The Ama

Many of these images come from Fosco Maraini's 1962 photography book, The Island Of The Fisherwomen.

The Ama divers were women who lived in the coastal villages and free-dived for things like pearls, abalone, seaweed, oysters, and sea cucumbers.  Standard equipment was a fundoshi, hand-carved goggles and a knife.  Kissy Suzuki, the only Bond girl to bear a child by secret agent 007, is perhaps the most famous example of an Ama diver in mass media, appearing in the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice."

 

 

 

 

A particularly famous image depicted in medieval shunga is "The Dream Of The Fisherman's Wife," which while it may or may not involve an ama per se, is certainly an interesting insight into the more freeform sexuality of ancient Japan.  Even Hokusai (the guy who drew that wave) produced numerous shunga, and his lusty octopus is one of the most famous.

Although the fundoshi loincloth was largely replaced by more modern swimsuits and wetsuits during the 1960s, the romantic image of a fundoshi-wrapped female diver persists in contemporary depictions, even being a subset of modern Asian pornography.

This artist has digitally rendered a fetching, bronzed ama in her fundoshi and natural environment of rocks and water:

 

A photography contest was mentioned a post or so back, but what about an art contest?  It wouldn't even need to be a "contest" by nature, more of an online exhibit of fundoshi-related art: photography, drawing, painting, digital art, film, or even short stories!  I know I love stumbling onto such things on the internet, how much better would it be if Fundoshi 4 All was a generator of art and photography too? 

Yes?