The Japanese pearls are produced by the Japanese pearls oysters (Pinctada fucata(Gould)), commonly know as “Akoya”, which were discovered one hundred twenty years ago. During some time it was considered that this mollusc was unique from Japan, and therefore that the cultured pearls were a exclusive product from Japan.
Although, later investigations proved that this specie lives in all the tropical seas, so therefore, its culture was feasible in other countries , such as, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka. These countries culture pearls using this specie as oyster mother. China traditionally produced fresh water pearls, but it has recently increased the amount of sea pearls produced to compensate the limited Japanese production.