What started out as an experiment for the common carp is now considered as one of the world’s the most well-bred aquatic specie that is the Japanese koi. The word “koi” in Japanese simply means “carp”. However, in Japanese kanji “koi” is denoted for “love and/or friendship”, as in “koibito” that means “lovers”. As such, the Japanese carp is used as a symbol for either love or friendship. Caring for these koi is not an easy job, but with the determination and consistent goal to breed them, it can turn out to be both an entertaining and a lucrative hobby.
The carp has been a food source for most Japanese, and it has never prospered anymore on its purpose. However, the common carp came not from Japan, but in their neighboring country China. There are two types of carps, and the one that the Japanese had then was the East Asian carp. The other one is the Western Eurasian carp, which was later cross-bred with the East Asian variant in an experiment for an ornamental carp.
It was in the 1800’s that Japanese scholars have tried mixing colors onto the common carp, which then only had a dull grey color. It was probably aimed at reproducing the fishes on the Chinese palaces’ murals, or is just to create ornamental species of carps. However, regardless of what aims drove it, the experiment turned out to be successful with the first brocaded carp, or in Japanese, “nishikigoi”. This success went on for further experiments, but the world never knew of it until it was brought to an annual expo in Tokyo, 1914. The ornamentation of the carp, with all its aesthetic dimensions and angles, has sparked wide interest not only in Tokyo but in the whole country of Japan.  As of today, there are more or less 30 commonly bred species of the Japanese koi in the whole world.
Due to the lot of bred carps, there have been several established categories of koi. However, what breeders consider as the most common category is the Gonsanke, which are composed of Kohaku, Taisho Sanshoku and Showa Sanshoku variants. First off, the Kohaku is the common white-skinned unshrinking with red spots. The Taisho Sanshoku, or Sanke (as the kanji may also be read), is very similar to the kohaku but with black markings called sumi. On the other hand, the Showa Sanshoku or Sanke has three colors of red, white and black, but is predominantly black. Both the Taisho and Showa Sanshoku is shown to the Taisho and Showa Emperors respectively during their political tenure, hence their names.
Another relative specie of the Japanese koi is the Prussian carp, better known as the goldfish. They are mostly confused to each other, but they really have no relation except that they both came from carp. However, goldfish came from the common carp while the Prussian carp has undergone selective breeding by Chinese’s scholars in the 1800’s that has led to the goldfish.  Furthermore, the goldfish has a smaller body than the koi. They’re also both favorites aquatic breeds.