MINAMIBOSO, Chiba Pref. ¨C Bearing torches that lit up the night as they swam out into the ocean, Â鶹´«Ã½ storied ama prayed for an abundant catch in a ceremony that has been held by these female free divers for decades.
This year, however, most of the 80 white-clad participants in the weekend event in Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture, were volunteers, as age and disinterest have reduced the number of women willing to make a livelihood out of this type of diving in this fishing community.
Japan is home to the world¡¯s oldest population, and the number of female ama, a Japanese word meaning sea-diving fishers, fell to just 40 last year in the Shirahama district in Minamiboso, down 70% from 2006, according to a local fisheries cooperative.
Their ages averaged 72 in 2023, compared with 68 in 2006.
¡°Those who still go out to sea are getting rather old. We have managed to keep the festival going by asking people in this area and beyond for cooperation,¡± said Shoichi Iida, who has helped organize the festival for years.
In keeping with their centuries-old practice, the ama still dive without any scuba gear or air tanks. Many divers say it is hard work that doesn¡¯t offer much pay, and their numbers continue to dwindle as hardly any young women want to take up the tradition.
¡°This is not the kind of job on which you can make instant money,¡± said Yoshino Hirano, who has worked as an ama for 16 years.
Despite the drawbacks, Ayumi Inoue, a 51-year-old local resident, trained up to become an ama three years ago.
¡°I grew up seeing older women working as ama, and found the smiles on their suntanned faces very attractive and cool,¡± Inoue said. ¡°Seeing the number of ama divers dwindling, to be honest, makes me sad.¡±
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