Discovery of the Pearl Cultivating Technique
Japanese scientists, Mishikawa and Mise are normally recognized for the early discovery of the pearl cultivating technique that led to Culturing of Pearls and then the Japanese Mikimoto Pearls that we all know and love.
Click here for a closer look at the history of Cultured Pearls. However, at risk of offending some Japanese sensitivities, an Australian, C. Denis George convincingly argues that it was not the Japanese at all who discovered the technique of culturing pearls! It was a British-expat, according to George. George challenges the credit normally given to the Japanese in most of the information on pearls and argues that Nishikawa and Mise were first introduced to successful pearl cultivation on Thursday Island (TI lies just north of the tip of Cape York in Australia in the Torres Strait) under the guidance of William Saville-Kent, (1845- 1908) a British expatriate living in Australia. In his very interesting article:
George says, that Saville-Kent shared his bead and tissue-piece technique around the late 1800's with the two Japanese scientists on Thursday Island, who then went back to Japan and repeated the technique in Akoya Mollusks and claimed it as their own discovery. Uhmm...Using texts and personal accounts as evidence, George places Nishikawa and Mise in Australia during Kent's pearl operations on Thursday Island. The trip predates Nishikawa and Mise's application for patent. George further cites Japanese reluctance to acknowledge Saville-Kent's pearl research in text and conversation as evidence to support if not the deception, the Japanese act of cultured pearl omission. George has written numerous reports on the subject or rather, the omission and went on to establish the "William Saville-Kent Memorial Pearl Museum" and even named his pearling boat, "TSMV William Saville-Kent" in recognition. Now, that's really saying something! George concludes his article by appealing to the pearling community and supporters at large, to give William Saville-Kent and his ground-breaking pearl experiments a "fair-go" and the proper respect and recognition they deserve.
Saville-Kent, W. The Great Barrier Reef. London, W H Allen, 1893 Special Thanks to Pearl World: The International Pearling Journal. From abstract by Anna Kerrig, 15th May 2009, http://www.pearl-guide.com/debunking-japanese-myth.shtm Image courtesy of www.userson.net
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