Ga 004 - Ranchu Options

[yamato38gunkei]

What do you all think of this Nisai Ranchu ? Thai ? Japanese ?

[Frankie]

Does that mean that a Thai breed (Japanese) ranchu can be mistaken for a Japan breed ranchu and vice versa?

If so why so much discussion etc. on Thai or Japanese ranchu?

Ity also seems that in Singapore, we are not getting the best both from Thailand and Japan, How about Belgium? Any agent in Singapore?

The art of keeping Ranchu is not to approach it as a static object but a holistic experience of the hobby.

When "old birds" here and elsewhere talk about Ranchus, they are NOT talking about Ranchus you can buy from LFS. They are talking about Ranchu bred by dedicated HOBBYIST breeders where the Ranchu is an object worshipped and classified as a National Treasure of Japan! These are dedicated people who strive to maintain high quality bloodlines and establish new standards. Small clubs in Japan (and elsewhere adhering strictly to the Japanese guidelines) are setup individually to maintain, perfect, establish a bloodline. The clubs with their master breeder/mentor will guide the members/students with their own way to keep a Ranchu, "secretive" ways perhaps, but that's just part of the fun where "arts" cannot be explained or quantified by science.

When a master breeder, a person with years of experience earned through hard work, perhaps tormented by traditional teaching methods pass down by generations of mentors before him, could get less than a handful of competition grade Ranchu ONCE a year, do you think a COMMERCIALLY bred in Japan (or outside Japan) has a chance to be taken seriously?

On the other hand, you can jolly well "play" with commercial grade Ranchus, and be delighted your purchase fits your pre-conception of how a Ranchu should LOOK like. A true art connoisseur will make an effort to appreciate an authentic piece of art, while a casual fan will be satisfied with print copies. In this sense, you are better off buying lower cost copies from Thailand then prints made in Japan. Both are equally “bad” but at least the Thai version will set you back less.

To blindly worship “Japanese” ranchus is a foolish thing to do, but to appreciate it fully is a long and daunting road to crawl on first.