Japan's Last “Ama” - The Female Fishers Who Free-Dive For Seafood (HBO)

The legendary “ama,” the sea-women of Japan, make their money dive-fishing along the coasts - without the help of a breathing apparatus. They are part of a tradition that stretches back thousands of years to Japan’s hunter-gather origins.
With few options to make a living back then, women learned to dive for abalone, sea cucumber, and other delicacies to sell at markets. The ama plunge as deep as 60 feet in freezing water, with no oxygen tanks, using techniques passed from generation to generation.
Women have traditionally been considered a better fit for the work than men due to the distribution of their body fat, with older ama better able to hold their breath for long periods of time.
Today, of course, women in Japan have other job opportunities and have increasingly entered the white-collar workplace. As a result, ama divers’ ranks have dwindled, from 20,000 after World War II to just 2,000 today.
VICE News traveled to Japan to look at this disappearing vocation, one of the last sustainable practices left in the age of commercial fishing.
This segment originally aired April 6, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
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[@VICENews]

VICE News traveled to Japan to look at this disappearing vocation, one of the last sustainable practices left in the age of commercial fishing. WATCH MORE: bit.ly/2x1ayE4

[@lazovkalazovovska5119]

AMA DO KOGA SOSETO OVIE STAROZAVETNI U NOV ZAVET BAKUTANERSKI FINTI MORE???

[@ThatsErika]

I was honored to have met an Ama yesterday. She did this job for 50 years until she was 75, she is now 81 years of age. Still looks very youthful for her age. She was also from Mie-ken, but moved to Shizuoka and dived there.

[@clownbackpainrick6581]

HI, do you know studies, which longterm effects (health, CHD, longevity) these divers have? tx

[@tonymiller225]

Yes there is something in the fish diet ,the exercise and coldwater makes their skin beautiful

[@wendellpeters5083]

living of the sea, healthy job, and healthy food.. the Japanese have been doing this for 5,000 years wOw! that is a long time westerners are starting to eat sushi and sashimi..

[@FunFilmFare]

"healthy job" That's debatable. Yes it keeps you physically fit. But it also puts you at risk of clinical conditions like sinus infections, ear infections, and hypothermia due to long exposure to freezing cold waters.

[@hibiscuscoastie3502]

Kia ora…In New Zealand it is illegal to dive with oxygen tank for certain seafood example,Paua(Abalone) Kina (Sea Urchin) etc...Us maori have been free diving for generations&as kaitiaki of Aotearoa(New Zealand)&respect for tangaroa(god of sea) we want to leave kaimoana(seafood) for generations more! Tautoko&ka pai mahi to all the Ama women of Japan

[@Mostie-ev7oh]

That is so cool.

[@JeffreyDeCristofaro]

High praise to the Japanese women of the sea!!! ❤️

[@warmccl]

This is so cool i'd love to learn to do this from them.

[@Hermitelder]

maybe more than 10 years ago, but now? one word Fukushima

[@thegodfather_8455]

@@Hermitelder oh please

[@Hermitelder]

@@thegodfather_8455 even with the loads of typical bullshit and the probability of it being nowhere near as bad as purported - I'm erring on the side of caution thank you very much

[@BIGBAD562]

"Ama" is what I call my mom in Spanish

[@marcotavara1239]

BIGBAD562 w

[@dinajannat106]

Iam from our english text book... about the ama diver 😊 iam from Bangladesh 🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩

[@nusaibaalam8475]

Ikr. Eng exam diye eshe dekhtesi. Hope to do good.

[@starpowerfitness9651]

Amazing ...I super appreciate this

[@Euphytoseful]

Is it possible to have the name of the songs you used in this? Especially the first one. Even if it's just some ambient music.

[@thelionking2128]

Ama means mother in our language( nepali)

[@lukas-gr1nl]

The Lion King it means father in our language( filipino)

[@BeadsandFlowers]

The Lion King In Italian it means "Love!" (as a verb in the imperative form).

[@winvsdroid]

Hi ,I'm from India. I think the word for mother is amma not ama.am I wrong?

[@randomname1184]

Ama in Japanese could also be a derogatory term for women...

[@m9ndarangkal]

In Tagalog AMA means father and INA means mother

[@Docklead]

Impressive. That water looks unbearably cold.

[@o.oo.o5637]

they have wet suits. you can get really good we suits these days

[@iwontbebeat7111]

Ohhh yeah ...it's bad .

[@mathewtoll6780]

@@o.oo.o5637 I saw old photographs - they used to do it just in loincloth

[@HJPierce]

One theory is that women have more fat and stay warmer in the water.. another theory, and the most plausible, is that men are little babies and women have a stronger pain tolerance. ;) lol jk.... kinda!

[@Whyalwaysm3]

i am gonna answer this after 2 years. In communities w/ Ama, men usually work as deep sea fishermen and would be gone for months as a way to earn extra to also help with the expenses women in these communities became Ama.

[@GallonMilkProductions]

Estrogen allows us more pain tolerance and faster recovery time. Also touches of human kindness

[@gfitz91]

funny how there needs to be some kind of biological reason. Perhaps women were just braver?

[@EnlightenedCarnivore]

Thank you. James Nestor's book 'Deep' brought me here.

[@Romeo.Filmss]

Free DIVE* you mean?

[@T25de]

Romeo Levii Amazing the attention to detail Vice shows these days!

[@JollyJoel]

I just came from another Vice video with a spelling error in title. Either the guy uploading the video is stupid, or they do it on purpose to get people like us to respond, which does increase views for them because KZbin's new comment algorithm. Something tells me it's the new thing to do nowadays.

[@m4rkm4n]

Sure, I also make all my mistakes on purpose.

[@robertboyle2573]

Just read about Ama girls in You Only Live Twice, Ian Fleming said they dived in the nude!

[@efrains54]

So nice!

[@MrRobertFarr]

I read about this, as a kid. Let's learn the traditional breathing technique? It's good, for wealthy Pastimes like Surfing.

[@hoasjhdfiadsf]

it's not unique to Japan. Korea's Jeju island had/has a similar tradition of female divers

[@nanaalmani4300]

Wow I wanna try this. I think I have it in me to do this. I’ve always liked diving and at swimming pools I always try to reach the floor at the deepest part of the pool

[@redwilson8569]

Reminds me of "The Sound of Waves"

[@mathew633man]

Japanese women are so beautiful both spiritually and physically.

[@nolancruzsmith]

Matt lol dude. You're mom just clowned you. But I agree, Japanese women are hot

[@o.oo.o5637]

wow u were able to take someone saying something nice and turn it into toxic af xD soz u hate asian people jerk

[@iwontbebeat7111]

White women are so beautiful both spiritually and physically ....but I can't find those good ones in a Walmart at all and all of them in there hates Asians immensely ... I don't know why .... LoL

[@GallonMilkProductions]

Traditional Ama used to only wear "fundoshi" which is like a waist cloth underwear.

[@antirunescape4128]

I would love to do this job !!

[@iishuffle28]

Dude move there, sounds like the amas are dying out.

[@iwontbebeat7111]

I don't know man ...I've seen many spear hunters in Japan doing samething...

[@ellebrown675]

Does anybody know if it's possible to try ama diving?

[@08kansen]

What about those who dive for star fish to help production of cultured pearls ?

[@bobvu8698]

The perfect woman! Knows how to catch food.

[@aliens5142]

haenyeo 💕 ama

[@cheeher3212]

20,000 to 2,000 RIP

[@Jhintalo]

This is not new video from vice, i'm sure I've seen this before

[@JackPeloquin]

more of this...

[@vince065us]

What's caused the decline in the ama divers? Has commercial fishing been one of the causes?

[@clownbackpainrick6581]

I guess the hard work (cold and hard) and the fluctuating income... And the tend, that the only social acceptible job is a white collar job.

[@BernieYohan]

They have women divers in South Korea as well. They are dwindling as well

[@daeseongkim93]

The Haenyeo on Jeju Island, no surprise that the Ama are mostly in Okinawa. Jeju and Okinawa are close to each other probably interactions due to geographic closeness and nice tropical climate help facilitate this interesting tradition in both matriarchal societies. Haenyeo and Ama are amazing people to talk to and partake in their fresh catches from the sea, sadly both traditions are declining like you mentioned.

[@AdmiralAckbar97]

*women drivers

[@00kizuna00]

Deborah Meltrozo you must be from one of them third world country lol. Learn something from these hardworking countries.

[@daeseongkim93]

James Russells I can say the same of Beijing, Osaka, Bangkok, LA, London or even your hometown. It's a matter of perspective. There are worse places than Korea in trashiness. I admit Seoul is a heaping trash pile, but other cities aren't that overpopulated and nasty.

[@ingridstormborn8623]

Daeseong Kim why are you responding to them? They're just insecure losers

[@SuperKinahead]

Do that in nz. Coldasf waters 3m swells ez

[@emiliobello2538]

Japan

[@bostonmassacre508]

Her daughter is beutiful

[@poppetrurazvan3900]

Domo arigato sea ultrasound heated diving suit. domo arigato

[@alpha_ray_burst]

I want to be an ama. Can men be ama?

+Adam Kendall I'm not sure but you can be a Freediver. It's pretty much the same thing.

[@o.oo.o5637]

i will be ama with u. we can start xD we can me amen.... ok we think of something better than that, but u get the idea

[@wishingstarman9340]

wow badass

[@burtonl7239]

OMG. Ama is what I call my grandma.

[@disciprine]

Jeh jeh jeh?!?!?

[@edghar7995]

♥️

[@onlyhaloinfinite7247]

This is insane

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

Funny, I remember seeing documentaries about this as a kid in the 80's, was considered one of the deadliest jobs in the world. Like coal mining, why are people trying to bring this back?

[@clownbackpainrick6581]

Why do you think it is so deadly? I dont believe that.

[@Mostie-ev7oh]

Tech and equipment has improved in big ways I assume. Specifically wetsuits and the like. Safety standards I imagine as well. That and it’s apparently better for the environment too.

[@lazovkalazovovska5119]

AMA MI SE ISPOSMACI!!! SHO HUNTAAT??? MONEY???

[@jayfolk]

Tradition I only know because of Oiso from Manyū Hiken-chō [ecchi big boob anime].

[@lazovkalazovovska5119]

OVIE IZGLEDA SADE ZA JAJCA NE BI MOZELE DA ZARABOTAAT KAKO SHTO RABOTAAT!!! :ppp

[@n0yn0y]

At least they're not smoking weed.

[@GG-ou7it]

Free drive lel