Cultured Pearls are a combination of man working with nature. The industry was started in Japan by Mikimoto Kokiichi. In 1960 N. Australia established its first pearl farm. Fiji also has pearl farms. Cultured pearls are formed by a human cultivator implanting a foreign matter into a oyster. A small bead is placed inside the oyster and then the oyster is closed, stimulating the oyster to deposit its defensive coating (nacre.) Only about 2 out of 3 survive this process. Of the survivors only about one fourth produce pearls and only 1 in 4 is good enough for export. After the required time the oysters are brought to the surface, opened and the pearls taken out. Sorting matching and grading now take place. The place where pearls are cultivated are called "farms".