[craigster]

Sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I have seen this claim on 4 different Websites now, and I have a Japanese friend who says it is not true.

[jshepherd]

That is not a stupid question at all. I had not seen this so I just did a google search "akoya means saltwater in Japanese" and the Sites popped up. Apparently one Site decided this and the others took it for granted that it was true. Well, surprise - it is not true.
Saltwater in Japanese is Shiomizu, not Akoya. I do not know if everyones' computers will be able to read this, but this is saltwater in Japanese 塩水. Akoya is the type of oyster, the common name of the Pinctada fucata. Believe it or not the Japanese word Akoya means Akoya in English!

[dmclaren]

Common names do not -necessarily- have to have a "real" meaning. In the case of Japanese names, most clams and oysters have a "Gai" tailing tag to denote their origin.
The JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) gives the following "common names" to certain varieties of Pearl Oysters:

Mabe-gai: Penguin Winged Oyster - Pteria penguin
Akoya-gai: Common Pearl Oyster - Pinctada imbricata (=fucata)
Shirochou-gai: Silver/Gold Lipped Pearl Oyster - Pinctada maxima
Kurocho-gai: Black-lipped PO - P. margaritifera.

In spanish, the common names employed are "Madre Perla" for the "Panamian Black Lipped Oyster" -Pinctada mazatlanica- (loose translatuon is just "Mother-of-Pearl") and "Concha Nácar" for the "Rainbow Lipped Pearl Oyster" -Pteria sterna- (loose translation is "Nacreous Shell").

Maybe a japanese speaker may help us with the japanese names. I would like to know more about the meaning of the names.

[jshepherd]

I can actually help you out with the meanings of these words in Japanese. I am not sure about the actual origin of Mabe and Akoya, and I do not think many Japanese would be sure either. This is because there is no 'kanji' equivalent of these words in Japanese that I know of. In other words, both 'Akoya' and 'Mabe' are spelled out phonetically in Japanese in either Hiragana or Katakana - I have never seen it written in Kanji (or characters of Chinese origin), giving the words a discernible meaning.
The other names, kurocho-gai and shirocho-gai are actually quite simple.
This is Japanese for Kurocho-gai:
黒真珠
These three characters mean:
Black (kuro) - Butterfly (cho) - Shellfish (gai)
So the black-lip oyster is the 'black butterfly shellfish' in Japanese.
Shiro, comes from 'shiroi' which, of course, means white!
So the white-lipped oyster (silver) is the 'white butterfly shellfish' in Japanese.
The 'Gai' is going to be after every name, such as Akoya-gai, etc., simply to denote the actual shellfish.

[CortezPearls]

Just read this thread today (Sept-14th) and all of the information is good! I had the same information that Diego had...but my knowledge of Japanese is nill so I could not find this info elswhere and most japanese translations are sooo bad! (Once I found a translation stating that the seeding technique involves a bead and a piece of crab meat!).

Thaks for this very valuable info Mr. Shepherd!

Douglas

[National Pearl]

Mr. Shepard,

Very impressive explanation. My original background is as a Japanese and Chinese Mandarin linguist and thought I could be of help to Craigster. However, you beat me to the punch and I have nothing to ad. Well done!

[jshepherd]

I know this is now an ancient thread, but I was recently given more information on the history of the word.

On “akoya” vs. “Akoya”
Doug Fiske, December 2001


From Tomoo Homma, PhD, Medical Science:

(Dr. Homma is an email friend of mine in Japan. I asked him about Japanese language usage and the origin of the word “akoya.”)

Q: Does Japanese have proper nouns and common nouns that start with either capital or small first letters?

A:. We don’t distinguish between capital and small first letters to start Japanese nouns. But if the nouns originate in things like locations or human names, we use initial capital letters when we write in English.

Q: Is “akoya” the common-noun name of a saltwater oyster that produces pearls? The pearls themselves are also called “akoya” or “akoyas” when plural.

A: “Akoya” originated from the location name where this pearl oyster was collected in the distant past. Long ago, Akoya pearls were found in large quantities at Akoya-No-Ura in Aichi prefecture. This pearl came to be called Akoya pearl. So, in this case, we might use “Akoya,” not “akoya.” But now “akoya” pearls have become widespread, so I think “akoya” might be better.


From Osamo Fukumoto, citing Wakunnoshiori, a Japanese dictionary written by Kotosuga Tanigawa (1709-1776) and published in 1805:

(In March 1998, a GIA librarian asked Mr. Fukumoto about the origin of the word “akoya.” I took the following from his reply.)

“Ako” is old Japanese; we don’t use it any more. Definitions of “Ako” are “my baby,” “my child” and “you.” “Ya” is a suffix after someone’s name or a pronoun to express affection, and it is still a current usage.

[Mr. Fukumoto] imagine[s] that because pearls were so highly prized and treated tenderly, ancient Japanese people started calling pearls Akoya, like their children. And then it became a name of the Akoya oyster.

[Alternate derivation:] From an ancient place name “Akoya” located in Chita peninsula, Aichi prefecture Japan. The name is not on current maps.


(more)

Notes and Interpretation:

Dr. Homma did not cite his source regarding “Akoya” being a place name, but it’s interesting that his explanation agrees with one that Mr. Fukumoto found in Wakunnoshiori. Neither man suggested that the place name might have arisen from the “my child” meaning of “ako” with the addition of the “ya” suffix, but I think that’s a reasonable proposition.

It’s worth noting that Mr. Fukumoto uses a capital letter on “Ako,” a word English speakers would call a common noun.

It’s also worth noting that capital and lowercase letters don’t exist in Japanese, but when Japanese people correctly write English versions of Japanese words, they use caps as we do. In other words, caps are a concession to English.

Some might support capping “akoya” because it perhaps derived from an ancient location name. I think that would be a stretch because the derivation is uncertain. Moreover, there are no caps in the Japanese language. And if the location-name derivation were presumed, capping “akoya” would contradict English usage of “andalusite,” “brazilianite,” “californite,” “ceylonite,” “labradorite,” “ozarkite,” “tanzanite,” and the like.

These publications use “akoya” rather than “Akoya”:

• Gem Market News
• GIA’s Colored Stones course
• GIA’s Pearls course
• JCK
• Jewellery News Asia
• Modern Jeweler
• National Jeweler
• Pearl World
• Professional Jeweler

Opinions on his report?

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Jeremy,

Interesting question. In principle, I think "akoya" as referring to an actual pearl coming from a mollusk of the same name should not be capitalized. On the assumption that the word is derived from a term of endearment for a small child, one may reasonably argue in favor of capitalizing the word (as in Babe) but really only when directly addressing the pearl and they don't write or talk much, so that point is moot. The place name argument is likewise not very strong unless you also capitalize "hamburger" or "frankfurter." The stone names have all lost their right to capitalization by adopting the -ite suffix (from greek lithos) that converts them to common nouns. I still capitalize "akoya" sometimes mostly to point out that it is the proper name of type of bead rather than a genuine non-capitalized gemstone.

Zeide

[jshepherd]

I typically use the capped version based on a belief that it was a proper name of some kind in Japanese. The lack of capping in the Japanese langauge does not seem relevant to me, nor does the lack of cap usuage by the Japanese when writing in romaji. It is a word from the likes of Koten-Kobun, and very few Japanese would ever know the origin.
I feel that if the origin did indeed come from "Ako" and "ya", some historic text would have referred the word in those particular kanji. I have never seen it as such.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Jeremy,

Since there is a parallel case (i.e. mabé or Mabé cultured pearls), you can wade through various reference works and see what is used more often. I still see no real need to capitalize it. Do you write "French fries" or "french fries?" According to Merriam Webster the primary form is not capitalized but capitalization is common. I guess this is a case where you can have it both ways whichever looks better to you at any given time.

Zeide

[jshepherd]

One of those things that is not right, nor is it wrong. I did not realize people had such strong opinions about it until today in an email exchange with Mr. Fisk.