In Mie Prefecture, Japan, Ama divers are the last remaining traditional seafood and pearl divers in the country. These women have been diving for over 2,000 years and have been a part of the rich seafood waters in Mie Prefecture, known as the birthplace of Japanese pearl farming. They are renowned for their impressive skills such as diving up to 30 meters deep and holding their breath for two minutes.
Despite being one of the last remaining traditional Ama divers, Ms. Hayashi expresses concerns about the future of this practice due to various factors such as climate change, technological advancements, and migration waves. Currently, there are only about 2,000 Ama divers left in Japan, with Ms. Hayashi being one of the 500 remaining in Mie Prefecture. This number has drastically decreased from about 4,000 divers in the 1970s.
In Japan’s male-dominated society, women are known for their diving abilities due to their body fat distribution and breath-holding capabilities. The term “Ama” refers to these female divers who initially caught abalone for temples and emperors before moving on to other seafood species such as fish and octopus. Ama divers traditionally wear white clothing to symbolize purity and ward off sharks while they dive without oxygen into depths up to 30 meters. Despite modern times, they continue to do so without any equipment or technology like scuba gear or oxygen tanks – earning them the nickname “mermaids.”
Ms. Hayashi believes that young people find it challenging to make a living from these traditional practices due to rising competition from larger fishing vessels equipped with advanced technology that can go deeper than what an Ama diver can handle safely while staying underwater longer than two minutes at once without taking any breaks or surface intervals between dives like scuba divers do today. Moreover, climate change is affecting ocean temperatures which harms seafood resources which forms a crucial part of her profession’s sustenance leading to decline not only in her line but also pearl farming industries across Japan that were once thriving here because now there’re fewer young people willing or able to take over these family-run businesses despite facing challenges trying to adapt with modern times while preserving age-old traditions passed down through generations.
