 The
Japanese were the first
 to
take the naturally occurring mutations and develop them further.
Japanese rice farmers kept them as food fish but somewhere between
the 1820s and 1830s, they began to breed some of the carp for
aesthetic appeal.
The farmers kept the colorful carp as pets for themselves.
As the farmers developed different color types of Koi, interest
in Koi spread throughout the prefecture (similar to a state
in the United States) and then throughout Japan. National interest
for Koi in Japan increased tremendously when Emperor Hirohito
was presented Koi for the Imperial Palace moat in 1914.
Most people involved in the hobby consider the Niigata prefecture
in Japan
 as
the birthplace from which the Nishikigoi sprang. More
specifically, areas in and around Ojiya City in Niigata are
regarded as the home of Nishikigoi. Today there are more than
100 different color types and sub-types of Koi.
Wild carp were called "Koi" in Japan, but the term
was also used to describe colored carp. The name Nishikigoi
was given to these "colored Koi carp" during World
War-II. Today colored carp are simply called Koi and the
term has evolved into the common name for them worldwide.
The term Nishikigoi is used as a formal name. Nishikigoi
is used to describe them in written text or describing the fish
formally to Japanese people who do not have working knowledge
of the fish. Many people in Japan recognize the term Nishikigoi
but may not be familiar with the term Koi. |