Mikimoto Pearls are named after Kokichi Mikimoto who developed modern techniques for culturing pearls and convinced the general public to accept those pearls as worthwhile and valuable.
Mikimoto was born in Toba City, Japan, in 1858, the eldest son in a family which ran a noodle restaurant. He began raising oysters in 1888, and by the late 1890s he had been awarded a patent on a process for culturing mabes (hemispherical pearls). Over the next 20 years, he continued his research into culturing pearls, culminating with his acquisition of a patent in the early 1900s for culturing spherical pearls.
Thereafter, Mikimoto was a tireless advocate of the new pearl culturing techniques and the improved quality of this new technology. His efforts opened new markets worldwide for cultured pearls, and essentially created the pearl industry that exists today. For his efforts, Mikimoto received numerous honors and awards from his native Japan. He died in 1954 at the age of 96.
The quality of the cultured pearls was so vastly improved that it resulted in the creation of the widely known Brand of pearls known today as Mikimoto. This Akoya pearl technology is used widely today in the other regions of the world today, including the South Pacific Ploynesian islands, China, and Thailand. The Southern islands of Thailand, including Phuket, have a growing number of pearl farms.
