Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 152, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1913 — Japanese Women Divers. [ARTICLE]

Japanese Women Divers.

The pearl divers of Japan are the women. Along the coast of the bay of Ago and the bay of Kokasho the thirteen and four-year-old girls, after they have finished their primary school work, go to sea and learn to dive. They are in the water and learn to swim almost from babyhood and they spend most of their time in toe water, except in the coldest season, from the end of December to the beginning of February. - Even during the most inclement of seasons they sometimes dive for pearls. They wear a special dress, white underwear and the hair twißted up into a hard knot. The eyes are protected by glasses to prevent the entrance of water. Tubs are suspended from toe waist A boat in command of a man is assigned to eVery five or ten women divers to carry them to and from the fishing grounds. When the divers arrive on the grounds they leap into the water at once and begin to gather oysters at the bottom. The oysters are dropped into tubs suspended from their waists. When these vessels are filled the divers are raised to the surface and jump into the boats. They dive to a depth of from five to thirty fathoms without any special apparatus and retain their breath from .one to three minutes. Their ages vary from thirteen to forty years and between twen-ty-five and thirty-five they are at their prime.