Due to their popularity, the Japanese “Koi” or “Nishiki Koi” often refers to these colorful carp in English. It is a general term for carp crossbred as aquarium fish. The vivid colors and exquisite patterns are compared to those of colorful cloth (Nishiki).

Common white and red carp of 20 cm in length are sold for about 2000 yen, and those of 40 to 50 cm in length for about 5000 yen. Some more beautiful ones are sold for more than hundreds of thousands of yen.
The highest price ever, at an international auction, reached 230 million yen.
These swimming gems are used for tourism purposes. In many places like Japanese gardens with clear water ponds or town quarters with clean water flowing in the gutters, beautiful carp are released to swim freely. In Kyushu, Shimabara town is the best-known place for carp swimming. More about this Shimabara place, Click here.
