• Uwajima City in Ehime Prefecture is a famous pearl cultivation area, ranking first in Japan in terms of pearl production for 12 consecutive years.

Characteristics of Japanese Akoya Pearls

• Among all types of pearls, it is the most brilliant in the world. Enjoy the delicate and profound brilliance unique of pearls, which is different from those colored gemstones.

What is Uwajima?

• A complex small bay forming a ria coast.
• The warm water temperature derived from the Pacific Ocean. The current black ocean and the inflow of nutrient-rich seawater known as the "bottom-entering ocean tide" make the sea rich in plankton for the growth of Akoya pearls.
• It is said that an environment so favorable for pearl cultivation is rare in the world.

Differences from other regions

• The mother-of-pearl oysters, which are the mothers of pearls, are produced by pearl oyster farmers using specialized techniques that differ from those used in pearl cultivation, and require a great deal of time and labor over a period of one ~ three years.
• Ehime Prefecture, which has been cultivating pearls since 1907, currently accounts for about 90% of the domestic production of mother-of-pearl oysters, thanks to the technology cultivated through its long history.
• The "Ehime method," in which the two processes of pearl mother shell production and pearl cultivation using the mother shells are carried out in parallel in the same region, is a production system that is rare in Japan.