old, female, Budo Goromo that measures 18 inches. We’ve found her at Maruju Tanaka's Koi Farm and her price is fair, so we give the nod that we’ll take her. After we and the breeder photograph her, she is either returned back to the holding tank from which she came or placed in another one deemed for sold koi. 

Throughout the Niigata mountain region, there are several hundred koi breeders. One would think that with so many koi farms, competition would be fierce? Quite the contrary. Most of the Japanese breeders are friends and it's common for them to pull together to help when labor and time are at odds with one another. Fujio, although a shipping agent of some years, has his own new koi farm. His close friend, Nogami, has been around much longer. Together, they’ve found that partnering up on the duties surrounding shipping helps to expedite the process. And with koi that is imperative. 
 

During this trip to Japan, my own acquisitions and those I’ve done on behalf of specific clients have added up to about 100 boxes of koi. Now, that doesn’t mean 100 koi, it means 100 boxes. The Budo Goromo will most likely be packed with one or two other koi. Most times though, depending on the size of the individuals, they’ll be packed at a rate of five 14” to 16” koi in one 12" X 12" X 24” box. In the case of tosai or 5“ to 6” koi, as many as 50 may make it into one box. 

If it’s a winter buying trip, a sudden on-slaught of snow in the mountains could delay the truck from Niigata to Narita Airport. Or in the summer months, a severe heat-wave could add a level of stress to the koi that could be avoided . So, as simple as it sounds, a reliable weather report becomes very important. 

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Back at the breeders, the evening before of the agreed day, the Budo Goromo is netted and slipped into not one, but three 20” X 48” bags that are 3 mil thick each. The end result is a 9 mil thick triple bag. Joining the koi in its new temporary home is some specially prepared water. In most cases, about 35 lbs. of properly salted, ph-balanced, super-aerated cooled water. Pure oxygen is then pumped into the inner most bag thus inflating it. The end of the bags are then twisted tightly and a super tough rubber band is slip knotted and doubled to lock it up tight. Throughout the journey, the oxygen will be absorbed into the water giving our prized koi its two necessary elements. We're now ready for the box.

Depending on the size or number of koi, the box will be a multi-layered, moisture resistant, rigid material. Basically, high-tech cardboard. But in some cases where the koi is rather large, a special wooden crate is built to protect the koi while in transport. The bag holding our Budo Goromo is placed in the box and covered with a page from the daily newspaper to absorb any possible moisture. The box is then sealed with nylon reinforced packing tape. There, that’s one. Only 99 more boxes to go. 

In the instance that koi are being flown to the U.K. a vet will come to the breeder’s koi house and inspect the overall health conditions. Then a health certificate will be issued, but this is not required for the U.S. at least not yet. However, the U.S. Fish And Wildlife Commission will inspect the cargo at point of entry to make sure they are indeed koi and not an endangered or banned item. Additionally, they also verify that they were shipped in humane conditions.

As you can see, the hours before a shipment, breeders all over the Niigata area are gathering and packing koi for their rendezvous at Oomo’s farm. In the event that some koi must arrive a few days before the shipment date, they’re stored in Oomo’s holding tanks until its time to travel and then Nogami and others will show to help in the bagging and boxing procedures. It’s sort of like the early settlers showing up for a good old-fashion barn raising. Just imagine how heavy 100 boxes of koi with each weighing an average of 35 lbs is? A little help from you friends is a good thing.

It has now been five hours our Budo Goromo has lived in the calming darkness of the shipping box. She and the other koi have arrived at the cargo drop-off at Narita International Airport outside of Tokyo. No time is wasted.

They are stacked on a pallet and wrapped with shrink-wrap to hold them taut and moved into the special cargo hold for animals. The 777 starts to roll and we have liftoff. From here on out, our koi will have a smooth, cool 12-hour flight. They’ll journey North along China and the Bering Straits where they’ll cross the International Date Line and move back in time. There they’ll pick up the jet stream and really make some miles.

On my last trip, I witnessed our ground speed at 643 mph! It’s on to and over Anchorage, Alaska and Edmonton, Canada and then into New York’s Kennedy Airport. If they’re lucky, those on board with window seats just may see the Northern Lights as this traveler did! 
 

Upon arrival, our Budo Goromo and others are unloaded and taken to the airlines cargo area for U.S. Customs and U.S. Fish and Wildlife inspection. To expedite this process, a U.S. Customs broker is employed. They shuffle all the appropriate documents and see that U.S. Fish and Wildlife clear their release. From landing to clearing is another three hours. But all the while, I’m making the three hour drive to the airport with my truck and staff for retrieval. It won’t be long now. 

A quick look-over of our many boxes finds one is damp and deformed. But we’ve planned ahead and have the goods for this kind of scenario. While the staff loads the boxes into the truck, I open the damp one and cross my fingers. As the box flaps fold back the angst get overwhelming. Suddenly there’s a flip of the tail and I can see the koi is still alive despite the water being low. The bag is opened and the koi are poured into a new bag and box which we carry for just this kind of thing. They're re-oxygenated and quickly seem to pep up. All the other boxes check-out fine and meet our shipping count. So far so good, just one box had difficulty, but the koi are OK... a tad stressed, but who wouldn’t be? One helpful loading technique we employ is that all boxes are stacked sideways to the truck. This way, in the event of a sudden stop the koi won't have their heads or tails slammed into the end of the box.

Even though we have our koi, we still have that sense of urgency hanging over us. So, no time to lollygag. We head back to the shop. 

As we back the truck up to the shop in Glassboro, New Jersey, the boxes are two-wheeled in and opened. The koi bags are floated in the many holding tanks here faster than you can say “Let me out”. After a bit, we open one bag at a time into one of those blue bowls you see so much of in the koi world. A digital photograph is taken and at a later date will be compared to our digital "field" photos we took in Niigata to ensure we received the correct individuals. On a very, very, rare occasion, you get a koi you didn’t select, worse yet; you didn’t get the one you did. But thanks to the photo trail, the breeders track it down and in most cases we import it with our next shipment. In the meantime, the room & board of the individual is on them. 
 

Sometimes the snowy white scales and skin we fell in love with are slightly pink. Or the sumi less than midnight black. All these conditions are stress related. The stunning Budo Goromo has made it through wonderfully. She and the others will be left alone to recover and calm down. After all, why should jetlag be the exclusive domain of we humans?

After about a two or three week quarantine period where the koi are treated for parasites common to fish, all are now ready for one more flight, to you. We favor the same day, airport-to-airport shipping of our koi. It’s very simple and a lot easier on the koi than the long Japan trip. In fact, a good 60% of our clients receive the koi we import this way. 

And there you have it, our fish tale of travel from first glance to final home. Oh, and what happened to that Budo Goromo you ask? Well, we're happy to report that she’s living happily in Oklahoma!!!