Did you know that reference was made to koi colors as far back as 316 AD in the Western Chin Dynasty? That's how long these wonderfully colorful fish have been written about... it's quite amazing really!
Right back then the colors of koi that were documented included black, blue, white and red... so koi colors are actually nothing new - it's just that they have been perfected through the art of selective genetic breeding.
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| Real Butterfly Koi Fish |
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| Real Butterfly Koi Fish |
But it wasn't till the 17th century that real koi breeding began in the Japanese region of Niigata Prefecture, and it was the Japanese who took the time to master the art of selective breeding. Through careful trial and error, they became the master's of selective koi breeding and they still lead the world today.
So if you seriously want to gain a firm understanding about koi fish, the different types and their variety of colors then you really need to learn some of the Japanese terminology to get a grip on the real meaning of things.
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| Real Butterfly Koi Fish |
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| Real Butterfly Koi Fish |
Some of these terms will be explained further into this article, but for now let's look at a bit more of the koi fish history.
So... going back to 17th century Niigata Prefecture ... it was here that farmers started to notice that occasionally the grey carp fish would have offspring with different colors and markings. This prompted them to study the fish and their findings revealed a good number of koi with distinct and colorful patterns which they then proceeded to cultivate even further until the 19th century.
By the 19th century there were a vast number of koi breeders in Japan and now there were also many new koi color varieties emerging. Koi had become incredibly popular and were affectionately known as "the fish of nobility" but they were still only really known within the Niigata region of Japan.
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| Real Butterfly Koi Fish |
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| Real Butterfly Koi Fish |