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Throughout China and Japan, the carp is the fish that represents the qualities of courage and perseverance through struggles. When the carp swims upstream to spawn, it is believed to ‘leap to the Dragon’s Gate’ and become a dragon. This process is applied to the examinations of scholars who are called ‘carps who have leapt the Dragon Gate’ when they succeed, thus making the carp the symbol of literary or scholarly prowess. The carp is also shown as a pair of fish with one set of eyes, an emblem for all lovers, as well as for marital fidelity, a happy household and many children. In Japan, the carp is the emblem of the Samurai, who are believed to share the carp’s stirling qualities of courage, endurance, good luck, dignity and resignation to fate. At the annual Boy’s Festival in Japan, boys fly paper kites in the shape of carp to symbolize courage and tenacity.