[1][2] He was inducted into the House of Peers by imperial decree and posthumously awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure.

[4][3] The company was ranked as one of the world's most luxurious brands by Women's Wear Daily Magazine and Mikimoto was considered one of the best Japanese financial leaders of the 20th century by Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

[6] Mikimoto began his search of an alternative method to produce pearls as the chairman of the Shima Marine Products Improvement Association.

[7] In 1888, Mikimoto obtained a loan to start his first pearl oyster farm at the Shinmei inlet on Ago Bay in Mie prefecture with his wife and partner Ume.

To encourage sales, Mikimoto opened a jewelry boutique in Ginza where he was able to have workers educate the consumer on the nature of the cultured pearls.

However, it took him another 12 years to create completely spherical pearls that were indistinguishable from the highest quality natural ones, and commercially viable harvests were not obtained until the 1920s.

[8] Mikimoto did not know that government biologist Tokichi Nishikawa and a carpenter, Tatsuhei Mise, had each spent time in Australia and learned the secret to spherical pearl production from expatriate British marine biologist William Saville-Kent[9] – inserting a piece of oyster epithelial membrane (the lip of mantle tissue) with a nucleus of shell or metal into an oyster's body or mantle causes the tissue to form a pearl sack.

Mikimoto then altered his patent application to cover a technique to make round pearls in mantle tissue, which was granted in 1916.

After World War II, Mikimoto opened stores in Paris, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Bombay, and was thus one of the first Japanese brands to attain an international presence and recognition.

[11] In June 2013, the company was chosen to design a five-piece parure consisting of a brooch, necklace, earrings, bracelet and the state diadem for Princess Kako of Akishino's 20th birthday anniversary, valued at ¥30 Million JPY (US$279,000).