Editor’s Note
Japan’s famed Akoya pearl industry, celebrated for over a century, faces a severe dual threat from climate change and a spreading oyster virus. This report from the heart of pearl farming examines the fight to preserve a cultural and economic jewel.
Akoya pearls are highly valued worldwide for their mirror-like, strong luster and stable quality. Photo: Salwan Georges/The Washington Post
U.S. jewelry experts highly praise Japan’s specialty Akoya pearls as the “Rolls-Royce of pearl oysters.” However, the Akoya oyster farming industry is now facing an existential crisis. A U.S. newspaper reported from Ago Bay in Mie Prefecture, a major production area for Akoya pearls.
Classic strands of perfectly round white pearls, beloved by fashion icons like Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy. For generations, they have remained a symbol of “understated elegance.”
Akoya pearls, treasured worldwide for their timeless beauty, are born in the calm, intricate waters of Ago Bay. Its inlets provide the optimal conditions for Akoya oyster growth.
But the pearl industry in Ago Bay, with its 130-year history, now faces an existential “double crisis.”
One is that rising seawater temperatures are weakening Akoya oysters, making them more susceptible to a lethal virus. The other is the aging of producers and a lack of successors, as many farms are small-scale family businesses.
Akoya oysters are carefully nurtured by farmers using techniques passed down through generations. After artificial insemination and hatching in tanks, the juvenile oysters are transferred to the sea.
Farmers regularly check the oysters’ condition, monitor water temperature, and ensure a healthy growing environment is maintained. After another two years, the pearls are finally ready for harvest.
However, this entire process is becoming increasingly unstable each year. In 2019, farmer Takeuchi Akihiro lost 80% of his juvenile oysters to an unexplained infection.
Researchers identified the cause as a new strain of the highly contagious birnavirus. The virus spread through farms in Ago Bay, killing the majority of the juvenile oysters.