Japanese Koi
Nishikigoi - National fish of Japan. "Nishiki" - Describes a highly colored cloth. "Goi" - carp. Koi are a symbol of Love and Friendship.
When people speak of Koi, many first relate them to Japan. Japan over many centuries has evolved koi with their color, patterns and quality to the beautiful fish we know today. But, history shows that it was in Eastern Asia and China that the first mutations of colored genetics from black carp was found. As the story goes, Koi were introduced into Japan with the invasion of the Chinese. The first accounts of koi being kept were by an emperor in Japan. This dates back to 200AD.
There is not much more japanese koi history recorded until the 18th Century, in the Niigata Region of Japan. Rice farmers in Niigata raised magoi (black carp), in the ponds they used for their rice paddies, to supplement their winter diets. They too noticed koi with genetic color mutations and would separate these koi into different ponds. They then began breeding these selected koi together.
Koi breeding was restricted to the Niigata region until the beginning of the 20th century. Koi this time koi started to spread to other areas of Japan.
Although koi were being bred in many other countries, it was the Japanese farmers who perfected the wide range of colors and patterns we see today.
Following the Russo/Japan war in the early 1900s, koi sold for such extreme prices. Japan banned the sale of koi. The black market of koi soared and with in a few years koi were again legal to sell, with a tax.
The world outside of Japan did not know of the domestication of these patterned fish until 1914, where Niigata koi were exhibited in the annual exposition in Tokyo. It was at this time the interest in Koi exploded.
The hobby of keeping koi spread across the world quickly. With the arrival of air transportation after WWII and the invention of the plastic bag, Japanese and European breeders were able to ship koi easily and safely to the United States. No longer is the Niigata region of Japan the only place where fancy carp are bred.
American koi breeders today have joined the challenge to produce and improve the quality of koi we have today.
