Ama: Japanese artisan divers

Ama: les plongeuses artisanales japonaises

Ama: les plongeuses artisanales japonaises

Ph.L

Who are the last sirens of Japan?

 

Toura turn considéréescomme objetsde fantasy, women emeritus case, missed etgarçons, ama fascinated for centuries by their unique craft and leurcaractère sturdy. Sielles have live autrefoisleurscommunautés pèchegrâceà of pearl harvesting sea urchins, cesfemmes âgéesaujourd'hui deplusde 60years sontles last guardians of a millenary know-how being dedisparition: Traditional laplongée really apnée.Quisont ama What remains? of their practice at the time of industrial diving? Today Japan takes you in the footsteps of Japan's last mermaids.

 

Artisanal diving: an activity in decline

 

6 a.m. The sun has only risen for a few hours on the coast of Mie prefecture , and a group of ama is already getting down to sea.

Accompanied by a tamae , a motor boat driver, these women aged 50 to 75 head for the waves with only a basket and a chisel. Their goal? Snorkel up to 10 meters deep to collect the most beautiful treasures that the waves have to offer.

 

This could make people smile in the age of industrial fishing and yet there are still a few hundred around Japan today practicing artisanal diving.

 

 

 

 

 

Ama divers

Ama divers

Wikimédia

L'oursin, un des trésors de plongée

L'oursin, un des trésors de plongée

Wikimédia

Too muscular to be women, too talkative to be discreet, Japanese divers are indeed far from the usual image of the sweet and simple woman that animates the Japanese. They have a fiery temperament, and their activity has even redefined the logic of the traditional household, since they are the ones who keep the home alive in a society where the man is supposed to provide for the family.

Financial pillars of the household, they also have an important religious power. And these are still today the only women to play a leading role in the same way as municipal officials in local processions in honor of the goddess Amaterasu , the sun goddess whose protection they hold.

Shinto priest blesses ama before diving

Shinto priest blesses ama before diving

Ph.L

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