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We are taken to a room where they are half drilling small pearls to be used for rings and earrings. I noticed several personal items in each worker’s station- from fans, humidifiers and cute trinkets. In the next room we visited, the workers were focused on sorting.

Day 4 began with a check out from our hotel and a short flight from Nagasaki to Kobe, The City of Pearls. Kobe will be our final destination where we will do some day trips and attend the Japan Pearl Fair. After arriving at the Kobe airport, we traveled by taxi to Otsuki Pearl. Otsuki Pearl is...

Day 4. My photos are not wanting to load or air drop into my ipad tonight, so I will take this opportunity to introduce the group. This is totally borrowed from Jeremy’s introductions. Tracey Ellison- The Diamonds Girl Tracey Ellison, known as The Diamonds Girl, is one of the world’s leading...

We end with a walk through the Peace Park before heading to our new location. There are strands of 1000 cranes everywhere The representation in this monument- the right hand points to the sky and atomic weapons, the left hand is extended for peace, and the eyes are closed in prayers for the...

This has been a full day and our final destination is a somber one. We visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park. I took several photos inside, but I will leave you with only a few…

Our next destination is the Government Building. A fairly new facility, it has a spanning view of the city and sea. We are huddled around a display in the lobby where we meet again with Mr. Fujita. His pearls are proudly on display as recipients of the Govenor’s Award this year. The loose pearls...

This farm also had a young generation on staff. The owner’s daughter and son are grafters and are giving the Governor instructions on the nucleating process. And the Governor gives it a try. Being a surgeon, he is already equipped with some surgical skills.

Our walk behind the building takes us to the farm. The oysters in this area are receiving a special circulating treatment to relax them before the nucleation process. And who can resist a pic of the farm cat-

And now I’ll leave you with some eye candy as we enter the store. The Fukae Pearl Company has a storefront and the farm sits on the water below.

Our next stop takes us to Fukae Pearl Company. There was a whirl of ceremony as we approached. I ddn’t quite understand what was happening when we exited the bus but there was a line up of dignitaries from the government, including the governor of Nagasaki himself. They each handed out business...

We gather in the meeting room where Mr. Fujita joins us for final thoughts. He thanks us for traveling all the way to the western tip of Japan. His farm harvests approximately 600,000- 700,000 pearls a year. If all the pearls could be used for strands this would create about 10,000 strands...

We enter the grafting area where the room is separated into two sides. The senior more experienced grafters sit along the right side of the room, and the younger grafters sit to the left. Historically this process was such a guarded secret, but in changing times, we are allowed to view closely...

We return to the shore and while waiting for our next move I notice random things, like this bowl of beads used for nucleating sitting on the deck. They are pulling another net for us to view. The Akoya in this net are 5 years old and they begin opening them for us to dig in and find a pearl...

Mr. Fujita said there were many difficulties but finally he managed to survive. He is a philosophical man with quite a sense of humor. He created his philosophy to create harmony and has this vision hanging in the meeting room. Roughly translated: 1. Akoya and shellfish are living things. Take...

Day 3. It is day 2 of my entries, but to keep this in sync with our itinerary, this is day 3 of our tour. Thank you for noticing, Pella. Bunny is along for the adventure and has been safely nestling. I have been juggling more things than usual on these day trips and do not want Bunny to bounce...

Thank you! I hope to keep up with a daily journal entry as much as possible!