http://forum.aqua-fish.net/ A forum devoted to aquarium fish, plants, techniques and fish keeping as a whole. en http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=language-of-koi-showa#1 Hey guys. Thought this article might be helpful. It's called the Language of Koi – Showa by Mat McCann. Reprinted with permission from http://www.pondbizmag.com/ As a breeder of many different varieties of koi, the variety I enjoy the most is Showa. My goal of making a high class, jumbo, female grand champion from any of the pairings we do at our farm each year, applies to any and all varieties. The challenge with Showa is that I find it one of the most difficult of the varieties in achieving that goal. Regarding the pattern of the Showa, it comprises of three colors: black, red and white. The odds of achieving a perfect koi decrease as the number of colors in the pattern increase. This also applies to Sanke, which was covered by Brady Brandwood in the Mar/Apr 2009 issue. The biggest difference between Sanke and Showa, as both have the same colors, is that the sumi (black) of Showa plays a more dominant role in the pattern. Here is a link to the rest of the article. http://www.pondbizmag.com/resources/articles/ar-46/ Enjoy, -Dustin Dustin 2009-05-14