Medaka In Translation 01: Medaka Trait List by The Japanese Medaka Association
Welcome to the first post of an ongoing series called “Medaka In Translation”! This series will follow my journey into learning and sharing information about Medaka that I’ve discovered through Japanese sources. This specific blog series combines my passion for medaka, as well as my interest in the Japanese language.
I hope by committing time to this, I will not only learn more about the hobby, but also help improve my language ability. As a result, I can share my findings and translations from the various Japanese sources I’ve come across with all of you!
Over the past year, I have been working on a passion project to help me understand the different traits the make up all medaka. This started as a simple translation of different material I found online, but evolved into translating one of the best pieces of information I’ve come across as this point.
As a result, I am happy to share my translation of the “Improved Trait List of Medaka” and the “Improved Supplementary List of Medaka Traits” by the Japanese Medaka Association (JMA).
Here you will find two charts provided by JMA that list out all of the base colors, body types, fin types, etc. of medaka known to date. Some of you may have already come across this information, but now you have an English translation.
One reason it has taken so long for me to share this is because I’ve been working with the Japanese Medaka Association to be granted their approval to share this information.
Please note that these translations are not official translations by JMA. The translations provided are explicitly by Medaka Garden and I have been given approval by JMA to share publicly. Do not share this information for commercial purposes. If sharing this information, please provide credit to the Japanese Medaka Association and Medaka Garden.
Also, please understand that these translations are based on my interpretation of the Japanese language. There are many names/descriptions that can have different meanings, but I did my best to describe things as accurately as possible. I will most likely create a future blog post going into more detail on certain names or descriptions to help give a better understanding of the information that is provided.
I hope these translations help provide you with a deeper understanding of medaka traits and hopefully this will lead to creating a standard we can follow within the English speaking community.
*Click on an image to open in a separate tab to allow you to zoom in.
Sources:
Japan Medaka Association
http://jma-medaka.jp/index.html
JMA Trait Lists （形質一覧表）
http://jma-medaka.jp/pdf/2020keisituitirann.pdf
Pisces: Varieties of Japanese Fish Fish vol. 3 （メダカ品種図鑑 III）
https://piscesbook.com/archives/20573