Although perhaps the scantily-clad, romanticised image of the profession is a thing of the past, there’s still a rich history and culture that needs to be conveyed to younger generations. The tourism industry at Mikimoto Pearl is a great start to help preserve the memory, but the age-old fishing traditions held by small coastal villages are definitely in need of special attention to make sure their heritage isn’t forgotten completely. While traditional ama divers wore only a fundoshi (loincloth) to make it easier to move in the water and a tenugui (bandanna) around their head to cover their hair, Mikimoto ama wore a full white diving costume and used a wooden barrel as a buoy. They were connected to this buoy by a rope and would use it to rest and catch their breath between dives. Depictions of Ama are featured in old works of art, such as the piece below by master Kuniyoshi. ( Source) As technology progressed, the Ama communities were faced with decisions – adopt new tools and equipment or retain traditions? One of the most important parts of the decision-making was consideration of sustainability. New fishing methods could easily enable greater hauls and reduce work, but at the same time, increase the risk of overfishing and damage the delicate ecosystems that supported life for these coastal towns. Rules were introduced to prevent this. This culture of national mermaids diving for the nation is not only unique to Japan however. From 2007 Korea has been presenting its best case to have the Haenyo divers of Jeju Island listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. In similar fashion, Japan has now joined the races by recommending its own female divers, boosted by the popularity of a recent NHK drama ‘ Amachan‘, starring a young girl who moves to the Tohoku region of Japan to became an Ama diver. ( Asahi)

Finally, I’ll leave you with a couple of short videos talking about the Ama diving profession. The first is a superb documentary with an interview with a former Ama diver. Mikimoto used Ama divers to look after his cultivated pearls on Mikimoto Pearl Island, near Toba city. This business was the main reason for the strong association between Ama and pearl diving among foreign observers that continues to this day. Another little-known fact is that the ‘traditional’ white attire we often see Ama divers wearing was also created by Mikimoto. He observed how surprised the foreign tourists visiting his pearl island were when seeing the Ama diving naked wearing only their traditional loincloth. ( Source) The second, although I have serious doubts about the validity of the narration, has rather nice, colourful video shots to enjoy. Just ignore the dialogue. The role of the Mikimoto ama was to collect the oysters from the seabed so that the pearl-producing nucleus may be inserted. Once this critical process was completed, the ama then carefully returned the oysters to the seabed – in a place where they were protected from external dangers (such as typhoons and red tide). The most profitable pursuit however was diving for pearls. Traditionally for Ama, finding a pearl inside an oyster was akin to receiving a large bonus while they went about their ancestral practice of collecting shellfish. That changed when Kokichi Mikimoto, founder of Mikimoto Pearl, began his enterprise.

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On Hegura island in Wajima city, rules state that abalone under 10 centimetres must be returned to the sea, with a punishment of two days without work if caught breaking them. Despite their efforts however, numbers of abalone and other shellfish have been in decline, in part due to overfishing, but also the rising sea temperatures which affects the growth of seaweed the shellfish eat. ( Source) Predictably, there are also films made around the profession. Ama are featured in the famous work ‘Tampopo’, as well as the rather less famous, and slightly bizarre 1959 horror movie ‘Ama Ghost House’ (海女の化物屋敷). (Trailer below).