Nichirin - September Issue

[Russell Peters]

At the back of September's issue there is an interesting diity about Koi ages. It is summed up like this;

A Koi hatched in May 2007 should be aged every new years day:

From its birth to December 2007 - tosai
From January to December 2008 - one year old
From January to December 2009 - two years old


The following terms are used by many koi dealers for babies hatched in May 2007, for instance.

From May to December 2007 - tosai
(sometimes until April 2008)
From January to December 2008 - nisai

[RookieKoiGuy]

MAKES SINCE,WE HAVE DOG YEARS....NOW KOI YEARS

THANKS FOR THE EMAIL RUSS/ON THE BREEDER
GOOD LUCK ON YOUR TRIP OVERSEAS,
TOM

[jbolding]

I think this issue hearkens back to nishikigoi as an agricultural stock like horses( I believe the article even mentions that). It actually makes more sense for me to think of it in these terms as this was how breeders were probably initially able to set benchmarks for the fish to be judged, sold ,traded, etc. Just like any other livestock.

Previously I always thought of nisai fish as being in it's second year of life, but the reality is good luck in tracking when a fish actually turns 2. Especially if you bought the fish from a dealer, who bought the fish from a breeder/wholesaler, who may have bought the fish from another breeder. Where if you use calendar years it's easy.