Japans Freshwater Pearl Industry, A Rough History

The Japanese have a distinguished history of culturing freshwater pearls as well. Lake Biwa was once world renowned for producing high-quality freshwater pearls produced by the Hyriopsis schlegelii, (Biwa pearly mussel) mussel. However, in the mid 1970's pearl farming all but came to a halt due to pollution in this lake that was once synonymous with freshwater pearls. The Japanese tried once again to farm freshwater pearls in Lake Kasumigaura in the last decade, utilizing a bead-nucleated hybrid mussel (Hyriopsis Schlegelii/Hyriopsis cumingii). The resulting pearls have been quite large and unique. The Kasumiga pearl industry had a very short life span, however, with production ceasing in 2006. The industry is once again a pollution fatality of Japanese industry. The remaining Kasumiga pearls are exclusively sold by the Belpearl pearl company.