| Hanadama does not guarantee origin, it only guarantees quality. In fact, if a strand of Chinese passed hanadama grading, they would likely be better than any Japanese because the nacre would likely be thicker.
The only way to truly guarantee Japanese is to buy 8mm and larger. Anything smaller and you are at the mercy of the processors in Japan who tell their customers that they are selling them Japanese only, yet they purchase the majority of the production from China. Where does it go... It is not really a secret.
Oh, and the JPEA blue tag has absolutely nothing to do with origin either. There is a Site online that claims that tag guarantees Japanese origin. The JPEA's Website itself proves that claim is a lie. |