Mr. Nakamura began his long pearl career with the legendary K.Takashima which led to a long discussion about Burmese pearls, once considered the worlds best.

On January 12 1954, the legendary K. Takashima established the “South Sea Pearl Company”, the same year that Kokichi Mikimoto passed away.

Takashima, well aware of Mitsubishi’s prewar success, first tried to establish himself at Buton Indonesia, in the meanwhile, had gained its independence and refused the company permission to operate. Undeterred, Takashima established a joint venture with the Burma Pearl Fishing and Culture Syndicate in September 1954. The match, however, was challenged and negotiations required the involvement of both governments.

The farm site was on Malcolm Island in the Mergui Archipelago and it provided excellent conditions. Regular harvests began in 1957. Mr. Takashima’s pearls from Larma created an international sensation. They were considered the worlds finest, were the most sought after and fetched the highest prices.

But like many good things, the glory days came to an abrupt end. In 1962, a coup d’etat rocketed the Burmese military into power, and in August of the following year the so-called “Revolutionary Government of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma” confiscated Takashima’s farm and the Japanese were unceremoniously booted out.

Under the firm but unskilled fist of the Burmese, the country’s pearl cultivation slowly deteriorated. By the 1980s, quantity was low and quality was substandard. Once considered the finest in the world, Burma’s pearls lost their glow. (In 1997, it has been reported, the Burmese government formed a new joint-venture with a Japanese company. Whether it will succeed or not remains to be seen.

The disaster in Burma took its toll and Takashima never fully recovered. In 1964, he launched another venture in the Philippines, “Zamboanga Pearl Farms Inc.” But when the host government insisted on the transfer of pearl oyster seeding technology, trouble began anew. The situation went from poor to bad because of an acute lack of oysters, partially due to what seemed to be only half hearted cooperation from the native shell divers. Things further deteriorated because of poor security. The project was never successful, nor was Takashima’s other pearling venture in Thailand. Begun in 1979, it struggled for years and was finally closed down in 1995.

After nationalization, the Syndicate, People’s Pearl and Fishery Board tried to produce pearls using Myanmar citizens. It became the People’s Pearl and Fishery Corporation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and Burmese cultured pearls virtually disappeared from the world market.

In 1988, Myanmar reformed its socialist economy to become a market-oriented economy, and a total of three joint-venture companies, both local and foreign, are now undertaking Myanmar white South Sea Pearls production. Pearl Island became the main station, as pearl cultivation has been expanding to some other islands of Myeik (Mergui) archipelago, conducted by state-run and joint-venture pearl companies. It will be interesting to see if Myanmar can once again take it's place among the pearling nations.

This article is from Cultured Pearls - The First Hundred Years by Andy Muller. We met with Andy for lunch at the Kobe Club and he gave us permission to share this information with you.Thank You Andy...