THE SEAWOMEN OF JAPAN

For centuries, in Japan, mollusc fishing has been a women business. 360° Geo - Report takes a plunge into the closed world of a group of "Ama".For centuries, diving for seafood in Japan has been 'ladies work' and is done by "Ama", or "women of the sea". They carry on collecting the precious seafood from the sea bottom until well into old age, braving the depths by the sheer virtue of their breath. Their skin is tanned by the elements, their voice roughened, deep and loud.For centuries, 9 women from the Japanese peninsula of Shima have shared their fate on a boat and grown together to become a close-knit sea-faring family. Kazu Yamamoto, at nearly 80 years of age, is the oldest in the group, a 5th-generation 'Ama'. She has by no means thought about giving up her work yet: "In the sea I can feel and move my body better than a shore. Once in the water all pain disappears, also suddenly my back doesn't hurt anymore", Kazu Yamamoto explains.