A KOI SWIMS THE WATERFALL UP TO BE A DRAGON

As you know koi fish is thought to be a symbol of success in Japan.

An ancient tale says there is a vigorous upstream somewhere on the Yellow River. The waterfall at the end of the upstream is called the Ryumon-Gate (literal translation is Dragon Gate).

Many koi gather around the basin of the Ryumon-Gate. If a koi swims the waterfall up it’ll become a dragon and fly away.

Koi swimming in stream

Bakegoi (Dragon fish)

The koi gets spiky in progress.

Bake-Goi

Single/double horns grow and the fins get bigger.

Bake-Goi

The fins turn into wings.

Bake-Goi

Ou-ryu (Hiryu)

Legs grow. 

Ou-ryu

It’s called Ouryu in this phase. 

Ou-ryu

The tail gets longer.

Ou-ryu
Ou-ryu

Finally it swam the waterfall up and turned into a dragon.

Dragon

Tebori Tattooist Ryugen
Roppongi Tokyo

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