Koi: A Handbook on Keeping Nishikigoi

Preface

Excerpted from Chapter 1:

Koi: past and present

Over the past few decades there has been an increased interest in koi-keeping, motivated, at least in part, by the fact that we spend more time in and around our homes. As a pastime, koi-keeping combines the nurturing qualities of a pet lover with the esthetic pleasure of enhancing the home and garden.

An appreciation for the culture and tradition of the East is also evident in the trend toward keeping quality koi of recognized varieties, and making an effort to meet their special needs.

Termed "living jewels," koi have enchanted their admirers for centuries and their popularity shows no sign of waning.

The history of Koi-keeping

The fish we today know as koi are descendants of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, which originated in Central Asia many millennia ago. From here, they spread westward into Europe and eastward into China, following the rivers and waterways, especially those that fed the great inland seas of the region: the Black, Azov, Caspian, and Aral.

Early humans, who cultivated carp for food, most likely introduced them to the region's many lakes and rivers, from where they migrated naturally over time. Carp fossils dating back 20 million years have been found in South China, suggesting that they are among the earliest forms of recognizable aquatic life.

Moving somewhat closer to the present, the word "koi" was first used in about 500 BC in China, in a book written about the breeding of carp, one of the earliest records of its kind. Buddhist lore has it that one of Confucius's sons was given a fish named Koi by King Shoko of Ro at his birth in 533 BC.

Although it is not known exactly when carp were introduced to Japan, it is likely that they were brought into the country either by Chinese invaders who settled and gradually merged their own culture with that of their new homeland or via the many trade caravans that traversed the Orient. There is documented evidence of carp in Japan from about 31 BC and by AD 250 there are mentions in Japanese manuscripts of red-, white-, and blue-colored carp. (Another belief is that colored carp originated in China between AD 700 and 1000 and were being exported to Japan by 1500.)

The first signs of the modern era of koi-keeping began in the 19th century, in the region of present-day Niigata Prefecture, on the west coast of the main Japanese island of Honshu. Here, local farmers bred carp (magoi) to supplement their diet of rice. In an early example of mixed farming, the carp were raised in the ponds that were used to flood the rice paddies.

When color mutations appeared, it wasn't long before these carp were separated and bred on purpose. A red mutation (hoo-kazuki) was found first, followed by a white mutation. Crossbreeding eventually resulted in red and white carp (called hara-aka or hara-hi, meaning "red belly").

As the interest in this pastime grew, further selective breeding, which took place in the region now known as Yamakoshi, produced the Sarasa, a carp with a white body and red markings on its back, the true ancestor of the most-prized of all koi, the Kohaku, a white-bodied carp with various red markings on its head, back, and flanks (see page 36).

The Modern Era

In Japan, colored carp became known as "koi" (or "goi" when used as part of a word). From the Meiji era (1867-1912) to the middle of the Taisho era (1912-1926), koi were variously referred to as Moyogoi (koi with patterns), Moyomono (thing with patterns), or Kawarigoi (fancy patterns). Irogoi (colored koi) was another name in use in Japan at that time.

Surprisingly, one of the principal lines of mutation did not have its genetic roots in Japan but halfway across the world, in Austria, where scaleless carp, known as leather carp (kawa-goi, were bred in 1782, followed by mirror carp (kagami-goi), with large reflective scales, in 1798. These doitsu (German) carp were first imported into Japan in 1904 to supplement the breeding of carp as a food source. However, cross-breeding with fully scaled colored carp soon produced many beautiful variations of koi.

In the seventh year of the Taisho era (1919), Kiyoshi Abe, a prefecture government fisheries expert, saw a Sanke bred by Eizaburo Hoshino in Takezawa-mura and promptly dubbed it Nishikigoi in praise of the splendor of the fish. Nishiki means "beautiful color combination" and is specifically applied to the high-quality woven brocade used to create the waist belt (obi) worn with a kimono. It has become common today for koi to be known as "living jewels" or "swimming flowers," reflecting the esteem with which they are held in Japan.

One of the great genetic scoops in the development of modern koi was the breeding of the first true metallic variety, the Ogon. Takehira Hoshide, of Hoshide Nishikigoi Farm, tells how, in 1921, Sawata Aoki, a koi farmer from Yamakoshi village in Niigata, heard of a carp with streaks of gold on its dorsal fin that had been fished out of the river by a child in the neighboring county. Although it turned out to be nothing more than a wild carp with a shine at the base of the dorsal fin, Sawata nevertheless bought it and bred it.

Over time, he retained only those offspring that had a lot of golden color and bred them in turn. In 1946 he purchased a female Shiro-Fuji that he bred to eight of his own males. Among the fry were about 30 very interesting and unusual fry, totally unlike the parent koi. Of these, two developed into fish with their entire bodies clad in gleaming golden scales: the original Ogon koi (see page 61).

At the Taisho Expo, held in Tokyo in 1915 to honor the new Emperor Taisho, breeders from the impoverished Niigata Prefecture, who sought to promote trade in their fish, brought 33 of their prime examples to the show, transporting them in wooden barrels by train to the showgrounds. These fish created such a stir that eight of them were presented to the Imperial Court. The exhibition's success, plus the Japanese royal family's growing fascination with Nishikigoi, unlocked the market for the farmers of Niigata and, in time, breeding koi became a principal industry for the area.

As Japanese breeders continued to improve koi by selective breeding and to experiment with cross-matches to produce new color variations, the enjoyment of koi gained new converts in the West.