CHARACTER HOME PAGE

pearl; gem; bead
Kanji 1349

Thank you for visiting this Character Home Page. Below you'll find a synopsis of the essay. If you wish to read the full text, the PDF of the essay is available for purchase to the right.

Synopsis

Japan invented a way of making pearls! Find out about pearl culturing and where to go in Japan to learn more about the inventor and his method. Read about divers (mostly women) who have risked it all to collect shellfish. Learn how to say "Tahiti is the pearl of the Pacific" in Japanese. And find out about strings of prayer beads, which have inspired a great figurative expression.

Revision history:

Aug. 26, 2022: p. 5: Slightly revised the paragraph that starts with “Pearls can develop in two ways,” as well as the next paragraph.

Feb. 12, 2022: 

  • p. 2, Etymology Box: Updated the Henshall etymology and Sears link. 
  • p. 13: Added a link to the Kanshudo games.

Nov. 22, 2013: On p. 13, I fixed the yomi of ~合目 (~ごうめ), which was missing the final め. I also slightly altered the translation of the newspaper headline.

Nov. 1, 2013: Originally published

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