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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.