Off the coast of Japan’s verdant Saikai National Park, the Kujukushima Islands lie scattered amid a sprawling network of narrow inlets. Their name literally translates as “99 islands,” though there ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. If it weren’t for Kokichi Mikimoto, we might be living in a world without pearls. As a young man growing up in a seaside Japanese ...

MIE, Japan (Reuters) - Japan's akoya pearl industry, which began in the 1890s when Kokichi Mikimoto created the world's first cultured pearls, is facing collapse due to plunging sales and stiff ...

Japan's akoya oysters have been preëminent among cultured pearls ever since Kokichi Mikimoto first established the industry in the early part of this century. But since 1994, something has been ...

Visitors to Ago Bay can learn about the history of cultured pearls at the museum on Mikimoto Pearl Island. Mikimoto Pearl Island/JNTO Ago Bay's calm waters and sheltered inlets are perfect for pearls.

Founded in Ginza, Japan, in 1893, Mikimoto is a high-end jeweler that specializes in cultured pearls. Industry experts and consumers with an affinity for the stone worldwide often regard the brand as ...

If it weren’t for Kokichi Mikimoto, we might be living in a world without pearls. As a young man growing up in a seaside Japanese village, Mikimoto observed the diminishing supply of natural pearls ...