Visit to Mikimoto Pearl Island located off the coast of Toba City in Mie Prefecture, some 150 kilometres west of Nagoya. Manager Noburu Shibahara briefed us on the life and works of its founder Kokichi Mikimoto and activities of the company.
Read: An Island Where World’s First Cultured Pearls Were Created
｜御木本真珠島｜世界初の真珠養殖に成功した島
To adorn the necks of all women in the world with pearls: this was the “humble ambition” of Kokichi Mikimoto, who died in September 1954 at the age of 96, says Noboru Shibahara, Manager of the Mikimoto Pearl Island, as we stand in front of a bronze statue of the man after whom Japan’s famous island is named.
Mikimoto was fully aware that “in order to realize his ambition, peace and trusted relations among nations have to exist based on democratic principles as advocated by Yukio Ozaki”, adds Shibahara.