Japanese Ama Diving

Japanese Ama { 海人 } diving is one of those kind-of-well-known traditional sports, YOU may not have heard of it, but a lot of people IN JAPAN know what it is…and a look of people know what it is but not where it came from.  But Ama diving isn’t that popular anymore. Even in Japan.

LOTS OF PEOPLE LOVE AMA DIVING. If we face the facts, Ama diving has been going on for 1000’s of years. But why is it not that popular anymore? Of course, the sport is really, really, really, really, old. It’s either all year or yearly done, and the divers are USUALLY WOMEN. You have to be in really good shape to Ama dive too.

The point of Ama diving is to dive to the bottom of the water source, (such as a lake or a small ocean) and pick up whatever you can find and give it to tourists. (or small children with guidance.) The main thing to pick up though, is PEARLS. I know that you were thinking. An Ama diver, going down, picking up some weird looking “something” and giving it to a small child and then it starts to cry. That’s not the point. Originally, they would dive for foods like fish, seaweed, shellfish, sea urchins, and clams or oysters. And now, they dive down, into dark water, find the UGLIEST CLAM they can find. (The uglier ones have the best chance of a rare pearl!) They bring some ugly ones up, crack them open, and give the audience a whole bunch of great, shiny, $ WORTH ALOT $, pearls. And some Ama divers still do follow the original reason for diving—food!

The divers are located in various places around Japan. In the Okinawa Island, the divers are called, Ama, (for girls) uminchu (for boys) and Kaito, (for all divers on the Izu Peninsula.). (I can’t type the Kanji for Kaito or Uminchu…sorry) (Kanji are different ways to say Japanese words…. I’m learning!) So I guess Ama diving is popular in different parts of Japan.

The divers usually wear as little as possible, making it absolutely amazing for them do go so deep so fast and able to stay warm! Since the 1960’s and back Ama have worn only a loincloth.... omega that’s…ok… But are allowed now to wear torso covering wetsuits (this depends on the place they are diving in) and masks, fins, and for tourists white and (some parts) transparent wetsuits (like on their stomach and back for warmth. (it keeps the tradition alive, but they are NOT naked! Don’t worry I wouldn’t have done this if they were!) And no air tanks or scuba gear!

I for one think that Ama diving is a great sport, and I’m happy I could write about it! I hope you learned A LOT about Ama diving, and I hope I can write another extra credit report about another Japanese sport…. Without not dressing out!

One last thing...you can see Pearl Divers at Sea World in Orlando. Although I don’t know for sure, but I suspect they are based on the tradition of Japanese Ama Diving.

Cosplaying!

Have you ever wanted to be famous? Do you dream of having your picture taken professionally and have people come up to you out of nowhere and know who you are? This is your opportunity! Cosplaying is a Japanese sport…well more like a hobby and a very easy and fun way to become famous quick. The big idea is not really you, it’s the character…but its way more than dressing up.

Manga Character
Vocaloid Miku Hatsune

Do you love to watch Anime or read Manga? Do you love a certain character from your favorite series so much you wish you could become that character? That is the point of a cosplayer. You can go on the internet and buy a costume and a wig for that character or you could make your own. But you don’t just dress up like the character and run around, you become the character. You perform as the character and sing songs. You become the famous character.

The more recognizable your character is the more people will notice you. Character props , a great costume and of course a great wig are important as well as make-up and being able to have a fluent accent like your character…and don’t forget to use the characters punch lines to highlight their great personalities. Match the props, metallic, fuzzy, glassy, hard, dimpled, cracked, cute, plush, grooved, powdery, rough, sleek, silky, velvety, wet, wirery, anything. with your costume of wires, knobs, lights, paint, brilliant, shaded, speckled, textured, swirling, anything noticeable.

Cosplayer

You and your friends can have photo shoots and participate in live action skits. For a live action cosplay you and your friends can dress up as your character and film a music video, or skit or a dance that you have written. These days you can post your cosplay video on the internet…but be careful about revealing too much of your personal information.

Every once in awhile there is a cosplay convention near you. Cosplayers from all over you area go to these conventions as their favorite character.. It’s like Halloween everyday…except without the candy.. You get to show everybody who you are and how luminous you can be. You are judged by professional cosplayers and there are tons of character props to purchase if you don’t want to make your own. You can also enter contests. At cosplay conventions people call you by your characters name. Conventions are great ways to make new friends.

Photoshoot

I think cosplaying is the best way to get famous and since you can sing, dance, act, anything you want to do to get noticed. It’s even better if you do it with a group of your best friends who are cosplaying and participating with you. Cosplaying is best when you have your friends coming along with you the whole time. What a blast!. Can anyone cosplay? Yes! And cosplaying can be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

Does it seem fun? Does it seem safe? Yes its very fun and safe and you will create many memories. So did you learn a lot about this fun sport? I hope you will get into cosplaying because if you never have a chance to do this you will never experience the joy of it all and how many different things you can create and do…and how many friends you will meet.

 I hope you liked reading about cosplay as much as I liked writing about it.

The Most Popular Sport in Japan

Hi. I missed a day of school last week and in order to make up my participation grade in physical education I have to write a report on a sport. Picking a sport was really hard because I do not have a favorite! The first thing that popped into my head was JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN!! So I went onto Google and I typed in “sports in Japan” and I found a Wikipedia site. It said some popular Japanese sports include football, baseball, kendo, and figure skating. Right away I clicked on the link to figure skating, and so I guess if I thought harder, I would have come up with that sooner or later!!!

The reason I like figure skating is because it’s a favorite sport in Japan. It’s also a world wide sport so it a sport that can be found in almost every country. I’ve only been ice skating a few times and it’s pretty hard to do. I thought to do a good job with this report I would have to answer a few questions about ice skating. These are some of the questions I thought about to answer in this report.

Who is the best figure skater alive? Who invented figure skating?
What is the point of figure skating? What is figure skating?
When was figure skating invented? When are the World Championships held?
Where are the World Championships? Where is figure skating most popular?

Now I’ll answer all of my questions! So, who is the best figure skater alive? Currently, and most recently, the best skater is either Daisuke Takahashi in men’s figure skating or in Mao Asada in women’s figure skating. And guess what? They are both from Japan. They were both awarded gold medals at this year’s world championships held in Turin Italy. I did not know that before I started this report. So who invented figure skating? We don’t know exactly who invented figure skating but a man named Jackson Haines, an American, is considered to be the father of the modern sport. So when was figure skating invented? Jackson Haines started the sport in the 1860’s with the first competitions being held about twenty years later. Figure skating can be for fun, but it is mostly used as a competitive sport! It is an athletic event that is both physically hard but beautiful at the same time. Figure skating requires someone to wears shoes with very thin blades on the bottoms that slide on the ice for sport and for fun. I guess that’s in my own words!

Besides the World Championships that are held every year figure skating is an event in the Winter Olympics that are held every four years. But the World Championships are held annually so each year we know who the best skaters in the world are. Guess what? In March, 2011 the next World Championships will be held in Tokyo, Japan!!!! I guess I picked the right sport and that helps me answer my final question. Without a doubt with both men’s and women’s world championship gold metals belonging to Japan and with the world championships to be held in Tokyo, Japan, next year, while figure skating is popular all over the world, currently the most popular place for figure skating has to be Japan!!!