Japanese carp is an elite market. Ruthless selection processes and staggering costs. That’s what makes these fish unique
How much can a fish cost? If we talk about one Koi carpthe answer is “until 1.6 million dollarsIn fact, that of the famous Japanese carp emerges as a fascinating and complex market, where beauty, genetics and prestige intertwine in a market that generates staggering figures.
The symbolism behind Koi carp
This fish has a special role in Japanese and Chinese culture. Its ability to swim up rivers against the current and overcome waterfalls has earned it the symbolism of Force And perseverance.
Folklore has obviously played its part too: according to a Chinese legend, in fact, the carp that managed to swim up the Yellow River until reaching the Dragon Gate (an impressive waterfall located along the river) they were transformed into powerful people dragons.
What makes them unique
A distinction must be made, however, because there is Koi carp and Koi carp. What separates a common fish from an elite specimen is indeed a set of aesthetic characteristics codified over the centurieswhich purists evaluate with a maniacal eye.
The first element is lo Shirojithe white background color: it must be pure like porcelain, without yellowish shades or stains, a pure white that enhances contrasts. THE
the second is the Goodsthe red which must be dense, uniform and brilliant, with a shade reminiscent of the red of a ripe persimmon. The edges between red and white, called Kiwamust be clean and defined, a sign of high genetic quality.
The patternsthat is, the design on the body, must be balanced and harmonious. For a Kohaku, the most classic two-color variety, the ideal pattern is often described as a “three steps” (sandan)that is, three distinct red blocks that are distributed along the back in a symmetrical way.
There are also two-step (nidan), four-step (yondan) or “lightning” (inazuma) patterns. The absolute chromatic purity, the shine of the skin and a harmonious torpedo body complete the picture of what makes a Koi a living work of art.
“S Legend”, the record carp
The most emblematic case of the potential of this market is that of “S Legend”a Kohaku carp from the prestigious Sakai Fish Farm of Hiroshima.
In October 2018, this specimen over a meter long was sold at auction for 203 million yenwhich at the time corresponded to approximately 1.6 million dollarsa absolute record and still undefeated for a fish today.
The value of “S Legend” lay not only in its beauty but also in its reproductive potential: a carp of that quality could produce up to 500,000 eggs per season, of which no more than 5,000 would yield fish of adequate quality for sale.
Unfortunately, his story ended prematurely. The carp died in 2019leaving a genetic legacy that is still considered precious today.
Prices for a collectible Koi vary enormously. A high-end carp can easily surpass the 10,000 euroswhile exceptional specimens can reach much higher figures.
Japan remains the global leader in high-end Koi breeding, with premium specimens selling for tens of thousands of dollars. The global Koi carp market is worth just over 3 billion dollarsand is expected to reach 8 billion by 2034.
Carp selection
Creating a collectible Koi carp is a long and merciless process, which begins with the laying of hundreds of thousands of eggs. Japanese breeders apply a aggressive and repeated sorting in several phases, systematically discarding the fry (small fish not yet fully formed) that do not meet the quality standards.
The first selection already takes place afterwards 40 days old for the Kohaku variety, when approximately the 60-65% of the fry is discarded at this stage. For Sanke (another variety of Koi carp), the sorting reaches 75-80% to 25-30 days, while for Showa it can reach up to 50-95% already at 3-5 days of age.
Over the following months, breeders continue to evaluate growth, skin quality, color depth and pattern definition, rejecting thousands of fish at each pass.
The end result of this process is that less than 0.5% of the initial fry survive selections to be transferred to greenhouses in autumn, reaching the standards required for the elite market.
One can well understand, therefore, how owning an elite Koi carp means in a certain sense showing off aanimated artworkthe result of centuries of selective breeding, as well as a symbol of success in Japanese culture.
