Pearls 2003

  1. Whereas most precious stones do not glisten unless polished, pearls are beautiful from the moment that they come into existence. Pearls are the only birthstones (pearls are the birthstone for June) to be produced by living organisms, and are said to symbolize health, longevity, wealth and happiness. Throughout the world, pearls have always been popular.
  2. As indicated by their mention in the 8th century Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), in which they are described as shiratama (white beads), pearls have a long history. In China at the beginning of the 11th century, Buddha blister pearls were made by placing tiny molds of Buddha images in freshwater cockscomb pearl mussels. In Europe, a method of cultivating pearls was discovered in the middle of the 17th century, but this did not prove commercially successful.
  3. In Japan, Kokichi Mikimoto began experiments with Kakichi Mitsukuri, a professor at Tokyo University, at Shinmei-mura in Mie Prefecture in 1890. In 1893, they succeeded in producing a half pearl on a shell using an Akoya oyster. Mikimoto's achievements were enormous, and Japan's cultured pearls became world famous. Many subsequently went on to conduct research into round rather than half pearls. The method of cultivation developed by Tokichi Nishikawa began to spread, and it is this that forms the basis of the cultivation techniques now in common use.
  4. There are two types of pearls: natural pearls formed in living organisms without any artificial intervention, and cultured pearls, which are formed by artificially introducing an irritant into an oyster whose entire surface is covered by nacre. In recent times, natural pearls have been extremely rare, and most pearls are cultured ones.
  5. The main types of pearls are as follows.
    (a) Akoya pearls (Japanese pearls): Pearls with a beautiful sheen created by the Akoya oyster, they account for the majority of the pearls in Japan. Produced in areas of western Japan, such as the prefectures of Nagasaki, Ehime and Mie. Full-scale production of Akoya pearls also began in China in the latter half of the 1980s.
    (b) South Sea pearls: These are large pearls harvested from white-lipped oysters living in Australia, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.
    (c) Mabe pearl: Mabe pearls are half pearls formed by Mabe oysters, and are produced in only a few areas in the waters off the coast of Amami Oshima in Japan, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, etc. Their inhabitation of places where there are fast currents makes cultivation of round pearls difficult, resulting instead in half pearls that nevertheless have a unique luster.
    (d) Black pearls: Black pearls have a black luster, and are produced by black-lipped oysters, which live mostly in the waters around Polynesia, Tahiti and Fiji. They were a favorite with European royalty and nobility.
    (e) Freshwater pearls: These are harvested from Ikechogai (freshwater mussels) living in freshwater lakes and marshes. The most common are rice-grain-shaped pearls from China. Small quantities are also produced in Kasumigaura and around Lake Biwa in Japan.
  6. Japanese pearl production (in volume terms) over the past few years has been as follows.


    		1997 1998 1999 2000
    Ocean 48,307 28,893 24,576 29,905
    Freshwater 204 214 187 181
    Total 48,511 29,107 24,763 30,086
    Unit: kg
    Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, Annual Statistics on Fishing and Fish Farming

  7. Japanese imports and exports of pearls (including manufactured products) between 1999 and 2001 were as follows.

    a. Exports

    		1999 2000 2001
    Total 480,742 440,067 308,015
    U.S.A. 160,114 148,831 100,365
    Hong Kong 129,512 128,122 98,395
    Switzerland 53,611 42,048 24,372
    Germany 36,142 28,213 16,410
    South Korea 14,972 18,334 15,407
    Taiwan 12,215 12,161 7,589
    Italy 17,392 11,340 7,568
    U.K. 10,191 8,820 5,949
    Spain 10,920 6,927 5,777
    Others 35,673 35,271 26,183

    b. Imports

    		1999 2000 2001
    Total 322,378 327,540 241,215
    French Polynesia 124,871 112,654 72,918
    Australia 75,931 83,637 68,167
    Indonesia 66,240 70,022 43,937
    Hong Kong 15,941 20,896 23,102
    China 20,498 16,826 11,198
    Others 18,897 23,505 21,893
    Unit: US$1,000
    Source: Ministry of Finance trade statistics

  8. Expansion overseas by Japanese pearl makers has generally taken the form of joint ventures, and independent investment in independent operations is rate. However, an increasing number have their own distribution channels.
  9. The abolition of commodity tax in 1989 has made it difficult to determine accurate statistics on pearls in Japan (including imports). The total retail value of jewelry, including diamonds and precious stones, during the bubble period was approximately ¥3 trillion. Pearls are estimated to have accounted for around 10% of this amount, or ¥300 billion. Sales now are thought to be around half what they were during the bubble, and the pearl market is probably worth about ¥150 billion. The best sellers are necklaces, followed by pendants and rings. However, sales of more fashionable items, such as watch bracelets, are also on the rise.
  10. A noticeable recent trend is the shift away from Akoya pearls to black pearls. As Japanese women are generally still small in stature, they tend to shy away from large black pearls with a diameter of 13~16mm. Areas of production such as Tahiti, however, make and export small black pearls (9mm, 10mm, 11mm, etc.) for the Japanese market. When black pearls entered Japan around 20 years ago, a single necklace cost millions of yen. Now, however, the best selling black pearl necklaces are to be found in the ¥5~10 million price range.
  11. White-lipped oyster pearls also sell in the ¥5~10 million price range. However, demand for silver and pink pearls that cost around 70% as much as gold pearls is growing strongly.
  12. During the bubble period, it was possible to trade items in. Someone with pearls worth ¥10 million was able to trade them in and pay an additional ¥5 million for an item worth ¥15 million. Since the collapse of the bubble economy, however, the value of items worth ¥10 million has fallen, and it is now possible to buy better quality pearls than during the bubble for ¥10 million. Pearls purchased for ¥10 million, for example, are now worth only ¥8 million. Adding another ¥5 million only gives ¥13 million, making it impossible top trade up to an item worth ¥15 million.
  13. Pearls are normally distributed from producer to consumer as follows in Japan:

    producer --> processor --> wholesaler --> retailer --> consumer.

    As they are by nature expensive, consumers buy pearls from retailers that they can trust, such as specialty stores and department stores. Pearl associations continually advise people to do so, and not to buy from discount stores or unscrupulous curbside sellers.
  14. Japanese women normally first buy fashionable pearl products. After a while, they then want to buy a higher quality item. After a few more years when they have the money, they then buy expensive pearls as a form of asset.
  15. Young people used until recently to buy imitation pearls made by painting and polishing mother-of-pearl to look just like the real thing. These are called "No. 3 pearls" in Japan. Now, however, an increasing number of young consumers appear to have grown tired of No. 3 pearls and instead buy the genuine article.
  16. Cultivation of pearls overseas has to date been backed by Japanese investment. In Japan, meanwhile, the quality of Akoya pearls has fallen due to the impact of wide-scale oyster deaths caused by infectious diseases, gradually reducing their international competitiveness. White-lipped and black-lipped oyster pearls produced overseas are generally high quality, and are superior to domestically produced Akoya pearls in quality and price in some respects. The situation facing the domestic pearl industry is deteriorating, and the slump in domestic sales of Akoya pearls is worsening by the year,

    Acknowledgements: This article was produced with the cooperation of the Japan Pearl Promotion Society and the Japan Cultured Pearl Retailers Association.

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