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Every Spring for the past few years, we’ve made our way back to Asia. This will be our third year making this trip, not for trade shows or typical pearl sourcing, but to spend time where it all begins: at pearl farms. These trips have become some of the most meaningful trips we take. They really ground everything we do into something real.
Our first stop in Japan is always Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki, just outside Tokyo. It’s where we visit Yoneguchi-san, Japan’s last freshwater pearl farmer. What was once a thriving industry in Japan has now narrowed down to one man quietly continuing the work.
Yoneguchi-san is in his 70s and runs the entire operation by himself. He has no staff - not even a single assistant! He once joked that his only “employees” are the fish that clean his pearl shells. He’s also called himself the “last samurai” of freshwater pearls, and honestly, it fits. His annual harvest is just a few kilos, making these pearls among the rarest in the world.
We'll be joined by Sarah Canizzaro from Kojima Pearl and Fuji Voll from Pacific Pearls. For decades they have been responsible for bringing Yoneguchi-san's harvests to the US market.
Hisano and Sarah will sort the 2026 harvest and choose their favorite pieces to present during two livestreams, April 14th and 15th, from a historic Japanese house near the lake. During the livestreams, you’ll be seeing these pearls for the first time, right alongside us, as they’re being chosen from the harvest.
What we’re sharing from Lake Kasumigaura isn’t just rare. It’s truly disappearing. When Yoneguchi-san stops farming, the Japanese freshwater pearl industry ends with him.
After Lake Kasumigaura, we're headed to Tokyo to catch the bullet train to Kobe to meet Mr. Seki of Takahashi Pearl. Together, we're driving to Uwajima, the pearl farming homebase of Takahashi Pearl.
Last year, Hisano and I visited akoya pearl farms in Uwajima, Nagasaki, Tsushima, and Sasebo. Uwajima stood out. The farms there are small, family-run, and passed down through generations. Homes and workspaces sit side by side, with docks built right out front. Work and daily life blend together in beautiful ways. We saw entire families involved—grandparents, parents, even young children.
The Uwajima farms aren’t large-scale operations. And what stood out more than anything else was the care the families put into every aspect of their craft: everything is clean, orderly, and done with quiet pride.
Last June, Hisano and I returned to Uwajima with a group of educators and storytellers, in collaboration with the Japan Pearl Exporters’ Association. What follows is a look into that experience, and into the rhythm of life at these farms.
This is the world we’ll be stepping back into next month.
We’ll spend a few days at the Takahashi farm, meeting both the farmers and the craftsmen behind their jewelry. They’ve been preparing new designs specifically for this visit, and Hisano will be sharing them live with Seki-san right from the farm.
If you’ve joined us before, you know how special these livestreams are. And if you haven’t, this is the closest you can get to being there with us. This is where everything begins.
About the Author
Jeremy Shepherd
Founder, Pearl Paradise | President, The Pearl Association of America
I founded Pearl Paradise in 1996 and Pearl-Guide.com in 2004. I serve as president of The Pearl Association of America and authored Pearls As One, the pearl industry's leading certification course, now translated into 10 languages.
Over 30 years in the pearl trade, I've sourced pearls from farms across Japan, French Polynesia, Australia, China, Fiji, Mexico, and the Philippines, and produced three pearl industry documentaries: Pearls the Documentary, The Tahitian Pearl, and Power of Pearl. I have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, Newsweek, Entrepreneur Magazine, Freakonomics Radio, Inc. Magazine, and many trade publications.
