JAPAN, CHINA AND THE PHILIPPINES 



We know little about Daikoku or Ebisu in America, or the 

 mother country ; but did you ever notice when you are going off 

 on a fishing trip, your less fortunate friend calls out, ' Good luck ! ' 

 You may be sure that Daikoku had something to do with it, 

 as the Japanese have not a monopoly in good luck. 



Japan, the Japanese and Japanese fishes have something 

 very much in common. They suggest one another. The wonder- 

 ful three-tailed Japanese carp or gold-fish could have originated 

 nowhere else than in Japan. I once saw a Japanese book on 

 them, giving the many different varieties, their names, and 

 pictures of them ; some with two tails, some with three, and 

 some with telescopic eyes. They were white, red and gold, plain 

 and diversified ; and I remember that one was the fish of the 

 black cross, the fish bearing a black cross on its back. 



I am indebted to the Hon. Shinnosuke Matsubara, Director 

 of the Imperial Fisheries Institute of Tokyo, for some interesting 

 data relating to these strange fishes. He says that the Japanese 

 obtained them from China ; but they have improved them and 

 produced many new varieties. Some of their names are Wakin — 

 slender, long, vermilion-red, with white tail which has four lobes ; 

 the Eyukin has a short rounded body, with a flowing tail ; the 

 Eanchu is almost round ; the adult has a reddish crown and is 

 called the Shishigashira or hon-headed ranchu. Then there is the 

 rare-headed ranchu, Oranda, the Demekin with telescopic eyes ; 

 the Watonai with a flowing tafl. The Japanese, as Mr. AMyama 

 Kichigoro, a ' Gold-fish Breeder in Tokyo,' produce these extra- 

 ordinary fish much as they would a new chrysanthemum. 



The Shukin, ' autumn brocade,' fish is a wonderful creature. 

 Shu is the breeder's name and ' kin ' meaning brocade, from its 

 beautiful colour. In 1876 I saw one of these fishes in New York, 

 which was said to have cost $30,000, and the owner claimed to 

 have refused $50,000. It was called the Ean-Kiyo. Its tail was a 

 mass of fluffy creamy lace at least six inches long, the body a 

 golden-red. Most of these wonderful fishes are produced in 

 Tokyo, Koriyama, Yamato and Nara Prefecture. Thie breeding 



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