Skip to content What Does The Koi Fish Represent In Japanese Culture – Koi (鯉 , English: /ˈkɔɪ / , Japanese: [koꜜi] ), or more specifically nishikigoi (錦鯉 , Japanese: [ɲiɕi̥kiꜜɡoi] , literally “brocade carp”), are the colored squares of an ambulance ( Crincus), which are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens.
Koi is an informal name for the colored species of C. rubro kept for ornamental purposes. Many types of ornamental koi come from breeding that began in Niigata, Japan, in the early 19th century.
What Does The Koi Fish Represent In Japanese Culture
The Japanese recognize several types characterized by color, pattern, and size. Some of the primary colors are white, black, red, orange, yellow, blue, brown, and cream, in addition to metallic colors such as gold and silver-white (“platinum”) colors. The most popular category of koi is Gosanke, which consists of the Kohaku, Taisho Sanshoku, and Showa Sanshoku varieties.
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Carp is a large group of fish that originally lived in Central Europe and Asia. Various species of carp were originally domesticated in China, where they were used as fish food. The carp is a cold-water fish, and its ability to survive and adapt to many climates and water conditions has allowed the domesticated species to spread to many new areas, including Japan. Natural color mutations of these carp occur in all populations. In the texts of the Chinese Jin dynasty (IV culture AD), the carp is marked with different colors.
The earliest mention of colored carp in Japan is in the Nihon Shoki (“Chronicles of Japan”), a Japanese history book written in 720. According to the Nihon Shoki, it is recorded that Emperor Keiko praised the colored carp in a lake in the region of Mino in 94 AD. and Emperor Suiko saw them in the courtyard of the residence of Soga no Umako 620.
Carp were first bred for color mutation in China more than a thousand years ago, where selective breeding of colored varieties led to the development of goldfish (Carassius auratus).
The American carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) is a member of the species complex of the carp family native to East Asia. The American carp was formerly recognized as a subspecies of the common carp (as C. c. haematopterus), but authorities consider it a separate species under the name C. rubrofuscus.
What Is A Nishikigoi?
The American carp was cultivated as a food fish as early as the fifth culture BC. In China. Systematic breeding of ornamental white grass carp began in the 1820s in Ojiya and Yamakoshi in Niigata Prefecture (located on the northeast coast of Honshu) in Japan. Selective breeding produced the first red grass blush, light blue asagi and white, red and yellow bekka. The red-on-white Sarasa variety was created in 1830. Later, the Ki utsuri variety was born on a yellow base. From the first handful of koi varieties, all other Nishikigoi varieties were developed, with the exception of the Ogon variety (one color, metallic koi), which was developed relatively straight forward.
The outside world did not know about the Japanese koi color change until 1914, when the Niigata koi was exhibited at the annual exhibition in Tokyo. Since then, interest in koi has spread throughout Japan. The number of varieties continues to grow, and repeated crossings lead to brighter varieties such as Kohaku, Taisho Sanshoku, and Showa Sanshoku.
Over time, the hobby of koi keeping has spread throughout the world. They are sold in many pet stores for aquariums, and high-quality fish can be purchased in specialized stores.
Koi collecting has become a social pastime. Avid hobbyists join clubs, share their knowledge and help each other with koi.
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In particular, after the 21st breeding, some wealthy Chinese imported large quantities of koi from Niigata in Japan, and prices for high-quality carp rose sharply. In 2018, a Chinese collector bought a carp for $2 million, the highest price in history. There are also known cases when commercial carp are bred in China and sold abroad, and many breeds are distributed around the world.
The words “koi” and “nisikigoi” are derived from the Japanese words 鯉 (carp) and 錦鯉 (brocade carp), respectively. In Japanese, “koi” is a homophone of 恋, another word meaning “affection” or “love,” so in Japan, koi is a symbol of love and peace.
Colorful ornamental carp were originally called Irokoi (色鯉), meaning colored carp, Hanakoi (花鯉), meaning flower carp, and Moyokoi (新视鯉), meaning patterned carp. There are various theories as to how these words fell out of favor with the Nishikigoi (錦鯉) in use today. One theory is that during World War II, the words Irokoi and Hanakoi (which may have sexual connotations) were replaced by Nishikigoi because it did not fit the social conditions of wartime. Another theory is that Nishikigoi, originally the name of the famous Taishō Sanshoku variety, gradually became the term used for all ornamental koi.
In the past, it was widely believed that koi were bred from the common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Extensive hybridization between different populations combined with extensive translocations has confused the historical zoogeography of the common carp and its relatives. Traditionally, the Amur carp (C. rubrofuscus) is considered a subspecies of the common carp, often under the scientific name C. carpio haematopterus. But in terms of meristics, they differ from the common carp of Europe and West Asia,
The 11 Most Popular Types Of Koi For Your Pond
Which led authorities to recognize them directly as a separate species, C. rubrofuscus (C. c. haematopterus is a junior synonym).
Although the study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) failed to find a clear genetic pattern corresponding to geographic populations (probably due to the translocation of carp from specific regions),
Others based on mtDNA, microsatellite DNA, and genomic DNA found a clear separation between European/West Asian and East Asian populations, with koi being the latter.
Accordingly, relevant authorities have suggested that the ancestral species of koi is C. rubrofuscus (syn. C. c. haematopterus) or at least an East Asian species of carp rather than C. carpio.
Chinese And Japanese Koi Art
Despite this, a taxonomic review of Cyprinus carp from East and Southeast Asia may be necessary, as genetic variation does not fully conform to the currently recognized species structure,
Studies of mtDNA have shown that koi are closely related to Southeast Asian carp, but not necessarily to Chinese carp.
The Ojiya-no-Sato Museum in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, is the only museum in the world that displays both live koi species and data on their breeding history.
According to Z Nippon Airinkai, a koi breeding and breeding group in Japan, there are more than 100 varieties of koi created through breeding, and each variety is classified into 16 groups.
Koi Fish: The Meaning Behind The Special Carp — F O R M F L U E N T
Types of koi are characterized by color, pattern and size. Some of the main colors are white, black, red, yellow, blue and cream. The metallic colors of gold and platinum in the scale have also been developed through selective breeding. Although the possible colors are almost limitless, breeders have identified and named certain categories. The most popular category is Gosanke (御三家), which consists of Kohaku, Taisho Sanshoku, and Showa Sanshoku varieties.
Ghost koi, developed in the 1980s, have become very popular in the UK; they are a hybrid of wild carp and fire koi and are characterized by their metallic scales. The butterfly koi (also known as longfin koi or dragon carp), also introduced in the 1980s, is known for its long, wavy fins. These are hybrids of koi and Asian carp. Butterfly koi and ghost koi are considered by some to not be true nisikigoi.
The goldfish (Carassius auratus) was bred in China more than a thousand years ago by selective breeding of colored varieties; during the Song dynasty (960–1279), yellow, orange, white, and reddish-white colors appeared. The goldfish was introduced to Japan in the 16th century, and to Europe in the 17th century.
On the other hand, most of the world’s ornamental koi breeds are derived from the Amur carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus), which was bred in Japan in the first half of the 19th century. Koi are domesticated grass carp that are selected or cleaned for color; they are not a different species and will return to their original color within a few generations if allowed to breed freely.
The Mythical Koi Fish
Some species of goldfish, such as the common goldfish, comet goldfish, and shubunkin, have a similar body shape and color to koi and are difficult to distinguish from immature koi.
Goldfish and koi can be mixed; but because they evolved from different types of carp, their offspring are sterile.
American carp are tough fish, and koi maintain that toughness. Koi are cold-water fish, but they are suitable for keeping at 15–25 °C (59–77 °F) and do not respond well to prolonged cold winters; their immune systems are very weak below 10 °C (50 °F). Koi ponds in regions of the world that experience hot summers are typically a meter or more deep, while ponds in regions with harsher winters are typically at least 1.5 m (5 ft) deep. so deep. The special pond design was developed by koi owners to raise the show quality of the koi.
The bright color of the koi puts them in a serious position against predators; Kohaku with white skin stands out against the background of dark green
