Japanese Perch (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first release by Yujin)

This figure is the Japanese Perch (also known as Aucha perch or Oyanirami in Japan), Coreoperca kawamebari), model 19 and number 4 from the second series, second release. This is a small-sized predatory perch that lives rivers and streams. Often in the middle parts of the water column hunting for invertebrates and anything else. While they are true perch, behaviorally, they are very similar to North American fish like black bass and bluegills. Japanese perch have found some popularity in aquaria, although their predatory nature would need to be taken into account!

They are found in southern Korea and parts of Japan, although they have been introduced to non-native regions of Japan as well. They are aggressively solitary (except as fry) and there is a big eye spot on the gill cover that is used in disputes between adults. The Yujin model gives a length of around 35cm, but most sources I could find said 11-15cm.

This model is about 6 cm long, making the figure roughly 1:6 scale; using the more frequently found average length of 12cm, the figure is closer to 1:2 scale. Given the very complex colours and patterns of the Japanese Perch, the paint scheme is very close to the real thing, with an excellent base of crème-color overlain by numerous dark brown bands. The ventral surface also has a number of thin horizontal reddish-ochre stripes from pectoral to vent. On the face, there are several stripes radiating from the back of the eye, fading from brown at the top of the head to a more reddish-ochre toward the jaw. The fins are translucent, almost transparent, with lots of little blue-white spots.

The one feature that almost seems played down is the gill spot—this spot can be very large, bigger than the eye itself, but on the figure is light grey om one side and red & grey on the other, and a little smaller than the eye. Perhaps the model is meant to evoke a sub-adult or subordinate individual? Despite the small size, the figure does a good job of evoking the attitude that these fish have. The base is the raised vertical rock (probably the least appropriate base, given their habitat preference). The Japanese Perch has shown up a few other times, as always from Japanese companies. There are at least 2 or 3 Kaiyodo models, and could be others as well.

Starting on the 14th of January, 2024, I migrated my first Yujin Freshwater Fish Pictorial walkaround post from the Animal Toy Forum to this blog, with the intention of moving all species’/figures’ walkarounds here. The initial post contained a lengthy explanation of the series (both the original and updated) that I don’t think should be repeated each time! For those details, the post can be seen at the first post. Then we can just get to the fish. Most of the details and writing will come from the original post, although I may supplement/add where appropriate.