koi story priceless japanese fish make a splash
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Hand-reared for their colour and beauty

Koi story: priceless Japanese fish make a splash

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Koi story: priceless Japanese fish make a splash

Hand-reared for their colour and beauty, koi carp have become an iconic symbol of Japan that can sell for hundreds
Kazo - Arab Today

Hand-reared for their colour and beauty, koi carp have become an iconic symbol of Japan that can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars and even participate in fishy beauty contests.

The nation’s koi carp were brought to the world’s attention when visiting US President Donald Trump was snapped unceremoniously dumping the last of a box of feed into a palace pond in Tokyo.

  koi story priceless japanese fish make a splash

 

But the fish have for decades been popular in Japan, where top breeders take their most prized specimens (known as “nishikigoi”) to highly competitive “beauty parades

At one such competition in Tokyo, judges in sharp suits, notebooks in hand, stride around tanks lined up along a pedestrian street where the valuable koi strut their stuff

They come in all the colours of the rainbow: pearly white, bright red, cloudy-grey, dark blue, gleaming golden yellow.

But it is the curvature of the fish that accounts for 60 per cent of the final score, explained competition organiser Isamu Hattori, who runs Japan’s main association for breeders of koi carp

Colour and contrast make up another 30 per cent, he told AFP.

And the final 10 per cent? “Hinkaku” — a concept that is tricky to define and even harder to judge, best translated as the “presence” or “aura” of the fish.

‘Everything matters’

“‘Hinkaku’. It’s either there in the genes at birth, or it’s not,” mused Mikinori Kurikara, a koi breeder in Saitama, north of Tokyo, who says he can spot it in fish when they reach eight or nine months old.

“Put it this way, it’s like looking after your own children every day. You care for your kids and want them to grow healthy. In the same way, you take care of these fish, appreciate them and adore them,” he told AFP

Colour and contrast make up another 30 per cent, he told AFP.

And the final 10 per cent? “Hinkaku” — a concept that is tricky to define and even harder to judge, best translated as the “presence” or “aura” of the fish.

‘Everything matters’

“‘Hinkaku’. It’s either there in the genes at birth, or it’s not,” mused Mikinori Kurikara, a koi breeder in Saitama, north of Tokyo, who says he can spot it in fish when they reach eight or nine months old.

“Put it this way, it’s like looking after your own children every day. You care for your kids and want them to grow healthy. In the same way, you take care of these fish, appreciate them and adore them,” he told AFP

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

koi story priceless japanese fish make a splash koi story priceless japanese fish make a splash

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

koi story priceless japanese fish make a splash koi story priceless japanese fish make a splash

 



GMT 23:58 2017 Friday ,10 March

FVP receives congratulation from Mighani

GMT 19:43 2017 Thursday ,26 October

Bahrain Press headlines

GMT 05:13 2017 Tuesday ,10 January

Arab designers shine on Globes red carpet

GMT 12:49 2017 Saturday ,25 March

Bahrain weather forecast

GMT 13:51 2015 Wednesday ,25 February

ELLE Style Awards 2015 winners announced

GMT 23:53 2015 Saturday ,18 July

Tilda Swinton cast in new Doctor Strange film

GMT 09:59 2017 Tuesday ,05 December

Indian screen icon Shashi Kapoor dies aged 79

GMT 07:30 2014 Thursday ,05 June

Lopez to face trial over demonstration

GMT 00:07 2017 Sunday ,09 April

Fire breaks out in Ajman residential building

GMT 06:06 2013 Friday ,14 June

The Sudanese autumn

GMT 03:24 2017 Sunday ,20 August

January21st-February19th

GMT 21:17 2017 Thursday ,05 October

Iraqi Prime Minister arrives in Paris
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday