KCMT Koi Page

Koi Of The Year!

Fuji: the intense brightness of the head of a very young, usually mettalic koi. It's caused by lots of tiny bubbles under the skin, and is considered a sign of good skin quality. It fades as the fish gets older.

When a Koi has a beautiful sparkling silver patch on its head or, more rarely, on its pectoral fins, it is likened to snow on the top of mount Fujiyama. It is extremely striking but at present it is not a stable condition and disappears after 2-3 years.

Below is a picture of a 14" Gin Matsuba that belongs to Jim and Nancy Vaden. You can see very shiney spots on the head. That is the fuji.

This is what James Reilly has to say about fuji. James is a certified AKCA and ZNA judge.

Judges will look at a young hikari fish differently than older fish. In the young ogon, you look to the head for luster because fukurin is not there yet. So in a koi show, judging fish less than three years old require a review of the head, spine, pecs and tail. These areas should be clean and shiny. In an adult ogon, the luster is graded according to depth of that luster- and this is more subtle effect. And then the all important fukurin is assessed.

In higher quality ogons (tategoi) you want to look for very tiny wrinkles or bubbles. Touch them and they should flatten out under your fingers. This is an indication of thin but soft skin and a likely a keeper for later in life. That koi will win as the conformation and fukurin develop at ages 4 and up.

Babies, on the other hand, with smooth shiny heads that glisten in the light, will win regularly until about 3years old -20-24 inches. After that, the shine will disappear and if no fukurin is there, they can't win any longer.

So just like assessing gosanke as "now" or "future" fish, ogons should be picked with a plan in mind.

For those of you that might not be familiar with a couple of the terms above here are some definitions.

Fukurin: The area of skin around the smaller scales of good metallic Koi. The smaller the scales, the greater the lustre.

Tategoi: (Ta-Tay-Goi) A koi that the breeder keeps because he thinks it will improve and be worth more money at a later age. This is the most misused word in the koi language. You can not buy a tategoi. Only koi breeders have tategoi. Once they sell a koi it is no longer a tategoi.