FEATURE: Japan's "ama" divers struggle to survive as incomes plummet

Yoshino Uemura came late to the world of female "ama" divers, taking the plunge in her 40s. But now, over two decades later, she feels there is no time to lose if her chosen profession is to survive for future generations.Clad in wetsuits, ama divers submerge to great depths without air tanks to gather abalone, seaweed and other seafood, and sometimes pearls. They exist only in Japan and South Korea, but in the profession's Japanese heartland of Mie Prefecture, it is dying out.Surveys show the number of divers in the cities of Toba and Shima have plummeted to fewer than 10 percent of the 19…READ FULL ARTICLE