JAPAN and the WORLD Magazine JANUARY ISSUE 2016 #Issue 14 | Page 40

AMA
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
海女
AMAS
海に生きる女
WOMEN OF THE SEA
SYMBOL OF WOMEN’S INDEPENDENCE AND VIGOR
女性の自立と生命力の象徴
WORDS - PHOTOGRAPHY: REKO DIDA
Amas, female divers, harvest shellfish and seaweed from the sea floor without any diving equipment.
There are still about 2000 ama divers in Japan. Mie prefecture has Japan’s largest population of amas.
Most ama divers are over 40 years old. Like many traditional occupations in Japan, it is hereditary.
Fishing rights are passed from mother to daughter. More young people gradually get involved.
海女は、
潜水器具を一切つけず素潜りで海底から貝類や海藻を収穫する。
日本では今も約2,000人の海女が活躍し
ている。
三重県は国内で一番多く海女がいる県である。
ほとんどの海女は40歳を超えている。
多くの伝統的な日本の
職業と同じように、
海女も世襲制で、
漁業権は母親から娘に継承される。
近年、
海女になる若い女性が増えている。
I
t was August 2015 when we decided to
spend some days as a family in Ise. We
went there to visit our friends and explore
Ise. It was my dream to visit a place I have
never been before.
Ise is known by tourists and foreigners for its Ise
Jingu. The only thing I can say is that it was quite
impressive to visit such a mystical place, one of
the true Japanese cultural sites. It was beautiful,
magnificent and traditional, despite its slight
reconstruction. I think that most foreigners do
not know that Ise is also famous for its Mikimoto
Pearl Island. You can still see how ama women
harvest pearls in a traditional way.
I noticed a small boat with two
women dressed in white. I was
wondering what they are going
to do. They stood up, took a
basket tied with a rope to their
arms and dived underwater.
I did not know much about amas before coming
to Ise. Even though it was a rainy day, it did not
stop me from exploring amas. I had my Nikon
camera. I noticed a small boat with two women
dressed all in white. I was wondering what they
are going to do. They stood up, took a basket tied
with a rope to their arms and dived underwater.
While the boat was moving away, the only thing
I could see in the surface were their baskets as
their bodies slowly disappear underwater. It
39 // JANUARY 2016
Ama—woman diver.
JAPAN AND THE WORLD MAGAZINE