Image search results - "toba" - JAPAN PHOTOS by Philbert Ono

Image search results - "toba"

A statue of Kokichi Mikimoto and a giant pearl near Toba Station greets visitors. Erected in 1993 to mark the 100th anniversary of Mikimoto's success in pearl cultivation.

Mikimoto Pearl Island

Bridge to Mikimoto Pearl Island.

Entrance to the bridge to Mikimoto Pearl Island. Pay admission first.

Bridge to Mikimoto Pearl Island.

Entrance to Mikimoto Pearl Island.

Mikimoto Pearl Island is full of monuments.

Statue of Mikimoto Kokichi.

Spectator stand for pearl diver demonstrations.

I went in Jan. so almost no one was here.

Air and water temperatures in Jan.

The pearl divers arrive on a small boat.

Ama divers at Mikimoto Pearl Island

The pearl divers are very friendly. They wave to you.

They drop into the ocean one by one with their floating buckets.

They are actually shellfish divers. They don't dive for pearls.

Diving for shellfish.

A narrator explains what the divers are doing and what they caught.

Pearl Museum is a comprehensive museum about pearl cultivation mainly in Japan.

Floor plan of Pearl Museum.

Ama diver sculpture in Pearl Museum, Mikimoto Pearl Island.

Akoya oysters

Buttons from oyster shells.

Freshwater pearl cultivation

Lake Biwa pearl mussel (Hyriopsis schlegelii イケチョウガイ) endemic to Lake Biwa.

Hyriopsis cumingi

Formation of natural pearls.

Making the nucleus to be inserted into the oyster.

Embedding the nucleus into the oyster.

Instruments for embedding the nucleus into the oyster. Like a dentist.

Harvesting

The oysters' innards embedded with pearls are taken out of the shell and dropped through a hole into a bucket below.

The pearls are removed from the innards with this machine.

The removed pearls are washed.

Only a small percentage of harvested pearls are perfect.

To measure the pearl's size.

To weigh the pearl

To drill holes into the pearl.

Special Exhibition Room displaying pearl crowns in Jan. 2017.

Miss International pearl crown

Mikimoto Pearl Crown

View from the museum's 2nd floor.

Room exhibiting jewelry made of natural pearls.

Ama divers at Mikimoto Pearl Museum.

Room exhibiting jewelry made of cultured pearls.

Liberty Bell, exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Has 12,250 pearls and 366 diamonds.

Liberty Bell, exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Has 12,250 pearls and 366 diamonds. The crack is reproduced with blue pearls. Mikimoto Pearl Museum

Yume-dono Pavilion based on the building at Horyuji temple in Nara.

Mikimoto's Five-Storied Pagoda (御木本五重塔). Exhibited at Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 1926. It has 12,760 pearls.

Pioneers of pearl cultivation.

Fujita Sukeyo, Fujita Masayo, and Mikimoto Kokichi.

Fujita Masayo who pioneered freshwater pearl cultivation at Lake Biwa.

Mikimoto Pearl Island

G7 Summit was held in Mie (Ise-Shima) in 2016.

Portrait of G7 summit leaders at ise-Shima.

At the G7 Summit in 2016, the world leaders wore a lapel pins made of pearls.

The same lapel pin worn by the leaders was on sale for ¥24,300.

Walking path around the island.

Mikimoto Kokichi Memorial Hall

Mikimoto Kokichi

About Mikimoto Kokichi Memorial Hall

Mikimoto Kokichi Memorial Hall

Rock garden outside Mikimoto Kokichi Memorial Hall

Ticket booth for boat rides to nearby Dolphin Island.

Boat for Dolphin Island.

Gift shop at Toba Station.

JR Toba Station

Toba Station

Scenic views on the way to Toba.

Toba Station

Toba Castle is a short walk from Toba Station.

Go up these stairs for Toba Castle.

Only a few stone walls and a well remain. No buildings. It was once the administrative center for the Toba Domain. The last occupants was the Inagaki Clan.