When my husband was in Japan for a conference, I jumped on the opportunity to take a short solo ‘pearls and jewels’ trip.
Here is my itinerary - hopefully you’ll find it useful if you’re ever in Japan and want to do something pearly.
TLDR:
Detailed itinerary with pictures:
Day 1 - Osaka
My reason for flying to Osaka was to meet the man behind Flower Jem, the pearl vendor, on Instagram. He used to work in the pearl industry and has a particular penchant for baroque akoya - same as me! I love the way he writes his product descriptions: detailed and peppered with interesting facts/stories from the pearl industry.
I bought a strand of 7-8mm natural white baroque akoya via Instagram from him, and Flower Jem-san was kind enough to keep hold of it for a few months because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to exchange it for another strand. We met at 9pm in a coffee shop after he finished work, and it had terrible lighting.
During our coffee, he also brought along a few other necklaces and bracelets, one of which was a deep blue 9-10mm baroque akoya bracelet which he strongly recommended for both luster and colour. I must admit I wasn’t particularly smitten with either my necklace or the bracelet at the coffee shop, but I trusted his eyes and duly kept both. Once I had a chance to see them in brighter light, I knew I made the right decision! The natural white strand had incredible luster, and the blue baroques were intense with strong red overtones.
Day 2 - Kobe, Mikimoto Pearl Island (Toba)
Flower Jem-san kindly introduced me to a couple of pearl vendors based in Kobe, which is a half-hour train ride from Osaka. Sadly Takahashi was closed as they were attending an exhibition in Hong Kong.
Here, I saw some beautiful round akoya strands - pink, natural white and my favourite akoya of the day - pastel multicolour. However, I know my own taste and despite the sheer beauty of the multicolour strand, I didn’t buy any more akoya in Kobe.
One vendor specialised in Tahitians - my weakness! I didn’t have a ‘wishlist’, but walked out with three strands: one near-round, one semi-round/baroque and one tiny drop Tahitians (smoother skin than my existing strand).
I could've stayed in Kobe much longer but needed to stick to a half-day pearl-shopping as it was a 3h train journey to Mikimoto Pearl Island in Toba. It’s Mikimoto’s hometown and the local area is blessed with natural beauty.
The Mikimoto pearl museum itself is a little old but contained so many interesting facts about the pearl cultivation process and the biology behind pearl/nacre formation. And be sure to try out the local seafood in the little shacks just outside Toba train station - strangers might even want to share a sake with you!
ETA - the Kobe pearl museum is currently closed for refurbishment so it's worth checking if it's re-opened when you go to Kobe!
Day 3 - Nagoya
Nagoya is Japan’s fourth largest city and also home to a lot of jewellery resale shops, including the Komehyo flagship store. Here, I tried on lots of designer pieces including some Mikimoto and Tasaki for fun (and bought a couple of diamond rings). I also went to Purpose, where I bought my Grand Seiko watch and tried on various Hermes bags for fun.
If you’re in the city, their top tourist attraction is Nagoya castle but having seen multiple Japanese castles on a previous trip, I instead went to some industrial museums: specifically, the Toyota Commemorative Museum and the Kirin beer factory.
Day 4 (last day) - Tokyo
I visited General Pearl’s showroom which was smaller than I expected, but they had some very interesting souffle Tahitian pearls! Just note: DO NOT look up directions to 'General Pearl' in English via Google - it directs you to a completely different store that is miles away from the actual store! You need to enter their Japanese name into Google.
Luckily, I met the founder’s son who studied in the US and spoke excellent English, and we had a fascinating conversation about pearls + the pearl business in general. He also let me sift through a tub of loose souffle Tahitians and I created an ombre bracelet (pearls were drilled and strung after I came back home).
To be honest, it was difficult to compare the quality of what I saw in Kobe vs. at General Pearl and how that translates into pricing, but in general I felt like GP’s pricing was slightly higher - understandable as they have a retail operation and are based in Tokyo.
Overall, it was a jam-packed 4-day trip, and I had such a good time learning more about the pearl industry and trying / buying preloved jewellery and watches!
Here is my itinerary - hopefully you’ll find it useful if you’re ever in Japan and want to do something pearly.
TLDR:
- Day 1: Osaka - meet Flower Jem (pearl vendor on Instagram/Etsy)
- Day 2: Kobe, Mikimoto Pearl Island - see akoya and Tahitian vendors in Kobe, go to the Mikimoto pearl museum
- Day 3: Nagoya - resale stores
- Day 4: Tokyo - General Pearl
Detailed itinerary with pictures:
Day 1 - Osaka
My reason for flying to Osaka was to meet the man behind Flower Jem, the pearl vendor, on Instagram. He used to work in the pearl industry and has a particular penchant for baroque akoya - same as me! I love the way he writes his product descriptions: detailed and peppered with interesting facts/stories from the pearl industry.
I bought a strand of 7-8mm natural white baroque akoya via Instagram from him, and Flower Jem-san was kind enough to keep hold of it for a few months because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to exchange it for another strand. We met at 9pm in a coffee shop after he finished work, and it had terrible lighting.
During our coffee, he also brought along a few other necklaces and bracelets, one of which was a deep blue 9-10mm baroque akoya bracelet which he strongly recommended for both luster and colour. I must admit I wasn’t particularly smitten with either my necklace or the bracelet at the coffee shop, but I trusted his eyes and duly kept both. Once I had a chance to see them in brighter light, I knew I made the right decision! The natural white strand had incredible luster, and the blue baroques were intense with strong red overtones.
Day 2 - Kobe, Mikimoto Pearl Island (Toba)
Flower Jem-san kindly introduced me to a couple of pearl vendors based in Kobe, which is a half-hour train ride from Osaka. Sadly Takahashi was closed as they were attending an exhibition in Hong Kong.
Here, I saw some beautiful round akoya strands - pink, natural white and my favourite akoya of the day - pastel multicolour. However, I know my own taste and despite the sheer beauty of the multicolour strand, I didn’t buy any more akoya in Kobe.
One vendor specialised in Tahitians - my weakness! I didn’t have a ‘wishlist’, but walked out with three strands: one near-round, one semi-round/baroque and one tiny drop Tahitians (smoother skin than my existing strand).
I could've stayed in Kobe much longer but needed to stick to a half-day pearl-shopping as it was a 3h train journey to Mikimoto Pearl Island in Toba. It’s Mikimoto’s hometown and the local area is blessed with natural beauty.
The Mikimoto pearl museum itself is a little old but contained so many interesting facts about the pearl cultivation process and the biology behind pearl/nacre formation. And be sure to try out the local seafood in the little shacks just outside Toba train station - strangers might even want to share a sake with you!
ETA - the Kobe pearl museum is currently closed for refurbishment so it's worth checking if it's re-opened when you go to Kobe!
Day 3 - Nagoya
Nagoya is Japan’s fourth largest city and also home to a lot of jewellery resale shops, including the Komehyo flagship store. Here, I tried on lots of designer pieces including some Mikimoto and Tasaki for fun (and bought a couple of diamond rings). I also went to Purpose, where I bought my Grand Seiko watch and tried on various Hermes bags for fun.
If you’re in the city, their top tourist attraction is Nagoya castle but having seen multiple Japanese castles on a previous trip, I instead went to some industrial museums: specifically, the Toyota Commemorative Museum and the Kirin beer factory.
Day 4 (last day) - Tokyo
I visited General Pearl’s showroom which was smaller than I expected, but they had some very interesting souffle Tahitian pearls! Just note: DO NOT look up directions to 'General Pearl' in English via Google - it directs you to a completely different store that is miles away from the actual store! You need to enter their Japanese name into Google.
Luckily, I met the founder’s son who studied in the US and spoke excellent English, and we had a fascinating conversation about pearls + the pearl business in general. He also let me sift through a tub of loose souffle Tahitians and I created an ombre bracelet (pearls were drilled and strung after I came back home).
To be honest, it was difficult to compare the quality of what I saw in Kobe vs. at General Pearl and how that translates into pricing, but in general I felt like GP’s pricing was slightly higher - understandable as they have a retail operation and are based in Tokyo.
Overall, it was a jam-packed 4-day trip, and I had such a good time learning more about the pearl industry and trying / buying preloved jewellery and watches!
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