Truly unique experience in Mie | You must visit Ise-Shima to see traditional 'Ama divers'
'Ama divers' or 'Ama' -
Most of the Japanese people know the word but not many of them really know who they are or have ever met them for real.
There are approximately 1600 Ama divers in Japan. And almost half of them are in Toba and Shima in Mie prefecture.
Those women dive into the cold sea without oxygen tanks or snokels to catch seafood to make their living.
The shellfish and seaweed that Ama divers catch and harvest are thought as local delicacies, and only shipped to exclusive hotels and restaurants in Tokyo or Osaka.
The lifestyle of Ama is full of mystery. People outside the village are not allowed to visit their workplace or even to see how they dive.
But there are some places in this Ise-Shima region that visitors can touch and feel their simple natural life.
Guest House AMARGE in Ijika, Toba city in Mie prefecture is the one of them. The owner of the guesthouse is actually a real Ama diver. She started this traditional occupation since 2015, and accepting her guests to visit her own hut (so called 'Amagoya').
There are some 'Amagoya' in this region, but all of them are restaurants and not for showing real diving.
But the visitors of the guesthouse can actually visit one of the oldest real Ama's hut to experience how Ama divers spend time in the hut and allowed to watch their work of diving from the beach (visitors are not allowed to dive with Ama divers).
There is no one place like this guesthouse because Ama divers are always worryed about revealing information of the diving spots to poachers.
If you are traveling to Japan and want to experience a truly unique thing that nowhere else has, why not come visit Guest House AMARGE in Ijika to meet real Ama divers?
