Pair of Koi, Entwined as a Vase; Japanese & Unmarked

This was a flea market find ~15 years ago; it got stored away & forgotten
until I went lookin' for something else. It's always such a delightful surprise to re-discover old treasures that way...or are all of you far better organized than to have experienced such serendipity?

Anyway, it stands a wee bit over 8" high, an' about 6" wide. It is certainly bronze; it weighs ~46 ounces. There are several foundry 'repairs' (pics 3 to 7) that I can't quite understand. All are perfectly finished, very smooth to the touch. I don't think it's Chinese or of any other Asian origin but Japanese...but I'm willing to be educated if wrong. It's a keeper, as one of my daughters does much fancy my Asian stuff, an' she will have them soon or late.

Is it of a period, or a region? Are they, as I so blithely assume, even Koi? What else can y'all tell me about them?
As always, thanks for lookin'!

 

They don't appear to be foundry repairs,a different type of bronze was used.

 

Perhaps then: repairs by the finishing artisan of foundry flaws. At least one was missed, though: