日本 Land of the Rising Sun
There are oysters – and oysters. Some are for eating (as I wrote in the South China Morning Post) belonging to the family ostreidae. And then there are pearl oysters for wearing around your neck (or in your underwear), called pinctada, which are part of the pteriidae family.
I also love that model Song Weilong (an avid pearl wearer) is defying stereotypes and reviving the idea that pearl wearing was much less gender specific in ancient times. Speaking of days of yore, according to some historians, one of the reasons Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. was to obtain freshwater pearls. And, of course, I am interested in all of this.
Just a three-hour bullet train ride from Tokyo lies a quiet bay – the perfect place to find some peace. Its natural beauty, which includes the bluest ocean and dots of green islands everywhere, brings instant reverence. But Ago Bay is more than a Japanese jewel – it’s a place where real-life jewels are born.
Speaking of Japan – listen to my podcast episode where Mother and I venture around Japan fitting kimonos and finding crazy vending machines. Click HERE.
Since 1893, when a Japanese entrepreneur named Kochiki Mikimoto created the first cultured pearl in Shima, Ago has been the pearl capital of the world. “The best pearl production here was [equivalent to $16 billion] per year in a peak season so the pearl industry is one of the most important industries for local people,” says Kazuhiko Yasu of the Shima Tourism Association. “And of course, it also delivers employment.”
Ago Bay, an estuary filled with calm waters and sheltered inlets, is warmed by offshore currents. It’s the perfect environment for pearl farming. And so this is where Mikimoto received his patent for producing hemispherical pearls (called mabes) in 1896. In 1908 he received an updated patent for culturing in mantle tissue (think grafting), but had to incorporate a method invented by his son-in-law. By 1916 the method was called the “Part-of-the-cells technique” and was patented as Mise-Nishikawa Pearl Grafting.
And so Shima and its northern neighbor, Toba City, have become havens for pearl producers. “Mikimoto succeeded to farm the first pearl oyster in Ojima in Toba, which today is well known as Mikimoto Pearl Island,” explains Matsuzuki. “After his success, he started pearl oyster cultivation business and the company has been going successfully until today.” (Since natural pearls are smaller than farmed or cultured pearls and the shape is not as predictable, cultured pearls offered Mikimoto more control over his loot.)
Let’s nerd out a little: the process of farming pearls is two fold. First is the cultivation of oysters that produce pearls, or akoyagai in Japanese. Then, cultured pearls are produced like this: a small nucleus bead is inserted into the oyster, along with mantle tissue from a donor shell to serve as a catalyst for the pearl sac. A lustrous nacre, or inner layer of mother-of-pearl, forms on the outside. And then, as if by magic, you have pearls. In the case of Akoya pearls, this process takes between three to four years.
Each element in Ago Bay – water temperature, oxygen level, the quality, and amount of plankton – is perfect for pearls. “The important thing for farming pearl oysters is to make a comfortable environment for them,” says Kiyoo Matsuzuki, who directs the Mikimoto Pearl Island Museum. “The most important priority for local people is to keep Ago Bay’s beautiful environment pristine.”
In order to protect their pearl powerhouse, locals established the Ago Bay Nature Restoration Council to save Ago Bay from ecosystem degradation and ebbing marine resources in 2008. Yasu tells me that the area has embraced a satoumi approach (sato means sea, umi human) that brings together people and their environment. Ago Bay’s marine and coastal landscapes have been formed and maintained by prolonged interaction between humans and ecosystems, Yasu explains, so people must participate in the preservation of their local landscape. “The area has worked very hard with the Mie prefecture Fisheries Research Institute to further protect Ago Bay from any environment degradation,” Yasu explains. “The result isn’t just beautiful – it protects a critical local business.”
Now it’s your moment to clutch your pearls…Among those employed by the pearl industry are the Ama, a group of women divers. Because, of course, if you want something done right…These women dive for the Akoya oysters and harvest the salt-water pearls whilst still in the bay. “The Ama pick abalones and pearl oysters and they have done so since the olden days,” says Matsuzuki. “Their work is based on a series of strict work rules, which was established by the local community.” Though environmental restrictions prevent the Ama from diving every day, their ancient art helps bolster what Matsuzuki calls a “magnificent” industry.
There is a healthy debate concerning what is the earliest mention of ama in historical records, but abalone tools have been discovered on Japanese shores which date back to as early as 300BC, and the most widely accepted, specific mention of “female divers” can be found in Engishiki (book of laws and regulations), circa 927AD.
Certain practices have varied over the years: tools are more sophisticated now, and while the earliest paintings depict ama wearing only loincloths before the early Meiji period, their dress has since evolved – to the signature white outfits that they wore until the early Showa period, to the modern wetsuits they wear today.
Key customs are still observed, however. The ama community is a spiritual one, and the fisherwomen continue to offer up to 4,500 abalone each year to the grand shrine, Ise Jinguu, for the gods’ blessings. The iconic head wraps that they wear are also adorned with symbols – the star (seiman) and the lattice (doman), believed to be talismans against underwater demons.
Armed thus, the ama head out to their dives, known as “50-second battles,” during which they try to obtain as much seafood as they can using only the air in their lungs. To control their breathing when they surface, ama employ a unique whistling technique called iso-bue (click to hear the sound), and the shrill, breathy sigh can often be heard when the fisherwomen head out to sea together.
With the growth of the pearl industry has come a drop in pearl prices that make the once-precious objects accessible to a wider audience. That affordability has sometimes threatened Japan’s pearl predominance, but Ago Bay remains what many consider the true home of the pearl. In the past 10 years it has produced annually about 20 tonnes of farmed pearls. Let’s not forget that in ancient Japan pearls were also used as charms to protect people from danger.
These days, the pearl industry is branching out from just jewelry. And so, as Yasu confirms, Ago Bay is placing a larger emphasis on tourism. The greater area is filled with hot springs and the pearls cultivated here are often used in beauty treatments at the spas in the area. The Amanemu (the name Amanemu is derived from aman, the Sanskrit word for peace, and nemu, the Japanese word for sharing joy) resort uses pearl salt in their spa treatments. “Pearl salt is boiled with pearl and shell to make the salt richly flavored, which is perfect for beauty treatments,” shares Hisayo Shimizu, Amanemu’s general manager.
Also at the Amanemu, is this once-in-a-lifetime experience where you can have lunch with an ama. This bay of pearls is dotted with drifting rafts and has been home to this one-of-a-kind community of female free-divers who make their living collecting shellfish, seaweed and sea urchin from the seabed, for centuries – so hanging out with them is exactly what makes travel so magical. The experience includes a visit to an amagoya – a diver’s hut – for an unforgettable insight into an ancient and unusual way of life.
But here, it really is all about the boundless natural beauty away from the busy world that a tiny bay, with big history offers up. Perhaps the perfect reason why the G7 summit was hosted right here a few years ago. Best to check out its lustrous landscape sooner rather than later – bask in mineral-rich hot springs, walk ancient pilgrim trails, and explore this sublime coastline. I mean, you could also pick up some pearls, naturally.
Afterthought
People are always asking me for a little titbit of what to do, and I always say – get lost, chat to locals, find a dive bar…but once in a while I am willing to give a quick little secret menu of things to do in case you’re going there (just to please the crowd):
Pearl factory cruises. Take the 50-minute boat ride that departs from Kashikojima Port and circles Ago Bay, stopping at a pearl factory before returning to port.
Hike the nearly 4.5-mile promenade to the observation deck at Tomoyama Park to get the best views of the bay – especially enchanting at sunset.
Watch a pearl diver demonstration at the Shima Marine Land aquarium.
If you’re looking for some sun, Goza Shirahama beach is the perfect place to spend a lazy afternoon.
Explore the nearby Tomogashima Islands for late 19th century fortress ruins and hiking trails.
Meditate at the Ise Jingu Shrine, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the goddess Amaterasu, part of a complex comprising 125 shrines.
For dinner, slurp down a bowl of Wakayama Chuka soba, the regional variation on ramen, which is based on a strong soy sauce tare and long-simmered pork bones. Here’s a map of the best places to get it.
Stay at the Amanemu, it doesn’t get better than that.