How is it going, everybody? It is the blog How Unique Japan.
Let us ask you, what do you do if you want to take a break from a tight situation? Is it reading books or watching YouTube? In my country, many simple activities can help you relax.
Instead of YouTube, watching goldfish in a big pot
So, this time, we would love to write about Japanese goldfish!
The history
The origin was born in China about 300 AD (!!). It was from the mutation of the carp. So, some turned red.
In 1502, it came to Japan from that country. Since then, it has been for over 500 years.
Why did ancient Japanese love them? Because they are strong and can live in any water conditions.
Indeed. It is easy to take care.
Besides, they can live longer than average fish. They would live for over ten years! The world record shows that one goldfish lived for 43 years in Britain!! It lived from 1955 to 1999. These are the reasons.
One more fact.
In the Edo era, goldfish breeding became a hot business. Some samurai took such a job as the second one. Thus, there are over 300 kinds of it (including inventions from other countries) now.
The cost of each kind varies depending on its beauty and uniqueness. Let’s take a look at some kinds.
Three popular Goldfish
1. Wakin (red carp)
It is the origin of goldfish. Thus, many kinds of species were born.
They are tough against water pollution. They can live in muddy or dirty water.
They could even grow big. It could be 30 cm in adult age. So, it is the easiest one to take care of.
However, keeping that with other species (different kinds of fish) in the same aquarium is not a good idea because they swim quickly.
That means they could often harm others in crashing accidents.
If you plan to buy, you should prepare another aquarium to separate the delicate kinds.
The price will be $1 to $11. (Exchanged Japanese yen to US dollars.)
It is the cheapest.
2. Demekin (Popped eyes)
As you see, the feature is that the eyes pop widely. When it is in a baby state, the eyes look normal. After three months, their eyes would gradually widen and become bigger.
It is also a popular and new one. It also came from China. Japan was in the Meiji era from 1868 to 1912. The cost varies depending on its uniqueness (color, pattern, or form). That would be around $4 to $22.
3. Ryuukin
It has a round stomach that makes it cute. Plus, the beautiful long tail is another feature. However, it is delicate against any water condition.
That means we would need to observe and treat them carefully.
The cost is higher than that of the other goldfish species. The price is between 3 dollars and 184 dollars(!), approximately. The gap in cost is due to its beauty.
Fun fact
Every summer, there will be festivals in each area (prefecture) in Japan. You can see many simple stalls that sell various products. Foods, simple toys, and simple activities. For example, a shooting game with toy guns.
Among them, “Scooping goldfish” is a popular activity. It is the game of how many goldfish you can scoop up from the pool.
It is a delicate game because we can only use thin paper cut into round forms. We use it like a spoon called Poi. It is the key. Such difficulty makes this game fun. You would need to concentrate on not tearing the paper in the water. It sounds technical, and it is.
To close
It is the brief for the Goldfish today. Please remember. Those examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
If you intend to visit the Japanese aquarium shops, look around. You would witness many of them swimming.
It is all today! But hold on!
Our blog is not over yet. We have more articles categorized into four topics. They are the Japanese lifestyle, food, the Edo era, and religions.
Are you still interested in some Japanese features? Then, please challenge them.
See you for the next uniqueness in Japan!