While the average lifespan of a red Koi carp is about 40 years, Hanako lived until the 1970s and died at the age of 226.
Hanako’s wonderful story was first shared on Nippon Hoso Kyokai radio station when its last owner, Dr. Komei Koshihara, attended a nationwide broadcast in 1966.
Koshihara said that he knew Hanako’s age because it was verified by Professor Masayoshi Hiro, who works at the animal science laboratory at Nagoya Women’s University.
Two of the fish’s scales were extracted and analyzed over the course of two months, allowing Professor Hiro to count growth rings in the scales to determine Hanako’s age.
One of Hanako’s scales
According to hanakokoi.com, Koshihara once said:
"Despite her old age, Hanako still has the perfect body and swims energetically in a quiet stream that falls from Mount Ontake. This fish weighs 7.5 kg and is 70 cm long."
It and I are best friends. When I called "Hanako! Hanako!", It wouldn’t hesitate to swim from the stream bank to my feet. If I patted the head, it would show amusement. Sometimes I get so reckless that I get it out of the water and hug it.
Right now, my biggest joy is going home 2 or 3 times a month and keeping my relationship with Hanako.
Koshihara revealed that he is often asked how to know the age of the fish. At such times, he explains that it requires "expert support" and "microscope".
"Since the trunk has annual rings, the fish also have annual rings on the scales, and we only need to count them to know the age of the fish," Koshihara said.
Koshihara also revealed the origin of the fish:
"My grandmother was told by her mother-in-law:" When she first got married and became part of this family, her mother-in-law told her that the carp was passed down to us from ancient times; You have to take good care of it ".
When I was told this story, I was curious to know how long the carp lived. I have found out Hanako’s age, but you can easily imagine how painful it is for me to have to spit on its beautiful body ... ".
