Aya Wakaba (Ki Shusui)

Aya Wakaba

彩若葉

AH-yah wah-KAH-bah

Asagi/Shusui

Aya Wakaba is the yellow Shusui, also sold as Ki Shusui or Yellow Shusui. It is a doitsu koi with pale blue-gray to white skin, a row of dark blue mirror scales down the back, and yellow where a Shusui carries red. It descends from Midorigoi and Shusui, and it is still rare: only a few farms produce it in any number, and Marusaka is the name most often attached to it.

Quick Facts

Base Colors

blue-gray white

Marking Colors

yellow (ki) dark blue (dorsal scales)

Scale Type

Doitsu

Key Features

Doitsu body with a dark blue dorsal scale row, pale blue-gray or white skin, and yellow in place of the Shusui's red. The yellow often reaches over the back and onto the head.

Pattern Description

Yellow rises from the belly and flanks, and on Aya Wakaba it often climbs over the back and onto the head, where a show Shusui would keep its face clean. The Shusui row of dark blue mirror scales runs down the dorsal line. Where yellow lies over blue skin the fish can read greenish. Young fish change a lot as they grow: some settle into clean yellow on blue, others pick up ochre, orange and gray-green tones.

Name Meaning

彩若葉 joins 彩 (aya), meaning color or coloring, with 若葉 (wakaba), the young leaves of spring and the fresh yellow-green they show. A loose translation is "colored new leaves," which suits a koi whose yellow often turns greenish over blue skin. You will see it written as one word, Ayawakaba, about as often as two.

History

Aya Wakaba is a modern variety, credited to Yamanaka Oya in Niigata, who first produced it in the early 2000s. Its foundation is Midorigoi, a doitsu yellow-green koi usually credited to Tadao Yoshioka in 1963 from a Shusui and Yamabuki Ogon cross. Crossing Midorigoi back to Shusui, or Midorigoi to Midorigoi, produces yellow-marked offspring, and that is where both Aya Wakaba and Ki Shusui come from. Marusaka took the line up and became the farm most associated with it. European dealers were importing two-year-olds by 2014. ChampKoi has imported Aya Wakaba from Marusaka, Maruhiro and Ogata.

Ideal Characteristics

Clean, even yellow with sharp edges against clear blue-gray or white skin, and no gray blotching, the common fault this line inherits from Shusui and Midorigoi. The dorsal mirror scales should be neat, evenly sized and in a straight, unbroken row. Yellow should be balanced left to right. Body matters as much here as on any variety: a full, strong fish gives the yellow room to spread as it grows.

Commonly Confused With

Ki Shusui: in strict usage a Ki Shusui keeps Shusui placement, yellow on the sides and a clean head, while Aya Wakaba carries yellow across the back and often onto the face. The trade uses the two names loosely, our own listings included, so read the fish rather than the label. Shusui: same body and dorsal scales, but the markings are red. Midorigoi: the whole body is one translucent yellow-green, with no blue skin showing and no separate yellow pattern. Kinsui and Ginsui: metallic Shusui. Aya Wakaba has no metallic luster.

Judging Criteria

Aya Wakaba is benched with Kawarimono, so it competes on overall impression against very different fish. Judges weigh body shape and size, skin quality, the clarity and evenness of the yellow, the neatness of the dorsal scale row, and pattern balance. Gray staining in the skin and an irregular scale line are the usual faults.

Identification Tips

Doitsu body with a straight row of dark blue mirror scales down the back.
Yellow where a Shusui would show red.
Yellow that crosses the back or reaches the head points to Aya Wakaba over a strict Ki Shusui.
Blue-gray or white skin between the yellow separates it from an all-over yellow-green Midorigoi.
No metallic shine. A metallic fish with this layout is a Kinsui or Ginsui.