Prefecture has been a center of cultured-pearl production since 1905, when Kokichi Mikimoto succeeded in producing the world's first cultured pearl. The oyster's secretions accumulated around the bead to produce a perfectly round pearl.
Prefecture is now one of the leading centers of pearl production in the world.
Over the past few years, however, far more oysters have been dying. The mass deaths have made a big dent on the volume of pearl produced in the region. Photo by Ministry of Foreign Affairs.