Traveling to Japan

[DiamondExchange]

Hello all,
My partner and I will be getting away to Tokyo in early June and was looking for some advice. I am looking to tour the cultural aspect of the world of Japanese Pearls which may include the markets, farms and so on however I do not know what I should be focusing towards. I sent a message to Josh about the “where and what” to see… He advised that I check out Toba and more specifically the Port of Kobe. He mentioned this is the place to see. He is checking on a few contacts that may have a chance to show me around which would be amazing! I checked out the rails and it appears that I’m some 3.5 hours on train from Tokyo to Toba. I’m comfortable with taking a day to explore however I wanted to know if there may be some “have to see” farms or of the likes that I may need to be aware about.

Just to fill you in on a little of my background, Let me introduce myself, I am Steward Gibboney, the owner of the Columbus Diamond Exchange. The business has existed since the 20’s however I purchased the rights while in early high school. We are located in Columbus, Ohio and carry a large variety of gemstones and pearls.
I hope all is well in the pearl world! And I hope to hear from you soon.

[Caitlin]

Hi Stewart
Does that mean you buy from Josh? Whether or not, welcome!

[DiamondExchange]

HI,
We have an account with Imperial Deltah however this was just information seeking:-)

[jshepherd]

Toba is a good place to go. There is a lot of history at the Mikimoto Pearl museum and a lot of farms in the area. You might want to reach out to the museum as well as the JPEA to see if they have some good contacts for a tour. Kobe is also a good place to visit. This is where most of the Japanese processors and dealers are based. It might be a bit difficult getting a good tour of a pearl factory, but it may be worthwhile to contact a few of them like Otsuki and others.

[DiamondExchange]

Thanks Jeremy!