JEEPNEY PRESS Mae Grace

AMAZINGgrace by Mae Grace

Appreciating the Koi Fish

Parks and gardens are some of life’s most important inventions. It is not a coincidence that life started out in a Garden. We are meant to live in nature and to appreciate all of creation in this wonderful setting. Presently, what we have though are just glimpses of the original Eden. Nonetheless, these places are where we go for fresh air, to unwind, to go back to our most pure and unaffected nature, and to quiet down and ease the heart and mind.

When I came to Japan, I have developed this habit of passing by parks after work just to sit at a bench and quiet my mind. I discovered that admiring flowers also have left me saturated with happy hormones that I would always come home refreshed, energized and not an annoying nag to my family (hehehe!).

Recently, on one of my visits to a nearby park, I noticed a huge fish tank, surrounded by ornamental plants, shrubs and small trees behind an old and traditional sweets shop that I often visit. Funny that I never noticed it here before. Coming closer, I was in for a surprise. Koi fish!!! Huge Koi fish in varied and amazing colors! It was a breathtaking scenery that left me in awe, as I just stood there quietly watching them swim so peacefully in their clean and pure habitat. I was probably so enthralled by them and their quiet, peaceful demeanor, that I spent a long time just gazing at them and feeling my emotions and body totally relax.

Koi in the Japanese psyche is often associated with strength of character, perseverance, accomplishment and success. They also symbolize good fortune and probably because of their long life span are also associated with longevity. Now I understand why Koi would often be the common subject among tattoo enthusiasts young and old because of what they represent. A Japanese garden wouldn’t be complete without a Koi pond.

There are Koi breeders all over the world but nothing compares to the best breeders found in Japan, especially in the Niigata area where Koi breeding is taken very seriously. What makes Koi so special is their coloring and lineage. Did you know that an average Koi fish sells from $10 dollars to more than a hundred dollars? That a Koi colored white with large red patches would cost $3,000 while a similar-sized one colored golden metallic would only fetch for a hundred dollars? That the most expensive Koi was bought at an auction here in Japan last year for a record $1.8 million by a Taiwanese woman? Wowww!

Many Koi enthusiasts keep Koi ponds for years and years because Koi fish have an average life span of around 25 to 35 years. Many experts, however, believe that Koi breeders inside Japan keep them for even as long as half a century. The most common varieties raised here have names such as kohaku, showa, sanke and kosanke. There are 22 major Koi varieties identified but actually, there are more than 100 types of Koi that have been recorded.

In Tokyo, you can visit these parks where one can enjoy Koi watching: Happo-en in Shirokanedai, Gajoen in Meguro, Sensoji

Temple in Asakusa, Yasukuni Shrine in Kudanshita, and Ikedayama Park in Gotanda.

Koi in Japanese is also a homophone for another word which means ‘love’ and ‘affection’ in a romantic sense. When you tell someone you love, ‘Koi ni Ochita’, it means, you fell in love with the person. I fell in love with Koi fish when I first saw them in the fish tank. “Koi ni koi ni ochita”! Visit a park and fall in love!

Mae Grace