| In Japanese history lies a fascinating tradition, having to | | | | their own strength. But an expert ama would have her |
| do with young ladies and the deep sea. Along the | | | | own boat and boatman, usually her husband or some |
| coasts of Japan, a highly prized mollusk lives deep | | | | other male relative she absolutely trusted. The expert |
| down on the rocks. It is called the awabi (abalone, or | | | | ama used a weight to drop her down quickly, and her |
| sea-ear). It lives 40 feet down or deeper, and can only | | | | boatman was ready to haul her up with a rope just as |
| be harvested by divers going down and prying them | | | | quickly. With these aids she was able to go deeper |
| off with a heavy knife. | | | | than her less-skilled sisters, and spend more time and |
| The job of diving down to get these treasures has | | | | breath on the bottom where the awabi live. |
| always been women's work. Called ama, the skill of | | | | This diving was a seasonal job, but the awabi fetched |
| deep diving was passed down from a mother to her | | | | so much money that these villages became a |
| daughter for generations. The Japanese believed that | | | | matriarchal society. The best amas were able to take |
| a woman could better handle the prolonged cold | | | | their pick of potential husbands and were treated as |
| temperatures of the deep than a man. It is said that in | | | | queens. |
| former days, along the coasts of Japan, one could | | | | As the modern age hit Japan, the idea of diving |
| regularly hear the strange whistle of the ama surfacing | | | | because spurned, the Japanese considered it too |
| and letting out her breath, and that this sound was as | | | | peasant. Many young girls went to the factories |
| familiar as the gulls' cry. | | | | instead. Consequently, fewer and fewer girls are |
| Originally the ama wore nothing but a loincloth and belt, | | | | following their mothers into the sea. Since then, the |
| and sometimes a diving mask. Their skin bronzed in the | | | | prices of awabi have continually risen, as it has |
| sun when near the surface. These were the true | | | | become more rare. But the Japanese won't give it up - |
| mermaids of Japan. Later, modesty dictated that they | | | | they love it so much, either raw, semi-raw or pickled in |
| cover up, so they started wearing white linen clothing. | | | | vinegar, steamed or dried. The Japanese will pay any |
| This also protected them from the sun's rays and the | | | | price for it, as the awabi is considered one of the |
| white color helped to scare sharks away. | | | | prizes of the ocean. |
| These girls learned the paths of the deep as familiarly | | | | Let us hope that the mermaids of Japan will |
| as the paths of their village. Novice divers were taken | | | | rediscover this amazing tradition, and never let it die. |
| out in groups on boats, and had to dive and swim on | | | | |