Show Classes

With there being so many different varieties of koi available it would be impossible to judge
each and every individual variety in its own class, therefore, in the UK as defined by the British
Koi Keepers Society JSC, there are 13 different show classes covering all the various varieties
into which the koi will be segregated.
Some of the classes are very variety specific i.e Kohaku, Sanke, Showa where as some cover
more than one variety i.e Hikari Muji, Hikari Moyo, Kawarimono etc.
The 13 show classes are as follows:

Kohaku

Sanke

It is often said that the

hobby of koi keeping
starts with Kohaku
and ends with Kohaku
such is the simplicity
of it's red and white
only pattern that
extends from the heed
through the body.

The Sanke is another of

the 'big three' Go-Sanke
varieties and like the
Kohaku should have a
red pattern on both the
head and the body.

Kohaku with red only

on the head fall into
their own show class
of Tancho.

The black pattern is

found above the lateral
line and often in both
the pecs and tail as
stripes.

Showa

Utsurimono

Showa are black

based koi that exhibit
a white and red
pattern.

Like the Showa,

Utsurimono are black
based koi of which there
are 3 varieties.

The black pattern

should ideally be seen
on the head as well as
the body and unlike
Sanke, the black
pigment will wrap
from underneath the
koi.

Shiro Utsuri (white

pattern), Hi Utsuri (red
pattern) and Ki Utsuri
(yellow pattern).

KinGinRin

Tancho

Whilst KinGinRin is
found on many
varieties, for show
purposes this class
features only koi from
the Kohaku, Sanke
and Showa groups
that exhibit this type
of scalation.

As KinGinRin, this
class is restricted to koi
from the Kohaku, Sanke
and Showa groups
where the koi in
question exhibit their
red pattern on the head
only and no where else.
Other variety tancho's
remain in their
respective class.

Bekko

Koromo

As Utsurimono, there
are 3 varieties in this
class, Shiro Bekko,
Aka Bekko and Ki
Bekko.

The most common

Koromo varieties are
Ai-Goromo, BudoGoromo and Goshiki.

The black pattern sits

on top of the koi as in
Sanke rather than
wrapping from
underneath as in
Showa.

Asagi /
Shusui
2 varieties in this
class, both essentially
the same fish, one
with scales (Asagi),
one without (Shusui).
Both feature a blue
base colour with
orange as a secondary
colour, the amount of
orange can however
vary greatly

Koromo means 'robed'

in Japanese and koi in
this class exhibit a
darker colour on the
edge of their scales
giving the effect of
robing.

Kawarimono
The most varied class of
them all as it includes
all those koi that don't
have metallic skin and
don't fit into another
show class.
These include varieties
such as: Chagoi,
Benigoi, Ochiba, Kigoi,
Kumonryu,
Matsukawabake,
Matsuba, Hajiro,
Hageshiroi etc.

Hikari Muji

Hikari Moyo

Koi in this class are

single coloured fish
with metallic skin
such as Yamabuki,
Purachina, Ogon and
Kin Matsuba

Another class for koi

with metallic skin.

Hikari Utsuri
This class is for
metallic skinned
examples of Showa
and Utsuri varieties.
The most commonly
seen of these is the
Kin Ki Utsuri, but Gin
Shiro Utsuri and Kin
Showa are often seen
at shows as well.

This class includes all

those koi that feature
more than one colour i.e
Kikusui, Yamotonishki,
Kujaku and Hariwake