| OK, again in the section on Biwa pearls, Strack discusses Dr. Masao Fujita "considered to be the actual founder of freshwater pearl culture in Japan".(p. 405) There is a long section on his work, and she says this:
"Fujita had already recognized that tissue which was implanted accidentally or tissue which remained inside the animal after the nucleus had been ejected might lead to the growth of a pearl. In 1936, he had in addition discovered small quantities of tiny non-nucleated pearls in his operated mussels, he called the pearls 'karso' or 'keshi' and attributed their origin to the dispersion of cells from implanted mantle tissue. In reality, these pearls had probably been the results of new culture attempts, they were sold in Mikimoto's shop and other shops in Tokyo." (p. 406.)
If the pearls you are looking at are keshi, that would make them not natural but pretty special anyway! |