Ama (diver)

Ama

Ama ( Japanese. 海人 , dt. "Sea man", for men: 海士 , dt. "Merman", for women: 海女 , dt. "Mermaid") is the Japanese name for apnea - clam divers, usually women. The characters 海人 are read in the Ryūkyū languages uminchu and in the dialect of the Izu Peninsula kaito .

Working method

Traditionally they only wore a fundoshi ( loincloth ), but nowadays they wore neoprene suits over which they put on white clothes. The white clothes to the deterrence of sharks serve. In fact, no shark attack on Amas has been reported. However, this could also be due to the fact that sharks are not native to the rather cold waters of Japan. The white headscarf is specially tied. The women stay under water for up to a minute and reach a depth of 5 to max. 20 meters. At shallow depths of 5 to 7 meters, they stay on the seabed for around 15 seconds for their collecting activities. They then repeat their dives up to 60 times an hour. During the fishing season from March to September you dive for sea snails , mussels , sea urchins , algae and especially the precious abalones (awabi).

The work is very strenuous, so that the number of ama in Japan has now (2016) dropped to 2000 divers. There are other reasons for the decline in activity: The stocks are declining due to overfishing and pollution; on the other hand, 80% of all abaloni that are eaten in Japan today come from farms. As a result of social change, job opportunities outside of agriculture and fishing are more attractive for women.

Literary reception

Ian Fleming had a period at the end of the novel You only live twice with the ama: James Bond needs a base of operations in their sea area and is housed with a family there. During use, he is injured and loses his memory. Until fragments from his previous life emerge, he stays with a young, attractive diver in a marriage-like relationship.

literature

Nina Poppe: Ama . Verlag Kehrer, Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86828-251-1 , pictures. (Nominated for the German Photo Book Prize 2013.)
G. Teruoka: The Ama and their work. Preliminary report. An investigation into Japanese female divers. In: Physiology (1932) 5, ISSN 0365-0863 , pages 239-251, doi : 10.1007 / BF02009115 .

Movie

The mermaids of Japan. Documentary, Germany, 2009, 52:30 min., Script and director: Carmen Butta , production: MedienKontor, arte , series: 360 ° - Geo-Reportage , first broadcast: November 1st, 2009 by arte, table of contents by Geo , online video .

Ama-San - The Women of the Sea Documentary, Japan / Portugal / Switzerland, 2016, 112 min., Written and directed by Cláudia Varejão

Web links

Commons : Ama Taucher - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Michael Nedwed: Die Ama , July 2009, detailed description and history, (PDF; 22 p., 1.3 MB)

Lance Henderstein: Out and about with the Ama, the 70-year-old apnea divers from Japan. In: vice.com , December 12, 2016, photo report .

Françoise Kadri: Japan's Ama Women Divers. In: AFP , June 17, 2003,

Individual evidence

↑ Lance Henderstein: On the way with the Ama, the 70-year-old apnea divers from Japan. In: vice.com , December 12, 2016.
↑ Carsten Germis : Japan's strong women are often seventy. In: FAZ , September 21, 2013, p. 14.
↑ Gray Hutton: Japanese Seawomen. In: vice.com , April 12, 2012, interview with Poppe.

[1] Lance Henderstein: On the way with the Ama, the 70-year-old apnea divers from Japan. In: vice.com , December 12, 2016.

[2] Carsten Germis : Japan's strong women are often seventy. In: FAZ , September 21, 2013, p. 14.

[3] Gray Hutton: Japanese Seawomen. In: vice.com , April 12, 2012, interview with Poppe.