Goldfish

Vivid colors and gorgeous shapes of goldfishes fascinate those who behold them. In Japan, goldfish scooping is one of the most popular events at festivals. It's likely that many people have enjoyed scooping goldfish and brought them back home to breed.
The goldfish is a member of the crucial carp family. It is said that the ancestor of the goldfish was a mutation of wild carp that was found in China nearly 1,700 years ago and is called the red crucian carp. Around the 10th century, people began to keep these red carp for pleasure and selective breeding started on a commercial basis.
Goldfish were first imported to Japan approximately 500 years ago in the Muromachi period. However, the goldfish did not become very popular in that period, during which wars were fought repeatedly and there was no advanced fish breeding skill in Japan. It was in the Edo period that the popularity of the goldfish boomed; the samurai class began to breed goldfish in their garden ponds as a luxurious decorative item, and many years later, ordinary citizens also began to enjoy breeding goldfish at home.
Goldfish are still one of the most popular pets in Japan. The scene of a goldfish in a water vase or basin represents a typical summer scene of Japan, which is soothing and refreshing.