Ama Divers of Ise-Shima

Ama dive without air, holding their breath to gather abalone, turban shell, sea urchin and seaweed from the rocks, and the practice on this coast is documented back around two thousand years. They work almost entirely as women, historically in white cotton and now mostly in wetsuits, in short repeated dives with a float and a net, and the whistling exhalation on surfacing has a name of its own. The numbers have fallen steeply: from several thousand in the mid-twentieth century to a few hundred in Mie today, most of them over sixty, with catch limits and shorter seasons imposed to let stocks recover. Several huts along the coast, the amagoya where divers warm themselves between dives, now host visitors for grilled shellfish lunches cooked over charcoal by the divers themselves, who talk about the work. Booking is required and groups are small.

What you actually see

• Free-diving without tanks - short repeated breath-hold dives with a float and net.
• A declining trade - from thousands to a few hundred, most divers now over sixty.
• The warming hut - an amagoya where divers rest between dives, opened for lunches.
• Shellfish over charcoal - grilled by the divers, who talk about the work.

When to go

March to November. Half a day. Book hut lunches well in advance.

Honest expectations

Hut visits must be booked and groups are small - walk-ins are not possible. Conversation is in Japanese, sometimes with an interpreter. Diving is not performed for visitors at most huts. Rough weather cancels sessions.

Nearby

Mikimoto Pearl Island is at Toba; Ago Bay is south.