Mikimoto Kōkichi

Kokichi Mikimoto, the Japanese (御木 本 幸 吉Mikimoto Kokichi; * March 10, 1858; † September 21, 1954 ) was in the early 1920s, the first who managed to produce full round cultured pearls and bring them to market.

Biography

Mikimoto was the son of a noodle restaurant - owner in Toba, Shima Province Mie Prefecture today and left the school at the age of 13 in order to supplement the income of his family as a vegetable seller. The observation of pearl inside of Ise awakened his fascination with pearls. In 1888 he received a loan to open his first cultured pearl farm with his wife Ume. On July 11, 1893 - after many setbacks and a near - bankruptcy - the first cultured pearl was be presented. However, Mikimoto took another twelve years to get perfectly round cultured pearls that were indistinguishable from the natural pearls.

In 1899, Mikimoto pearls opened its first store on the Ginza in Tokyo. From then on, his business expanded abroad. Built in 2005, the Japanese architect Toyo Ito on the only 250 m² of land and buildings Mikimoto Ginza 2