Tategami Pearls

Tategami – the birthplace of pearl cultivation

Pearls are said to be the oldest form of jewelry and have been a favorite of ladies since ancient times. Japan has been famous for its pearls over the ages and even the “Gishiwajinden” mentions the presentation of pearls to China by Himiko’s successor. Natural pearls were only found in 1-3 Akoya oysters per 10,000 so they were very highly valued.

Shima City, Mie Prefecture was first in the world to successfully cultivate pearls that occur naturally only very rarely. In 1893, the founder of the current Mikimoto Pearls, Kokichi Mikimoto, decided to cultivate pearls using Akoya oysters. The species had been overfished, and with numbers declining he aimed to protect the Akoya oysters and increase their numbers. It took him more than 10 years, but amazingly he succeeded in cultivating cultured pearls with these oysters. Kokichi Mikimoto first tried pearl cultivation on Ojima Island in Toba and Ago Bay. After that time, pearl cultivation became very popular in Ago Bay.

Tategami is located in the vicinity of Ago Bay which is in the inner regions of Shima City, Mie Prefecture, the birthplace of cultivated pearls. Ago Bay is famous for having a rias coastline and the inlets act as a breakwater for the stormy seas of the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the sea is always calm in the bay and it is warm all year. Furthermore, rivers such as Hiyamajigawa and Hazakogawa, which flow through the gently-sloping hill country of Shima Peninsula, gently deliver nutrients to the bay. The Akoya oysters feed and grow on phytoplankton in this plentiful natural environment and produce high quality pearls.

In the case of Akoya oysters, the crystals that make up the mother-of-pearl layer form in regular lines and their interaction creates a magical, rainbow colored brilliance with tinges of pink. The oysters are very suited for pearl cultivation as their other name “pearl oysters” suggests. In fact, any shellfish with a shell can produce pearls. However, if the inside of the shell does not have a beautiful mother-of-pearl layer, it is not possible to produce pearls with a beautiful shine.
Currently, around the world many different types of mother pearls are used in pearl cultivation, but Akoya pearls are known to be the best thanks to a very fine mother-of-pearl layer which produces a clarity not seen in other pearls, and a superior, gentle shine.