Names of parts · Part-by-part · Ideal circle · Tail attachment · Other points · History note · Sources
Tosakin 土佐錦魚
The tosakin (Tosa-kingyo, “Tosa goldfish”) is bred to be looked at from above. In the source’s words, its gorgeous tail is its biggest showpiece. This page translates the Japanese names of its parts and what the sources say judges look for.
Names of parts 各部の名称
Hover or tap a label, a part of the fish, or a table row to highlight it.
Part by part: what the sources say
| English | 日本語 | Romaji | What judges look for (from the sources) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Snout length | 目先 | mesaki | From the eyes to the tip of the mouth. A longer snout is considered better. |
| 1 Eye width | 目幅 | mehaba | The distance between the eyes. Narrower is better. |
| Body shape | 体位 | tai-i | Egg-shaped (卵形) as the base. There are round (丸手 marute), medium (中手 nakate) and long (長手 nagate) builds, and round fish are preferred. But round fish tend to lose balance and flip over once they are adults, so medium fish are kept too. |
| 8 Caudal peduncle (tail stalk) | 尾筒 | otsutsu | The tail stalk (尾柄) is called otsutsu. Thick and sturdy is good; a long or thin one spoils the tosakin’s looks. |
| 9 Gold seat (silver seat) | 金座（銀座） | kinza (ginza) | The patch of scales spreading over the root of the tail. When it is white it is called ginza, “silver seat”. The bigger the kinza, the more beautiful; it holds the tail firmly and makes it more stable. |
| 4 Main ray (front bone) | 親骨（前骨） | oyabone (maebone) | The bone (ray) where the tail’s flip begins. A flip that starts from this bone is called ichimonji (一文字, “straight line”); one that starts from the next segment (二棘目, the second ray) is called 折舞い [reading uncertain] or nimai-gaeshi (二枚返し, “two-layer turn-back”). Ideal: supple like a whip or bamboo, bending back against the water while swimming and springing back when the fish is still. Most adults that cannot swim smoothly have a maebone stiff as a stick. |
| 10 Crossing (span) | 渡り | watari | Measured from the tip of the left maebone to the tip of the right one. The larger the watari, the larger and more dynamic the flip, and the grander the fish becomes as an adult. |
| 2 Flip / turn-back (pocket) | 反転（袋） | hanten (fukuro) | Where the tail turns over on itself. Seen from above, the flip comes out forward of the maebone and forms a pocket (袋 fukuro). This flip is the defining feature of the tosakin. |
| 3 Front (hand) | 前（手） | mae (te) | The pocket-shaped part of the flip that sits forward of the maebone. Also called te (手, “hand”). |
| 5 Rear | 後 | ato | The broad, fully spread part of the tail fin, as opposed to the front (mae). |
| 11 Tail core | 尾芯 | oshin | The bone running back from the kinza down the centre of the tail. It should run straight, with no wobble up or down. |
| 12 Ideal circle | 理想の円 [HLFC label] | — | Draw a circle centred on the kinza with its radius reaching the tip of the tail. The ideal fish has the front lobes (mae) and the snout touching the circle, with everything inside it. |
| 7 Dorsal fin | 背鰭 | sebire | Drawn in the book diagrams but not labelled or discussed there. [label added by HLFC] |
The ideal circle
The ideal shape: draw a circle centred on the kinza, with its radius reaching the tip of the tail. The fish whose front lobes (mae) and snout touch the circumference, with everything inside the circle, is considered best.
理想の形は、金座を中心として尾先の先端までを半径とし、円を描いて、前、口先が円周に接してすべてが円の中におさまる金魚が良いとされています。
Tail attachment line 尾付きのライン
- Ideal tail-attachment line (middle) — 理想的な尾付きのライン（中央）: the key point is that it is horizontal (水平).
- ① Upward — 上向き uwamuki: the fish ends up looking like a ryukin (琉金). Undesirable.
- ② Downward — 下向き shitamuki: in this state even swimming properly becomes difficult.
Other points from the source
- Anal fins (臀鰭 shiribire): a pair of two, identical left and right, is good. Some fish have a single one.
- Colour: in both solid red (素赤 suaka) and red-and-white (更紗 sarasa), deep colour that does not fade is good. Pure white fish exist but are worth less.
- Swimming (泳ぎ): easy to overlook with tosakin, but an important point. See main ray: a supple maebone lets the adult fish swim smoothly.
- Cosmetic surgery (整形手術): the author says it should not really be done to improve a fish’s looks and cannot be recommended. If it heals so completely that no trace shows, he thinks some degree of it may be tolerated.
History note トサキンの歴史
Summarised from the same article:
- At the end of the Edo period, the Suga family (須賀家), lower-ranking samurai living below Kōchi Castle, kept goldfish to supplement their income. Their picture record 「土佐錦魚元祖」 (Kōka to Kaei eras, 1844–1854) is the only clue to the tosakin’s ancestral form. The fish in it had a horizontal tail, but bodies like a wakin rather than today’s tosakin.
- The Suga family kept improving the line. Suga Kametarō (須賀亀太郎) is credited with finally fixing the variety by crossing the Osaka ranchu with a ryukin that had a strongly spreading tail.
- Tosakin shows were held in Kōchi City from the Taishō era and were active before the war. After the July 1945 air raid on Kōchi and the December 1946 Nankai earthquake, the tosakin was thought to be gone.
- It was saved by Mr. Tamura (田村広衛), whose own fish had all died. Searching across the prefecture, he found six survivors at a restaurant by the Kagami River (two 3-year-old parents and four 2-year-olds). The owner would not sell for money but would trade for shōchū, so he walked there and back carrying a big bottle of it, and bred the line back from those six fish.
- Kōchi Prefecture later designated the tosakin a natural monument for its protection, and the variety spread across Japan. The Tosakin Preservation and Promotion Society (トサキン保存普及会) was founded in June 1971 after a Fish Magazine article. Its first show was held in July 1972.
Sources
- 田中國衛 (Tanaka; given-name reading uncertain), 「トサキンの飼い方」 (“How to Keep Tosakin”), Tosakin Preservation and Promotion Society (トサキン保存普及会). Sections 一、トサキンの歴史 and 二、各部の名称と見方, including the diagram 各部の名称, p. 75. The book that contains the article is not identified.
- A 土佐錦魚 book, title unknown. Diagrams 「土佐錦魚に求められる理想像」, the circle-inscribed top view, and 理想的な尾付きのライン, p. 18.
Items marked [uncertain] could not be read or translated with confidence.