Booking is currently not available for this experience. Please check back later.

Dine in an Ama Hut with Mie's Traditional Female Freedivers

Organized by Ama Hut
Detail
Detail
Detail
Show all photos
Detail
Share
Save
Show all photos
Summary
Highlights
Experience Details
Experience Location
Duration
1.5 hours
Number of Guests
1 - 65 guests
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible, Stroller Accessible, Family-friendly
Language
Japanese, English
Other
Halal, Pescetarian, With lunch

Dine & dance with ama divers as you learn about the women who are keeping the 2000-year-old tradition of freediving alive in Mie Prefecture. (Eat! Meet! Japan 2020 Silver Award)

Highlights

  • Meet Mie Prefecture's ama (literally “sea women”) female freedivers

  • Enjoy freshly-caught seafood that’s grilled over a firepit

  • Hear stories about ama diving and have a Q&A session with an ama diver

  • Try on traditional ama garb

  • Dance along to the Osatsu Ondo local folk song

For each guest that attends this experience, byFood will donate
10 meals

Experience Details

Mie Prefecture is home to half of Japan's two thousand remaining ama (female freedivers), with a history of freediving in Japan that stretches back 2000 years. For them, freediving is somewhat like a spiritual practice, with their own rituals and superstitions. Learn about the symbols and practices of these incredible women as you hear firsthand from the ama divers themselves and enjoy a meal of local seafood.


During this experience, gather with a group of freedivers in their ama hut and taste their freshly-caught bounty from the Matoya Bay. The ama-san are expert hunters, retrieving seafood like abalone, turban shells, and Ise lobster from 10 meters deep, spending approximately a minute underwater at a time. Keeping up with the times, they use wetsuits; however, they forgo the use of oxygen tanks to keep the traditional spirit alive.


With warm hospitality and everpresent laughter and smiles, the ama-san are welcoming hosts, whether they’re grilling up the day’s catch over a fire pit, telling stories of their past dives, wrapping guests in traditional ama garb, or teaching their traditional folk dance, the Osatsu Ondo.


These impressive women dare to go where (almost) no man has… Although ama have just recently started welcoming men into their ranks, the ama population is declining as more and more young locals move to cities to work.


Freediving is dangerous, but the ama are a resilient and cheerful group. These seasoned diving veterans are in high spirits and have much to teach, and meeting them in their ama hut for an afternoon of dining and dancing is a truly “ichi-go ichi-e” (once in a lifetime) experience.

Inclusions

  • One of five different course meals (choose from options below)

  • Commemorative photo with ama-san, while dressed in ama garb

  • Traditional folk dance lesson

Exclusions

  • Transportation fees

Meeting Point and Meeting Time

  • 25 minutes by car from Kintetsu Toba Station (Set the gas station "Eneos Nagaokaya Oil Store" (エネオス長岡屋石油店) as the relay point and set Osatsu-cho, Toba City, Mie Prefecture as the goal point)

Remarks

  • All rooms have barrier-free entrances, wheelchair-accessible toilets, free rental wheelchairs

  • There is a men's and women's prayer room for Muslims

Cancellation Policy

Cancel your booking at least 2 days before the experience start time to receive a full refund minus a 3.2% transaction fee.

Read more

Experience Location

Mie Prefecture should be the go-to for travelers looking to indulge in the freshest seafood and highest-quality wagyu in Japan, as well as nature lovers seeking their next scenic destination.

Get Directions
Book This Experience
Select at least 1 guest
Select Guest
Select at least 1 guest
Adult
(13 - 120)
0
Child
(3 - 12)
0
Clear
Apply
Date
Select Date
Date
December
2024
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930311234
Time
Select Time
Time
Earliest available date: December 9, 2024
from
¥3,500
per guest
Book Now
Please note that the time is in Japan Standard Time.
Free cancellation (2 days notice)
For each guest that attends this experience, byFood will donate
10 meals
You may also be interested in these experiences
Dining Experiences
MIE
Farm-to-Table Matsusaka Beef Sukiyaki at a Farmer’s Inn

Spend the night at a farmer’s inn, harvest veggies, collect spring water, and make a luxurious sukiyaki hot pot with Matsusaka wagyu. This rare beef is native to Mie, and only 2500 Matsusaka cattle are available each year, making it highly coveted.

from¥19,800
(11)