Editing Koi (section)

=== Modern period ===
[[File:Rice terraces, Yamakoshi, Niigata.jpg|thumb|alt=Terraced rice paddies in Yamakoshi, Niigata Prefecture|Terraced rice paddies in Yamakoshi, Niigata Prefecture]]
The systematic breeding of ornamental Amur carp began in the 1820s in an area known as "Nijūmuragō" ({{lang|ja|二十村郷}}, {{lit|twenty villages|lk=yes}}) which spans [[Ojiya, Niigata|Ojiya]] and [[Yamakoshi, Niigata|Yamakoshi]] in [[Niigata Prefecture]] (located on the northeastern coast of [[Honshu]]) in Japan. In Niigata Prefecture, Amur carp were farmed for food in Musubu Shinden, Kanbara County (present Akiba Ward, [[Niigata (city)|Niigata City]]) from the end of the [[Genna]] era (1615–1624).<ref>{{Cite book |last = Fujita |first = Masakatsu |title = 養魚経営学 |trans-title = Fish Farming Management |publisher = Suisan Shoin |date = November 1906 |doi = 10.11501/802628 |page = 18 }}</ref> In the Nijūmuragō area, carp were also farmed in terraced ponds near terraced rice paddies by 1781 at the latest, but the ponds ran dry due to a severe drought that occurred around that time, and the carp escaped the disaster by taking refuge in ponds on the grounds of Senryu Shrine in [[:ja:東山村 (新潟県古志郡)|Higashiyama Village]] and Juni Shrine in [[:ja:東竹沢村|Higashitakezawa Village]].<ref name = "tohaku">{{Cite book |editor = Tokyo Prefecture |title = 東京大正博覧会審査報告 |trans-title = Tokyo Taisho Exposition Examination Report |volume = 2 |publisher = Tokyo Prefecture |date = 1916 |page = 861 |doi = 10.11501/954707 |author1 = 東京府 }}</ref>

During the [[Bunka]] and [[Bunsei]] eras (1804 – 1830), people in the Nijūmuragō area bred red and white koi in addition to black koi, and crossed them to produce red and white colored koi. After that, they further crossed them and perfected them.<ref name = "tohaku" />

Around 1875, colored koi became popular and the number of breeders increased, and some expensive koi were produced, but Niigata Prefecture banned the aquaculture of ornamental koi because it was considered a speculative business, and the business suffered a major blow for a time. However, the ban was lifted soon after, thanks to the petition of the villagers. At that time, colored koi included ''Kōhaku'', ''Asagi'', ''Ki Utsuri'', etc.<ref>{{Cite book |editor = Niigata Prefectural Fisheries Experiment Station |title = 農家の副業的養魚法 |trans-title = Farmers' Sideline Fish Farming Methods |volume = 1 |publisher = Niigata Agricultural Society |date = 1931 |doi = 10.11501/1226542 |page = 100 |author1 = 新潟県水産試験場 }}</ref> From this original handful of koi varieties, all other Nishikigoi varieties were bred, with the exception of the Ogon variety (single-colored, metallic koi), which was developed relatively recently.<ref name = "jokc"/><ref name = "znahisja"/>

Koi breeding flourished in the Nijūmuragō area for two reasons: 1) the custom of raising koi in fallow fields for emergency food during the winter, and 2) the existence of many ''inden'' ({{lang|ja|隠田}}), or hidden rice fields in the mountains, unknown to the lord, which allowed the farmers to avoid taxes and become relatively wealthy. Breeding of koi was promoted as a hobby of farmers who could afford it, and high-quality individuals came to be bought and sold.

The name ''Nishikigoi'' (brocaded carp) did not exist until the 1910s. Before that time, ''Nishikigoi'' were called ''Madaragoi'' ({{lang|ja|斑鯉}}, {{lit|spotted carp|lk=yes}}), ''Kawarigoi'' ({{lang|ja|変鯉}}, {{lit|variant carp|lk=yes}}), ''Irogoi'' ({{lang|ja|色鯉}}, {{lit|colored carp|lk=yes}}), ''Moyōgoi'' ({{lang|ja|模様鯉}}, {{lit|patterned carp|lk=yes}}), and so on.

A geographical book on [[Suruga Province]] (present-day [[Shizuoka Prefecture]]), Abe Masanobu's ''Sunkoku Zasshi'' (1843), mentions that in addition to Asagi, purple, red, and white carp, there are "spotted carp (also known as Bekko carp)."<ref>{{Cite book |last = Abe |first = Masanobu |title = 駿国雑志 2 |trans-title = Suruga Miscellaneous Records 2 |publisher = Yoshimi Shoten |date = February 1977 |page = 311 |doi = 10.11501/9537491 }}</ref> This probably refers to two- or three-colored carp caused by mutation, and is a valuable record of ''Nishikigoi'' of the [[Edo period]] (1603 – 1868).

[[File:Sanshoku goi.jpg|thumb|Illustration of a three-colored carp in Ritsurin Garden, 1900. This is the oldest illustration of koi. It has the kanji characters for ''asagi'' on its back and red on its belly.]]
In 1900, there was a three-colored carp in [[Ritsurin Garden]] in [[Takamatsu]], [[Kagawa Prefecture]], and the price was over 1,000 yen per fish, which was a high price for that time.<ref>{{Cite book |last = Miyoshi |first = Otojiro |title = 金魚問答 |trans-title = Goldfish Question and Answer |publisher = Mataoma Yasujiro |date = 1903 |page = 79 |doi = 10.11501/904129 }}</ref> The three-colored carp had a red belly and ''asagi'' (light blue) back with black spots, and is thought to have been a mutation similar to today's ''Asagi'' koi.

[[File:Odd-eyed cat and Koi.jpg|thumb|Odd-eyed cat and Spotted carp, from the magazine ''Shonen'', 1910.]]
The magazine "Shonen" (1910) introduced ''Nishikigoi'' under the name of ''Madaragoi'' (spotted carp) or ''Kawarigoi'' (variant carp), and said that even skilled fish breeders did not know how they could produce ''Nishikigoi'', but only waited for them to be produced by chance.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last = Toyama |first = Kametaro |title = 金銀目の猫と源平咲別の花 |trans-title = Cat with gold and silver eyes and blooming flowers of two mixed colors |magazine = Shōnen |issue = 82 |publisher = Jijishinposha |date = June 1910 |doi = 10.11501/1793889 | page =143 }}</ref> The price of ''Nishikigoi'' at a fish show in [[Fukagawa, Tokyo|Fukagawa]], Tokyo, was 100 to 150 yen per fish, which was "extremely expensive" at the time. Therefore, even at that time, mutant ''Nishikigoi'' were known to some fish breeders and hobbyists in Tokyo, but artificial breeds such as Nijūmuragō's ''Nishikigoi'' were still unknown to the general public.

In 1914, when the [[:ja:東京大正博覧会|Tokyo Taishō Exposition]] was held, the "Koi Exhibit Association" was formed mainly by koi breeders in Higashiyama and Takezawa villages, and koi were exhibited. At the time, they were still called "colored carp" or "patterned carp," and they were described as "the first of their kind ever seen in the Tokyo area." And the koi received much attention, winning a silver medal.<ref>{{Cite book |editor = Tokyo Taisho Exposition |title = 東京大正博覧会出品審査概況 : 附・受賞人名簿  |trans-title = Overview of the Judging of Exhibits at the Tokyo Taisho Exposition |publisher = Tokyo Taisho Exposition Memorial Book Publishing Society |date = 1914 |page = 63 |doi = 10.11501/951452 |author1 = 東京大正博覧会 }}</ref> After the exposition closed, they presented eight koi to the Crown Prince ([[Emperor Showa]]). This exhibition triggered an expansion of sales channels, and the market value of koi soared.

In 1917, the ''Taishō Sanshoku'' (by Eizaburo Hoshino) was fixed as a breed. The name ''Nishikigoi'' is said to have been given by Kei Abe, who was the chief fisheries officer of the Niigata Prefectural Government in the [[Taishō era|Taisho era]] (1912–1926), after he admired the ''Taishō Sanshoku'' when he first saw it.<ref>{{Cite book |last = Tanaka |first = Shigeho |title = 日本の魚類 |trans-title = Fish of Japan |publisher = Dai Nippon Tosho |date = 1936 |page = 319 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url = https://www.maff.go.jp/j/pr/aff/2308/spe1_03.html |title = 年々、人気上昇中！ 錦鯉の魅力 |trans-title = Increasingly popular every year! Attraction of Nishikigoi |magazine = aff |publisher = Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries |date = August 2023 |access-date = 7 October 2023 |archive-date = 7 October 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231007025804/https://www.maff.go.jp/j/pr/aff/2308/spe1_03.html |url-status = live }}</ref> In 1917, the fixation of ''Kōhaku'' (by Kunizo Hiroi), which had first been produced in the 1880s, was also assured.<ref name = "Tokuma">{{Cite book |editor = Tokuma Shoten |title = 錦鯉の魅力 : 泳ぐ宝石を育てるために |trans-title = Attraction of Nishikigoi : To raise swimming jewels |publisher = Tokuma Shoten |date = 1966 |doi = 10.11501/2510714 |author1 = 徳間書店 }}</ref>

Apart from the koi of Niigata Prefecture's Nijūmuragō area, there is a variety called ''Shūsui'' ({{lang|ja|秋翠}}), which was created by Tokyo-based goldfish breeder Kichigoro Akiyama in 1906 by crossing a female [[leather carp]] imported from Germany with a male Japanese ''Asagi'' or spotted carp.<ref name = "Tokuma" /> The leather carp is a low scaled variety bred in 1782 in Austria, and was sent to Japan from Munich, Germany in 1904, along with the mirror carp, which also has few scales. In Japan, these two varieties are called ''Doitsugoi'' (German carp), and ''Shūsui'' and its lineage are also called ''Doitsu'' or ''Doitsugoi'' in koi.

In 1927, ''Shōwa Sanshoku'' (by Shigekichi Hoshino) was fixed as a breed, and in 1939, koi were exhibited at the Japanese pavilion at the [[Golden Gate International Exposition]] held in San Francisco.<ref>{{Cite book |editor = Supervisory Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry |title = 紐育金門万国博覧会政府参同事務報告書 |trans-title = Report of the Government Visit to the [[Golden Gate International Exposition]] |publisher = Supervisory Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry |date = 1941 |page = 122 |doi = 
10.11501/1716726 |author1 = 商工省監理局 }}</ref>