Lifestyle Feb 8, 2020
Muddy waters: The battle to save Japan's ailing freshwater pearl industry
by John Spiri
While Lake Biwa played a key role in the establishment of a domestic freshwater pearl industry, farmers are now facing a bleak future.
National Oct 31, 2019
The mysterious death of over 20 million Akoya pearl oysters in Ehime, Mie and other prefectures this summer is expected to hobble pearl production next year and beyond. While the cause of the die-off is unclear, oyster producers have started taking steps to minimize the ...
Food & Drink May 19, 2018
The Shima Peninsula, where life is built on oysters and seafood
by Lance Henderstein
Shima Peninsula may be most famous for pearls, but the true treasure is its bountiful natural environment and a plateful of fresh oysters.
Travel Apr 21, 2017
Home of the cultured pearl, Toba in Ise-Shima has both history and living tradition
by Stephen Mansfield
"To Bond," Ian Fleming wrote in his 1964 novel, "You Only Live Twice," "they all seemed beautiful in the soft evening light ... the gleaming, muscled buttocks, cleft by the black cord, the powerful thong round the waist with its string of oval lead ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Dec 21, 2015
Mie pearl farmer looks to Vietnam for new opportunities, fresh workforce
Ago Bay in Shima, Mie Prefecture, is one of the leading places in Japan where pearls can be cultured. The number of pearl farmers has declined in recent years, however, and they are an aging workforce. Shima has been in the spotlight recently, as it ...
National Apr 24, 2014
Skin divers turn to tourism to stem the tide
by Chikako Mogi
At the Sea People restaurant in Shima, a coastal hamlet in Mie Prefecture, sea diver Machiyo Yamashita wants a piece of a tourism industry dominated by the cities that sapped her town's vitality by luring away its youth. "I want to cook and serve customers ...
National Apr 12, 2013
A 222-meter-long pearl necklace, certified by Guinness World Records as the world's longest, is on display at a Hanshin department store in the city of Osaka. The necklace, which weighs about 20 kg and is comprised of 28,000 pieces of 8 mm pearls, was presented ...