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Some ''ama'' operated from shore, while other dove from boats; both modes of operation involved very little capital investment or physical equipment. Divers typically wore nothing but a loincloth and a belt of rice-straw around their waist, which was used to hold their tools: a knife used to scrape the shells from the rock, and an empty shell called ''kirigai'' which could be left as a marker of a site she wished to return to. The inside of the ''kirigai'' caught the light and sparkled, making it more visible from above the water, allowing the ''ama'' to find her spot again; it also served as a claim to the site, which other ''ama'' might be expected to respect. The ''ama'' was typically underwater for 30 seconds up to a couple of minutes at a time, and might spend much of the day diving, with periods of rest which she would use to get warm. Even in summer, the water could be cold enough to merit keeping a brazier aboard the boat, or onshore, for this purpose.

Some ''ama'' operated from shore, while other dove from boats; both modes of operation involved very little capital investment or physical equipment. Divers typically wore nothing but a loincloth and a belt of rice-straw around their waist, which was used to hold their tools: a knife used to scrape the shells from the rock, and an empty shell called ''kirigai'' which could be left as a marker of a site she wished to return to. The inside of the ''kirigai'' caught the light and sparkled, making it more visible from above the water, allowing the ''ama'' to find her spot again; it also served as a claim to the site, which other ''ama'' might be expected to respect. The ''ama'' was typically underwater for 30 seconds up to a couple of minutes at a time, and might spend much of the day diving, with periods of rest which she would use to get warm. Even in summer, the water could be cold enough to merit keeping a brazier aboard the boat, or onshore, for this purpose.

The skills and techniques of the ''ama'' were traditionally passed down from mother to daughter, but this became more difficult in the Edo period as many families throughout the archipelago shifted from a practice of married couples living with the wife's family, to living with the husband's. This shift meant that families and villages would lose the "returns on investment," so to speak, of training young women to be ''ama'' when those women married into other families, their training and their labor then coming to benefit that family, and that village. Some families adapted to these new circumstances by arranging that if they were to marry away their ''ama'' daughter, another ''ama'' would marry into their family, contributing her labor to the family, and to the village.

The skills and techniques of the ''ama'' were traditionally passed down from mother to daughter, with infants being kept on the boat from a very young age, learning to swim by age six or seven, and beginning to dive just for fun as a child. Teenage girls may have begun to dive for shells from shore, earning the privilege of diving from the boats once they proved their skills, usually by their late teens. Most ''ama'' are believed to have been at the peak of their careers around age 25-32, but some are known to have continued the work into their 60s or even 70s.

 

It became more difficult in the Edo period, however, to continue this tradition of passing down skills to one's daughter, as many families throughout the archipelago shifted from a practice of married couples living with the wife's family, to living with the husband's. This shift meant that families and villages would lose the "returns on investment," so to speak, of training young women to be ''ama'' when those women married into other families, their training and their labor then coming to benefit that family, and that village. Some families adapted to these new circumstances by arranging that if they were to marry away their ''ama'' daughter, another ''ama'' would marry into their family, contributing her labor to the family, and to the village.

''Ama'' sometimes dove with their sisters and mother, but it was also common for a number of unrelated women to work as divers on a boat; in either case, the skipper (the father or brother in the case of a family operation) was typically the only man on board the boat, and was in charge of the operation. He was also in charge of watching out for, and taking care of, the women. He used a long pole called a ''hikizao'' to help the girls out of the water, and often dove in himself to aid or rescue a diver who did not come up soon enough.

''Ama'' sometimes dove with their sisters and mother, but it was also common for a number of unrelated women to work as divers on a boat; in either case, the skipper (the father or brother in the case of a family operation) was typically the only man on board the boat, and was in charge of the operation. He was also in charge of watching out for, and taking care of, the women. He used a long pole called a ''hikizao'' to help the girls out of the water, and often dove in himself to aid or rescue a diver who did not come up soon enough.

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==References==

==References==

*Arne Kalland, ''Fishing Villages in Tokugawa Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (1995), 163-164.

*Arne Kalland, ''Fishing Villages in Tokugawa Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (1995), 163-179.

[[Category:Women]]

[[Category:Women]]

[[Category:Economics]]

[[Category:Economics]]