Deciding to get a tattoo is a significant step, and for me, selecting a Koi Tattoo was a choice imbued with deep personal meaning and lasting importance. For me, the Koi fish is more than just a beautiful creature; it’s a powerful symbol deeply intertwined with my life and heritage.
My connection to Koi fish is far from arbitrary. They have been a constant and defining presence in my life, stemming from my family’s long-standing business, Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery, which my father established in 1958. We specialize in breeding and raising high-quality Koi and goldfish for enthusiasts across the United States.
Yes, my upbringing was quite unique – I grew up as the son of a fish farmer. While others might have stories of growing up on dairy farms or wheat fields, my childhood was centered around breeding, counting, feeding, and packaging millions of fish on a goldfish farm in Kernersville, North Carolina. The landscape surrounding my childhood home wasn’t fields of crops, but rather fields of water – ponds teeming with Koi and goldfish. Childhood memories include racing motorcycles with friends around the farm, and occasionally, those adventures would lead to an unplanned dip for our bikes in a Koi pond.
As I entered my teenage years, my responsibilities grew. I would often find myself driving a cargo van loaded with boxes of live fish, carefully packed in water, to the airport for shipment across the country. Navigating traffic with a vehicle full of swaying water, I can tell you, was an exercise in focus! Even dinner table conversations often revolved around the intricacies of raising, selling, and breeding Koi. While as a kid, these discussions could be mind-numbingly boring, these fish were as fundamental to my life as school, skateboarding, or the simple joy of a chocolate chip cookie.
During the 1980s and 90s, Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery flourished, becoming one of the largest and most respected domestic Koi breeders in the nation, shipping millions of fish annually. This era also marked a significant innovation. My father, uncle, and brother played a pivotal role in introducing a distinctive variety to the market – the Butterfly Koi (pictured above). Characterized by their elegant, long, flowing fins, Butterfly Koi quickly gained popularity worldwide. Today, these fish are bred and sold globally under the name “Butterfly Koi,” a name coined by my brother Randy. This development not only propelled the success of Blue Ridge but also cemented our family’s contribution to the rich history of Koi.
Through these deeply personal experiences, Koi have evolved into powerful symbols for me, representing family bonds, innovation, prosperity, and inner strength. Therefore, choosing a Butterfly Koi as a tattoo was a natural and meaningful decision. I got this tattoo in Japan, the very country where Koi breeding originated, and placed it on my arm, a location close to my heart both literally and figuratively. I can’t think of a more fitting symbol to carry with me.
See also: So, I Got a Tattoo
Post From: Tokyo, JP
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