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Bringing the lustre back to Japan’s cultured pearls

Ise Shima’s tradition-bound cultivated pearl industry is now looking beyond Japan

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Tan Su Yen

Published Fri, Oct 27, 2023 · 12:15 PM
    • Cypress forests come right up to the water's edge in Ise Shima's sheltered inlets; their falling leaves enriching the seas.
    • Maiko Makito, second-generation owner and managing director of Pearl Falco, hopes to make her Singapore subsidiary a success and replicate its business model in Ise Shima.
    • Pearl farmers tend to Akoya oysters for up to six years before the pearls are ready to be harvested.
    • Cypress forests come right up to the water's edge in Ise Shima's sheltered inlets; their falling leaves enriching the seas. PHOTO: PEARL FALCO
    • Maiko Makito, second-generation owner and managing director of Pearl Falco, hopes to make her Singapore subsidiary a success and replicate its business model in Ise Shima. PHOTO: PEARL FALCO
    • Pearl farmers tend to Akoya oysters for up to six years before the pearls are ready to be harvested. PHOTO: PEARL FALCO

    THE mantra “Plant a tree to grow a pearl” ­­­is one which pearl farmers of Ise Shima, Japan, hold dear.

    Along this winding stretch of Japan’s Pacific coast, fragrant cypress forests – mostly natural, some planted – come right up to the water’s edge. Falling leaves and twigs fertilise the seas. This leads to an abundance of plankton, on which the region’s famous Akoya pearl oysters thrive.

    Located 90 minutes by train south of Nagoya, Ise Shima – which encompasses the four cities of Toba, Ise, Shima and Minami-Ise – is the birthplace of cultured pearls.

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