No one loves the mystique associated with nishikigoi more than I! The myths and poetic names of nishikigoi are really enriching to this once exclusive Japanese hobby. And the many facets of koi color and pattern can take a life time to study, and in that regard, add mystery to things like beni.

But beni is not hard to understand if you learn correctly what it is to begin with. Unfortunately it is in the interest of many to keep the customer hobbyist both in the dark and in awe of professional’s ability to seem to see things that mere mortals can not possible see if not a breeder or 40 year master. Honestly understanding good beni is tricky , not hard.

Let’s begin to pierce the beni glass ceiling by defining beni-

Beni is the red pattern formed within the white skin of nishikigoi. It is both the color red and the structure form by layers of red within the three dimensional pattern. So depending how we use the word beni in a sentence, an understanding/meaning should be evident as to just what beni means in that context.

Even though we use terms to describe red patterns such as - "solid", ‘fluid", "thick", "uniform" etc., beni pattern or beni plate is not one solid color surface. It is , in fact, layers of millions of tiny cells joined up to give the human eye the impression of one solid mass. You can imagine a series of tiny red beads suspended in a clear Jell-O mass. If the density of the tiny red beads is great enough, with spaces between ‘spheres’ filled in from beads both above and below as well as being tightly ‘bunching’, we will see a solid ‘sheet’ of red when we look down thru the Jell-o from above. But the human eye is better than that! It can also see depth in color! So we see different ‘reds’ but we are usually just not armed with enough information to express what it is we are really seeing.

The plot thickens! These tiny beads of red are not all red! They are a complex of different shades, and in some mixes, they contain both clear and silver shiny beads. Here the eye get’s ‘fooled’ into thinking it is seeing a different color rather than a mix of color shades. So the beni plate can be made up of all red cells, red and slightly black/blue beads ( red + blue = purple), or a beni plate can be made up of orange in a single lateral sheet or in a variation- layers of orange and deeper orange on top of that! And in many of very high class fish, beni plates can be of an orange and yellow bead mix spaced within clear reflective beads- a VERY beautiful effect! And hold on here- but the different colors mentioned can also be in the same beads! These are the best specimens of gosanke.

Now if your still with me after the Jell-O and tiny red beads image, then now imagine this Jell-O and tiny red beads not in a cup, but in sheets! In great koi, the Jell-O sheets themselves are stacked over time and with age to create layers of transparent epidermis and dermis. And each of these sheets wraps a scale both top and bottom! This is the thick yet transparent and BILLOWY skin type we often refer to as quality skin. This skin is well hydrated and accommodates large numbers of ‘beads’ on many levels creating the impression of a thick sheet of red.

Perhaps the true ‘mystique’ of nishikigoi is in the relationship of the human eye and the demonstration of color it takes in? How well the eye is challenged to pierce the illusion presented by koi’s color! Maybe this is what captures and fascinates us? The confusion and stimulation the brain gets from the conflicting images the eye delivers.