Fit Surroundings

Based on more than a decade of field research, this colorful report on the high-touch craft of shellfish diving, takes us to the coast of the Shima Peninsula in central Japan. Here most of the divers (ama) are women and many of them are older with an average age of 50. By taking you into different settings where the divers operate, the program allows you to sample a social environment in which fierce individual competition underwater is checked and balanced by a spirited colleagueship carefully nurtured among groups of divers as they relax on shore. The program is suitable for use at the secondary school level and above, for courses not only about Japan, but about gender, aging, and sustainable environments, or "fit surroundings." A study guide which includes additional information and suggested readings is available below.