Ama(female divers, who gather marine products in a traditional way)in Taba Shima district, Mie Prefecture ○Ama gathers marine products in a traditional way,handed down from ancient times to the present Ama have a long history; they appear in the oldest history book of Japan. They dive without using a scuba tank or a snorkel and get abalone, top shells,sea urchins and seaweed from the seabed. Ama in Toba-Shima District, Mie Prefecture, gather marine products in a traditional way that has been handed down from ancient times to the present, whitch Mie Prefecture considers one of its most important cultural assets. ○History of Ama‘s Costume Approximately before 1925,ama had woked without wearing a shirt on,but from around that year they began wearing ”Isogi”ーa long-sleeved white cotton work clothes. Rubber wet suits,which allow ama to dive deeper and for longer times have been in common use since the mid-1960s. Nowadays,all of the ama everywhere wears rubber wet suits. ○Ama have different names according to their work styles -kachido-ama and Hunado-ama ー Work style such as diving alone,diving with others,and diving with the assistance by a boat, give ama different names according to which type they practice. kachido-Ama This is an ama who swims by herself from the shore to a diving area using a plastic tube; she has a floating container for her marine products. These ama mainly work in a shallow sea. Ama who are transported to a diving area in a amall/middle size group in a boat operated by a man called “tomae” are also called “kachido-ama.“ Hunado-Ama An ama working with a man is called a “hunado-ama” and usually divers in deep water. The man who goes to a diving area with a hunado-ama in a boat is called “tomae”. A hunado-ama dives with rope around her waist while a tomae operates the boat. The tomae pulls up the rope immediately when a hunado-ama tugs on it to give a signal. In most cases ,the tomae is the husband of the hunado-ama,because of the need for perfect harmony. The lack of harmony at any stages in this operation may cost the hunado-ama her life.
Present-day Ama at Ijika,Toba City,Mie Prefecture The number of ama is decreasing year by year; Ama consisted of 761females and 288males (according to the research in 2014)