Changes

*''Japanese'': 海女 or 海人 ''(ama)''

*''Japanese'': 海女 or 海人 ''(ama)''

''Ama'' were female shelldivers who collected [[abalone]], [[turbo]] shells, and certain other highly prized marine products. As abalone, and certain other of the goods they collected, were highly prized by the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunal]] and imperial courts, and as export/[[tribute]] goods, ''ama'' enjoyed considerable official protections and privileges, at least in the [[Edo period]]. Though typically of low social status, coming from fishing/villager families, ''ama'' were also frequently eroticized in literature and the visual arts.

''Ama'' were female shelldivers who collected [[abalone]], [[turbo shell]]s, and certain other highly prized marine products. As abalone, and certain other of the goods they collected, were highly prized by the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunal]] and imperial courts, and as export/[[tribute]] goods, ''ama'' enjoyed considerable official protections and privileges, at least in the [[Edo period]]. Though typically of low social status, coming from fishing/villager families, ''ama'' were also frequently eroticized in literature and the visual arts.

The practice is believed to date back to the earliest times. Archaeological finds have included bone tools believed to have been used to scrape shellfish off the rocks, and mythological stories feature male and female divers offering up abalone to the gods. The ''[[Engishiki]]'' indicates that authorities in [[Chikuzen province]] offered abalone as a tribute good to the Imperial capital in the 10th century, if not earlier.

The practice is believed to date back to the earliest times. Archaeological finds have included bone tools believed to have been used to scrape shellfish off the rocks, and mythological stories feature male and female divers offering up abalone to the gods. The ''[[Engishiki]]'' indicates that authorities in [[Chikuzen province]] offered abalone as a tribute good to the Imperial capital in the 10th century, if not earlier.