Chagoi, Soragoi & Single Colours (茶鯉 (Chagoi)・空鯉 (Soragoi))

Calm single-colour koi — tea-brown Chagoi, grey-blue Soragoi and their kin — loved less for pattern than for presence and tameness.

Pattern diagram (schematic — checked against the JAS definition, not a photograph)
Chagoi, Soragoi & Single Colours: Solid single colour with neat reticulated scaling and no markings.

Pattern (JAS-aligned)	Solid single colour with neat reticulated scaling and no markings.
Colours	Brown-olive (Chagoi), slate grey-blue (Soragoi), and related solid tones such as greenish Midorigoi forms.
How to tell it	One even colour, a netted look to the scales, and often the largest, calmest fish in the pond.

The variety in Japanese koi culture

Not every admired koi wears a pattern. Chagoi — tea-coloured — and Soragoi — sky-coloured, a calm grey-blue — are single-colour fish famous among keepers for growing large, feeding confidently from the hand and steadying a pond's behaviour, since other koi follow their lead. Their beauty is in scale evenness, body volume and skin quality, the same fundamentals that underpin the patterned varieties. They sit within the wider single-colour and Kawarimono discussions at shows, and this page gathers the names and how to tell the tones apart.

Keeping notes on this page are limited to generally published principles about the variety in Japan. This page gives no diagnosis, no treatment and no prescription for an individual pond or fish. For a fish that looks unwell, contact a veterinarian or your local fisheries office.

Sources: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA — summary in our own words, credit only); All Japan Nishikigoi Promotion Association official; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and Finance Ministry trade statistics as published; Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) for nishikigoi variety names and definitions (2022); Niigata Prefecture, Ojiya City, Nagaoka City (Yamakoshi) and Nishikigoi no Sato official; Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) visitor statistics; USDA APHIS and Australian DAFF official import guidance. Checked 6 November 2026.