A diver shows off the sea urchins she gathered at Kosode coast in Kuji, Iwate Prefecture, on Monday. The sea urchin divers of north Iwate, known as "amachan," are featured in the popular NHK morning drama of the same name which finishes on Saturday.
© Japan TodayAmachan
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14 Comments
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SauloJpn
Diving on the northeast of Japan? Thanks, but NO, thanks!
kuuku
so this drama finishes this Saturday, thanks for mentioning that.
Nessie
I was in last weekend without a wetsuit on the west coast of Hokkaido. So many uni they're a genuine danger to step on. The water is surprisingly warm at this time of year. I never could understand why all the beaches shut down in mid August, BEFORE the sea temp maxes out.
ebisen
Chiba's Sotobo has one of the last genuine Ama communities around Japan nowadays. I truly hope some young girls pick up this tradition. Their diving performance is extraordinary, and their bodies develop a layer of subcutaneous fat, helping with both the cold temperatures and with the flotation... Traditionally females are better at this than males, thought to be solely because of how the fat distributes within the female body.
jazz350
There are Ama san still plying their dangerous trade in Mie Prefecture, around Toba as well as the island of Kamishima, they harvest awabi and sazae, the latter has only a two month window to make sure they are not over-harvested. Most of the women that I saw were over 65 and one lady in Kamishima is 80 years! I believe the younger generation does not want to follow in their footsteps.
nath
Why need to dive for uni? They are about 1 metre ubnder the water on the rocks and easy to collect by hand/with tongs.
sf2k
too bad, I think it's a really cool job and if Japanese don't pick it up then who will? Beats an office cubilcle. I hope it becomes more popular
BodyBoardBabe
@AKB The water is cleaner perhaps.
YongYang
Harvest them as light bulbs.
Francis Urquhart
LOL. But it is quite a way away from the problem area.
kickboard
Google 大向 美咲. She's the girl that the NHK drama "amachan" is based on.
GyGene
I actually used to do this with a friend. Not uni, but various shellfish, mollusks, etc. Yep, that's fresh seafood.
YongYang
@Francis. Yeah, that's right. Water in the ocean doesn't move.