Japan’s female ama divers are the stuff of legend ... real-life mermaids – who in those days wore nothing more than a loincloth and diving mask, and a bandana to protect their heads during ...

Prior to the adoption of wet suits in the 1960s, these nimble mermaids wore only a white loincloth and goggles ... the 69-year-old is one of 110 active Ama divers from the Osatsu Area in Toba ...

Some would be bare-breasted, wearing just a fundoshi (loincloth ... In the past year, four traditional ama-goya, the rustic huts where divers relax and socialise, have opened to tourists, with ...

Ama, or female divers, make their living diving to the ... It is said that because they only wore a loincloth in the past, even during the winter, maintaining body heat was a matter of life ...

The Ama divers have become something of a legend ... they were topless when they went diving, wearing just white loincloths. The specialised tools they use to retrieve the seafood have also ...

In celebration of International Women's Day 2019, I wanted to shine a spotlight on the ama, a title that has been ascribed to the famous female pearl divers of Japan.

The ama divers of Ise-Shima, Japan’s sea-women, carry on a centuries-old tradition of freediving for seafood, blending adventure with cultural preservation. In the cool waters off Japan’s Ise ...

Japan’s female ama divers are the stuff of legend ... real-life mermaids – who in those days wore nothing more than a loincloth and diving mask, and a bandana to protect their heads during ...