Beginning of the new year

In Japan, elementary and junior high school students advance to the next grade in April, and new graduates have an initiation ceremony. I am neither a student nor a fresh graduate.

Instead, I was in the midst of wage negotiations and labor-management negotiations sandwiched between the pearl farm and the head office in March. The manager in charge of the farm and the president of the head office do not communicate directly. Always mediate me. One is the director who wants better treatment such as wages, and the other is the two who want to curb it as much as possible. I tried to use the words of the two to the maximum of my vocabulary and try to avoid conflicts as much as possible.

There were some high-profile clashes that resulted, but both sides managed to come to a compromise. However, the president of the head office seems to have given me suspicion, saying, “Are you a spy on the side of the Akoya pearl farm?” The general manager of the pearl farm also told me, “You’re basically a person from the head office.” It seems to me that there is no right answer to mediate between the two. It’s a shame why they don’t try to understand each other even though they are the same company. At the same time, I think that labor-management negotiations are generally like this. Like the cherry blossoms that bloom and fall, I was about to fall, but I managed to survive and welcome spring.

By the way, our pay raises and bonuses this season were the highest ever. According to the director, it is the highest amount in the last 50 years. When you hear the highest payout in a pearl company, you think it’s ridiculously high. Perhaps in general, this wage treatment is surprisingly not a big deal. 78 out of 100 points.

We produce pearls, but they are agricultural, forestry and fishery products. The ups and downs of the market are very violent, and the company’s performance basically seems to continue to fly steadily at a low altitude.

My brother is a caregiver, and while caregivers in general are known for their low wages, my brother’s wages are higher than average. When he heard my income, he was surprised at how small it was. Pearls are also gems. He must have felt that a jewelry company would be more profitable. Of course, the consistently successful pearl farmers make a lot of money. Most of them are privately owned and organized in small numbers. If you have a large number of employees like my company, I think it is difficult to make a big profit in order to maintain the organization. If you are a sole proprietorship, you can hire only during the busy season and quit the job during the off-season. However, companies are required to hire employees throughout the year.

In any case, what made this year’s results so good was the soaring market prices. The economic stagnation caused by Covid ended and the market began to move, strong buying by the Chinese, unusually aggressive buying of Mikimoto pearls, and a drop in pearl production due to the mass death of Akoya oysters drove the market to a high level. I think it made the price soar as high as possible. For example, the unit price of a pearl, which was $100 two years ago, rose to $120 last year, but this year it soared to about $200.

Last week, a pearl exhibition for Chinese people was held jointly by about 50 pearl companies, but the wholesale price soared by about 150% from last year. The pearls currently on sale are from last year. Not the soaring pearl of the season. Still, I’m surprised that it’s soaring at this rate. I was able to stock up on some pearls just before this skyrocketing auction took place, but I suspect it will be difficult for me to stock up for the foreseeable future.

That said, both the site and Etsy.com have mostly stopped updating. I was busy with daytime work, and recently a light music band resumed its activities for the first time in three years, so I was playing guitar all the time. That band is an Iron Maiden cover band. “Iron Maiden” is unsuitable for a site that introduces pearls, but it’s a fact. I’m over 40 and don’t know much about Iron Maiden. But I like hard rock and metal guitars. I really like the process of repeating and practicing phrases that take weeks to master. IBecause I can be empty my mind. It may be similar to Japanese “judo”, “calligraphy” and “flower arrangement”. “Judo” means “soft way”「柔道」 in Japanese, “calligraphy” means “the way of calligraphy”「書道」, and “flower arrangement” means the way of flowers.「華道」 I think that what is common to the practice things that have the Japanese words “Way, Road” 「道」is that they become “empty one’s mind” in the process of mastering the subject. I exaggerate these too, but the point is that I like the moment of immersion.

Because of this, my pearl missionary activities have been stagnant, but I think I will soon resume my activities. And today is the first comment posted on this site. I was so moved that I was about to raise my voice. The comment also mentions my shooting method. It seems that I emphasized the flowers too much. It was advice that it would be better to keep the number of colors simpler. I also felt vaguely about them. However, it seems that I have grown to want to photograph the flowers that I purchased recently. From now on, I will focus on pearls and try to take pictures that are easy for everyone to see. I plan to make this site better over the next five years. I want to keep my heart open and enriched so that I can receive comments from many people by then.