THE EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN OF THE SEA They are said to be Asian sirens that climb the depths of sea apnea in search of ears, oysters and other treasures of the underwater world. According to legend, they are descendants of sea gypsies swimming in the waters of South Asia. The first written reference to them is in a poem which is part of the oldest anthology of Japanese poetry Man'yĹ?shĹŤ dating back to the 8th century. Nowadays, they can be
found not only in Japan (Mie, Iwate and Ishikawa Prefecture), but also on the Korean island of Jeju. Japanese sirens are called Ama, which literally means a woman of the sea. It is a profession practiced almost exclusively by women, who initially collected various types of crustaceans, molluscs and algae. It was not until 1890 that Kokichi Mikimoto, a Japanese scientist and precursor of sea pearl farming,
began to associate this profession mainly with fishing. Kokichi employed Ama to collect oysters and place grains of sand inside them, from which pearls were formed, and then put them in a safe place on the underwater bottom. It was also thanks to Kokichi Ama that they gained white cotton robes, which are still considered to be their traditional workwear. There are currently around 800 Ama working in Japan. Most of them are over 60 years old, some are over 80. There are not many young women who decide to learn diving on one inspiration, because it is a very demanding profession. During one working day Ama dives on apnea to a depth of 10-20 meters even 20 | Autumn 2019 | Lifestyle
