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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

For generations, the lustrous akoya pearls, reminiscent of the classic styles worn by fashion icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy, have epitomised understated elegance and timeless ...

Kokichi Mikimoto created the first cultured Akoya pearls in the late 1800s, with these and other saltwater pearls worn by celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis The ...