Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Children’s Kasumigaseki Visiting Day Held
” Nishikigoi Judging Experience and Unique Medaka Display”
Relax by viewing beautiful Nishikigoi and Medaka!!
All Japan Nishikigoi Promotion／Japan Ornamental Fish Association

The “Children’s Kasumigaseki Visiting Day,” jointly organized by 29 government ministries and agencies including the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, was held over two days on August 6th and 7th, bustling with many parents and children around the Kasumigaseki area.
This event, which began in 2000, aims to provide children with “experiential learning opportunities” to learn about the work and activities of each ministry and agency, deepen parent-child interaction, and broadly learn about society.
Although it was temporarily canceled or scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, large-scale venue events resumed last year. It is not only an important learning place for children spending their summer vacation but also provides hints for independent study topics, making it popular among many parents.
At the MAFF, 45 programs were planned to allow children to enjoy learning broadly about food, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries together with their families. While all venues set up within the ministry were crowded with people, the ministry’s head, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi, visited the venues and interacted closely with the children.
The All Japan Nishikigoi Promotion Association, participating for the sixth time this year, prepared a program titled “Koi Judging Experience,” allowing participants to enjoy experiencing their long-developed AI-based Koi evaluation system in a game format. Three Kohaku Koi, pre-ranked by AI, swam in a round pool, and visitors observed them while considering elements like color, pattern, body shape, and balance, predicting the 1st to 3rd place Koi. A total of 778 people participated in the judging experience over the two days, indicating its high popularity, but only 6 people achieved a perfect score, showing the high level of difficulty.
Equally popular as the judging experience was the “Nishikigoi Postcard” corner set up in a part of the venue. By stamping four different patterns and colors, visitors could create their own customized postcards, such as Kohaku, Showa, and Shiro Utsuri, which children particularly enjoyed.
Inside the venue, the Japan Ornamental Fish Association also held a display of “Unique Medaka.” Given their ease of care, it is hoped that starting with the easily kept Medaka will expand interest towards Nishikigoi, goldfish, and others, contributing to the growing popularity of Japanese ornamental fish.

Examples of MAFF Experience Programs