Pearl Divers in Toba, Japan

I recently traveled to Japan and went to a small town call Toba. Toba is the home to Mikimoto and is where his museum and pearl farms are. This is a picture of the bay in nearby Kashikojima. You can see the pearl beds which extend throughout the bay.


This is a pearl diver known as "Ama." Ama means a "sea person". Only women are pearl divers. It is believed that pearl diving dates back 2000 years. The Ama dive without scuba gear and work in the frigid waters.