Koi emerges as new source of souring relations between Japan and China
FILE - Goldfish and carp swim in a spherical water tank at an art aquarium exhibition in Tokyo on July 12, 2014. In recent years, koi have become hugely popular in Asia, with exports doubling over the past decade. One-fifth of the koi exported from Japan are shipped to China. But Beijing let expire a contract for the required quarantine of the fish, effectively halting the country's import of koi from Japan and further souring the two rivals' relations. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
TOKYO (AP) — What's koi got to do with it? Souring relations between Asian rivals Japan and China now seem to be snagged on calm-inducing beauty in spas, museums and gardens. The slippery dispute between Asia's two biggest economies adds to their spat over Japan's release into the sea of treated but radioactive water from the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant. And it has prompted more questions than answers.
Here's what you need to know about the fish and their role in the dispute:
WHAT ARE KOI?
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