28 A2+ sushi nation

CHAPTER 1 The Japanese Diet JAPAN IS SURROUNDED BY WATER, SO IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT THE SEA IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF JAPANESE HISTORY AND LIFE, AND THAT SEAFOOD IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE JAPANESE DIET. The Japanese have one of the healthiest diets on Earth. They eat many fruits and vegetables, and a lot of rice. And unlike some other nationalities, the Japanese do not eat too much. They use smaller plates and so they eat less food. Less food means fewer calories. Because of this, only 4 percent of the Japanese population is obese, compared to 17 percent of the French and 34 percent of Americans.

日本四面环水，所以大海在日本历史和生活中占有重要地位，海鲜也是日本饮食的重要组成部分，这一点也不奇怪。 日本人的饮食是世界上最健康的饮食之一。 他们吃很多水果和蔬菜，还有很多米饭。 不像其他国家的人，日本人吃得不多。 他们用更小的盘子，所以他们吃更少的食物。 少吃意味着少摄入卡路里。 正因为如此，只有4%的日本人肥胖，而法国和美国的这一比例分别为17%和34%。

The Japanese diet is one of the reasons why the Japanese also have long lives— women live an average of 86 years, and men live an average of 80 years. And Japanese men and women don't just live for a long time, they also live a good life with a healthy body and a healthy mind. One part of the Japanese diet is especially important, and that's fish. The Japanese eat a lot of fish. They may have only 2 percent of the world's population, but they eat 10 percent of the world's fish! What's more, the Japanese eat the healthiest kinds of fish. Salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, and herring all have a lot of omega-3 fatty acids, but not many calories. Omega-3 fatty acids are very good for the health of your heart. Not only are these fish good for you, but they taste good, too!

日本人的饮食习惯是日本人长寿的原因之一——日本女性平均寿命为86岁，男性平均寿命为80岁。 而且日本的男女不仅活得很长，他们还拥有健康的身体和健康的思想，生活得很好。 日本饮食中有一部分特别重要，那就是鱼。 日本人吃很多鱼。 他们的人口可能只占世界人口的2%，但他们吃了世界上10%的鱼！更重要的是，日本人吃最健康的鱼。 鲑鱼、金枪鱼、鲭鱼、沙丁鱼和鲱鱼都含有大量的omega-3脂肪酸，但热量不高。 Omega-3脂肪酸对心脏健康非常有益。 这些鱼不仅对你有好处，而且味道也很好！

CHAPTER 2 Ama Divers DO YOU BELIEVE IN MERMAIDS? IN JAPAN, THERE ARE WOMEN WHO CAN STAY UNDER THE WATER FOR A VERY LONG TIME- JUST LIKE MERMAIDS. Ama means "sea person" in Japanese, and the ama spend a lot of time in the sea. They are "free-divers," meaning they dive very deep in the sea without oxygen tanks to help them breathe, or any other special equipment. Ama divers are almost all women. The tradition of the ama is 2000 years old. The ama divers are found everywhere in Japan, but the tradition has always been especially strong in Toba. Toba, in eastern Japan, has deep water and a rocky coast. Many people in Toba make their living from the sea. The ama dive in the deep waters to look for valuable shellfish to sell for food.

第二章阿玛·戴弗斯你相信美人鱼吗？ 在日本，有些女人可以在水下呆很长时间——就像美人鱼一样。 Ama在日语中的意思是“海上的人”，Ama花了很多时间在海上。 他们是“自由潜水者”，这意味着他们在没有氧气罐帮助呼吸或任何其他特殊设备的情况下潜入深海。 Ama潜水员几乎都是女性。 ama的传统有2000年的历史。 ama潜水员在日本到处都有，但在鸟场的传统一直特别强烈。 鸟羽市位于日本东部，有深水和岩石海岸。 多巴有许多人靠海为生。 ama潜入深水寻找有价值的贝类作为食物出售。

The ama can dive to a depth of 25 meters that's like the height of a six- floor building! And they do it without using an oxygen tank. They use a special kind of breathing to help them dive deep into the water. Ama divers can hold their breath for two minutes before coming back up to the top of the water. Until the 1960s, most traditional ama divers wore only small cotton shorts. That made it easier for them to move in the water. They also wore a piece of cloth around their hair. This cloth had good luck words written on it. More recently, ama divers wear white wetsuits that cover their whole body. The wetsuit is white because the ama believe that sharks don't like that color.

它可以下潜到25米的深度，相当于六层楼的高度！而且他们不用氧气罐就能做到。 它们使用一种特殊的呼吸来帮助它们潜入水中。 Ama潜水员在回到水面之前可以屏住呼吸两分钟。 直到20世纪60年代，大多数传统的ama潜水员都只穿小棉质短裤。 这使得它们更容易在水中移动。 他们还在头发上缠了一块布。 这块布上写着吉祥的话。 最近，ama潜水员穿着覆盖全身的白色潜水服。 潜水服是白色的，因为他们认为鲨鱼不喜欢那种颜色。

Ama divers tie a rope around their waist. Then they tie the other end of the rope to a wooden barrel. The barrel stays on top of the water. The ama hold onto it to rest between dives. They also throw their shellfish into the barrel when they come up to breathe. The ama dive for six months of the year. It is a very tiring job. During these six months, the ama do not have the traditional work of a wife and mother. After a day of work, the ama rest in small huts. They eat, warm their bodies, and talk with the other ama. Ama divers lived like this for two thousand years. But at the end of the 19th century, something happened that changed their way of life. One of the ways the ama made a living was by diving for oysters and selling the pearls. However, in 1893, a businessman called Mikimoto Kokichi, started to grow pearls.

阿玛潜水员在腰上系一根绳子。 然后他们把绳子的另一端系在木桶上。 桶保持在水面上。 在潜水之间，北极熊抓住它休息。 当它们浮上来呼吸时，也会把贝类扔进桶里。 一年中有六个月是潜水的。 这是一份很累人的工作。在这六个月里，妈妈没有传统的妻子和母亲的工作。 一天的工作后，妈妈们在小屋里休息。 他们吃东西，取暖，和其他妈妈聊天。 阿玛潜水员就这样生活了两千年。 但在19世纪末，发生了一件事改变了他们的生活方式。 其中一种谋生的方式是潜水捕捞牡蛎并出售珍珠。 然而，在1893年，一位名叫Mikimoto Kokichi的商人开始种植珍珠。

Natural pearls are rare and difficult to find. It takes about two to five years for an oyster to make a pearl naturally. Mikimoto's company could farm a large number of pearls at the same time. After 1916, there were many pearl farms in Japan. The ama divers could not compete with the large pearl farms and stopped diving for pearls. Instead, they started to dive for just abalone and other shellfish. But, there is less and less abalone and shellfish. And it is harder and harder for the ama to make a living. Today, there are not many ama left. Many of them are in their 50s and 60s. Younger women can find many different kinds of work, and they are not interested in learning the ama tradition of their mothers and grandmothers.

天然珍珠很稀有，很难找到。 牡蛎自然形成珍珠大约需要2到5年的时间。 Mikimoto的公司可以同时养殖大量的珍珠。 1916年以后，日本有许多珍珠养殖场。 ama潜水员无法与大型珍珠养殖场竞争，因此停止了潜水。 取而代之的是，他们开始只潜水寻找鲍鱼和其他贝类。 但是，鲍鱼和贝类越来越少了。 而且妈妈越来越难谋生了。 今天，已经没有多少妈妈了。 他们中的许多人已经五六十岁了。 年轻女性可以找到许多不同种类的工作，她们对学习母亲和祖母的传统不感兴趣。