The carp — and there's a real legend behind the perseverance meaning.

What a Japanese person actually thinks
Traditional and well-liked. Strongly associated with Boys' Day carp streamers and with classic irezumi.

Literally: fish + village/logic
Actually: The carp. In the legend, a carp that swims up the Dragon Gate waterfall becomes a dragon — which is where the endurance symbolism comes from.

Naturalness●●●●●

Normal word.

Coolness●●●●●

Solid character, and one of the few animal kanji where the symbolism is genuinely earned rather than imported.

low*Koi* is also the reading of 恋 (romantic love) — a different character entirely. If someone told you 'koi means love', they meant 恋, not this fish.

鯉

Orientation: either

Brush.