WAJIMA, Ishikawa Prefecture—Natsuki Kadoki has stuck with her fishing trade as an “ama” skin diver despite years of decreasing resources, pay and colleagues. But now, an extraordinary new ...

Among them are the Ama divers of Japan, the “women of the sea,” who have still upheld the age-old tradition of free diving in search of shellfish, abalone, and pearls. Found primarily in the ...