The harvest of akoya pearls such as these raised in Ago Bay ... Whether the cause is a natural virus, a pollution-caused disease, or something entirely different, the Japanese have to come up ...

Natural freshwater pearls occur in mussels for the same reason ... their freshwater pearls are round enough and good enough to pass as Japanese akoya. China already sells round white pearls ...

Natural versus cultured ... Today, Mikimoto is widely considered the grandfather of cultured pearls. He used Akoya pearls, which are the traditional white round pearls you're probably familiar ...