Every now and then certain questions arise in the koi hobby which will always get a different answer from various different koi experts around the world. Certainly one of these is the questions raised when discussing “Gin Rin” koi.
It was a series of questions like these that came up on my recent visit to Japan with customers to see Martin Symonds at Japan Koi Export. It didn’t take Martin long to whisk us of and go straight to the real experts and get there views on this subject. So there we sat with Tokuzo Miya and his son Kentaroh of Miyaishi Koi Farm and asked away. No one can question the knowledge these two men have. Tokuzo Miya has over 50 years experience in breeding and rearing koi in the Niigata area and his respect and knowledge is sought after throughout the koi world.
Firstly the meaning of “Gin Rin” in Japanese basically translated means silver scale (or even more basic shinning scale on white and black) and is obviously apparent why it was called this when Gin Rin Koi are seen.
Kin Rin also exist and again means “shinning scale on red.” Some people may see this group written as “Kin gin rin”, but now the universal genetic term Gin Rin is used to cover this type of koi.
Fukurin should not be confused as a type of Gin Rin as this is a darkening of the edge of scales and is totally different.
When did Gin Rin koi first appear in Nishikigoi?
These types of questions are always hard to answer even for the Japanese as no true records where kept at these times and modern communications systems did not exist but Tokuzo could remember that the first koi with gin rin scales seemed to appeared around 70 years ago in the Echigo Prefecture. Echigo was the name given to the area as we all know today as Niigata Prefecture. It was called Echigo Prefecture up until around the 1870’s when the name was changed to Niigata Prefecture.
The first koi appearing with gin rin scales had only a few scales along the side of the koi’s body basically following the lateral line of the fish. The name they gave to this was Echigo gin rin. ? ?
This type of scaling I asked then, which might be gin rin could have been around even longer than 70 years as the word Echigo was used which related to the area over 130 years before. Tokuzo replied there is no way to say no to this but is was unlikely, the reason the name Echigo was used, was because even 70 years ago the older generation still referred to the area as Echigo.
Most breeders believe that gin rin appeared just as coincidence (luck), but without doubt some breeders took these few new different fish and started to breed with them and increase the amount of gin rin on koi. Other names where given to this type of koi in this area such as Pearl Gin rin which looks like the scale has a pearl shape in it, but is very rare and unusual to find and also Kasugin Hikari which made the scale look strange and therefore nobody liked.
Then around 40 years ago Gin rin started to appear on koi from the Hiroshima area, but as with Echigo gin rin that was located on the side of the koi the fish from Hiroshima had gin rin along the top of the body and the name Dai gin rin was given to this type. It is believed that these koi come from a long and deep blood line. Dai gin rin koi are most probably the most recognized gin rin varieties today, but Echigo gin rin are still available and very beautiful.
What is the reason for Gin Rin Scales?
Tokuzo Miya feels that the original Gin rin koi appeared by coincidence (luck) and could be looked upon as a genetic deformity, which by sheer chance improved the beauty of the koi. Many people try to analyze how gin rin is created. It would seem that guarine one of the types of nucleic acid deposits it self and concentrates this residue into a crystalline form at the tip of the fishes scale giving it the ability to reflect light and therefore the gin rin affect.
Can you breed Gin rin with Gin rin to produce only Gin rin?
Without doubt the cross breeding of male and female gin rin will increase the number of fish to be gin rin but it is not 100% and only a percentage of the fry will become gin rin.
Do Gin rin Varieties grow slower than normal varieties of koi?
Tokuzo explained that in the beginning the first gin rin fish would have been a weaker strain and would have grown slower than normal varieties but today the blood lines have become stronger and therefore he felt they would grow at around the same pace. But for sure you do not see as many jumbo gin rin koi as you do normal varieties.
Next time you look at Gin rin koi.
Make a point next time you look to buy a Gin rin koi to see which blood line it comes from either an Echigo Gin rin, with only gin rin scales on the side or a Dai Gin rin one with the gin rin scales along the top of the koi. Which ever one you decide on you have to agree they make beautiful looking koi. I would just like to thank Martin Symonds and the Miyaishi family for giving their time and knowledge on this.
Nobody knows exactly where the Koi we have today originated, but it is common belief that the common carp (Cyprinus Carpio) originated somewhere near Persia and western Asia. The common carp migrated into China either through trade or natural waterways. It is not known when exactly when the carp were introduced into Japan, but it is believed to have been through trade.
The common carp is an excellent source of protein, so the rice farmers in the Niigata Prefecture started keeping them as a food staple for the long winter months. When the carp (Magoi) would reach 6 inches long, the rice farmers would catch and salt them so they would last the long winter months.
Around the mid-1800′s, some of the rice farmers started noticing that some of the carp were mutating. Blotches of red and white were appearing on them. They decided that it would be cool to keep those ones out and breed them. Pretty soon they had developed distinct patterns. It is amazing that these simple rice farmers were selectively breeding the carp to bring out amazing colors and patterns, when at the same time, the only genetic research going on was Gregor Mendel’s experiments with pea plants.
At the turn of the 20th century, Koi were crossbred with the scaless and mirror carp from Germany. The Koi Breeders called the new varieties, Doitsu (the Japanese word for German).
Koi keeping took off in Japan when, in 1914, some breeders took samples of different varieties to an exposition in Tokyo. People from all over Japan saw the “Living Jewels”. Over the next few decades, dozens of new varieties appeared. The next big leap in Koi keeping was the creation of plastic bags in the 1960′s. Koi could be shipped all over the world reliably and without high loss.
Today, Koi are bred throughout the world, but most people agree that the best ones come right from the Niigata Prefecture in Japan. Koi are one of the most sought after ornamental fish in the world. You can find Koi hobbyists in nearly every country.
