Kujaku

Kujaku, or Kujaku Ogon as they are still sometimes known, are highly regarded by the Japanese, as the patterning on a good specimen can rival that of Go Sanke. Like Goshiki, they are said to be five-colored koi, but this sometimes stretches credulity - not all modern examples display white, black, red, brown and yellow markings. The first ones were bred in Ojiya in 1960 by Toshio Hirasawa from a female Shusui and a male Kin Matsuba and Hariwake. (Koi are normally spawned in trios, with one female and two males. It is therefore impossible to establish the exact parentage of the first Kujaku.) The result was a metallic platinum fish with black Matsuba scalation overlaying a hi pattern, a clear red head, and some blue derived from the original female parent koi. Many of these first Kujaku (the word literally means "peacock") were Doitsu, again the result of the Shusui influence.

Doitsu Kujaku are sometimes mistaken for Ginsui and Kinsui. However, in the German-scaled Kujaku, the hi overlaid with black forms a distinct pattern along the dorsal surface and lateral lines, while in Ginsui, if much hi appears at all, it is in typical Shusui configuration - on the cheeks and flanks - and the platinum skin tends to have a bluish tint. Judging standards for modern Kujaku have become quite flexible. For instance, "interesting" head patterning (provided there is no black intruding) is just as acceptable as plain red or platinum. A sub variety, the Beni Kujaku, is predominantly red.