yep everybody has kois now days... But do they even know the meening... It took me over 2 years to figure out how i wanted my Koi, which time of the year they swim up river and what flower are found floating in the river at that time of the year... Kois are known to swim up stream during spring and at the same time the sakura blossoms.. hence why my Koi has Cherry blossoms around it. Also the color of the koi and the possition of the head have different meanings. I also chose the Koi because of the relationship with the samurai, The carp is the only fish that when held in a cutting table it just waits and doesnt fight (death with honor), The sakura flower was also tattooed on the samurai because of the symbolism, samurais consider their life to be short, cause they never knew when they were going to die, the sakura(cherry blossom) represents the life of the samurai, due it only blossoms for a week. Yakuza are known to tattoo giant Kois with Kintaro on their back to symblise their warrior spirit... lol... I want to see you tell a Yakuza that he has a girlie tattoo... see how much time and research went into my tattoo design.... Do the same thing research, design and talk to the artist... remember that is going on your skin forever....
