Natural pearls are extremely rare. In the wild, less than one in a thousand oyster shells may produce a pearl during their lifetime: hence they were a luxury only for the wealthy before the creation of cultured pearls. Kokichi Mikimoto decided to try culturing pearls that are loved by people all over the world. He was a dreamer, and he did not let his dream die. He became the first in the world to successfully culture a semi-spherical pearl in 1893. He continued his attempt to culture many different types of pearls, including black and white South Sea cultured pearls.