Tomiko Iwasaki
FeaturedLovingly known as “Tomi-baa”
4 June 1939 — 19 November 2020 · aged 81
Ama diver of Toba: sixty years beneath the waves, and a teacher of the next divers
Toba, Japan Born in Toshijima, Toba, Mie Prefecture Resting at Family grave overlooking Ise Bay, ToshijimaAbout Tomiko
She was eighty-one years old and could still hold her breath for ninety seconds. Tomiko Iwasaki, known to everyone in Toba as Tomi-baa, was born in 1939 on the island of Toshijima, into a line of women who had gone down to the sea for more than a thousand years. Her mother taught her to dive at fifteen, in the shallows, with a wooden tub for a float and a white headscarf stitched with the Seiman and Dōman charms, the star and the grid, that every ama wears to keep the sea's spirits at bay.
For more than six decades Tomi-baa dove in the cold water off Ise-Shima in the traditional white cotton costume, harvesting awabi, turban shells and seaweed with a short iron chisel. She worked down to ten metres on a single breath, and when she surfaced she released a long, high whistle, the isobue, that sounded like a bird calling across the water. In summers she dove in the demonstrations at Mikimoto Pearl Island, where visitors from Osaka and abroad asked for photographs and she gave them, politely, in exchange for a handshake. She married the fisherman Tsuneo in 1962 and raised two children on what the sea gave them. Over the years she taught eleven younger women to dive, including her granddaughter Aya, and she would quietly take away the catch of anyone who harvested more than the sea could spare.
On her days off she grew sweet potatoes, hummed enka songs while grilling fish, and sat in the amagoya, the divers' hut, sharing tea and gossip with women she had known for fifty years. She dove for the last time in the autumn of 2019 and died peacefully on 19 November 2020, five months after her eighty-first birthday. She leaves her daughter Michiko, her son Kazuo and four grandchildren, and a stretch of Ise Bay where a whistle can still be heard.
“The sea gives, but only to those who do not take it all.”
- Faith
- Buddhist
- Place of birth
- Toshijima, Toba, Mie Prefecture
- Resting place
- Family grave overlooking Ise Bay, Toshijima
- Passed away
- 19 November 2020, Toba
Buddhist Funeral Service
Sunday, 22 November 2020 at 07:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
Began diving as an ama
1954 · Toshijima, Toba
Taught by her mother in the shallows off the island.
Ama diver
Toshijima Fisheries Cooperative1954 – 2019 · Toba, Mie
Harvested abalone, turban shells and seaweed for sixty-five years.
Married Tsuneo Iwasaki
1962 · Toshijima, Toba
Married a fisherman and raised two children on what the sea provided.
Demonstration diver
Mikimoto Pearl Island1975 – 2015 · Toba, Mie
Showed visitors the ama tradition every summer.
Mentor to young ama divers
Toba–Shima Ama Association1990 – 2019 · Toba, Mie
Taught eleven younger women to dive and to harvest sustainably.
Governor's Commendation for Preservation of Ama Culture
Mie Prefecture2012 · Tsu, Mie
For keeping an ancient diving tradition alive.
Tap an organisation to find others who studied or worked there.
Family & connections
Tomiko is survived by
- Michiko Hayashi· Daughter
- Kazuo Iwasaki· Son
- Aya Hayashi· Grandchildren
- Hanae Okada· Sister
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Tomiko.
Knew Tomiko? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- AH
Granddaughter and fellow ama
Obaachan taught me to blow the isobue before I could swim properly. She said the whistle is how the sea knows you are still thanking it. This summer I dove with her tub and her headscarf. I surfaced, whistled, and heard her answer in the wind.
- EC
Photographer from Bristol
I travelled to Toba in 2015 to photograph the ama. Tomi-baa refused to pose, then taught me to whistle instead. My photographs are fine; my whistle is terrible. She laughed until she coughed. I am so glad I got to hear that laugh.
- KT
Visitor from Tokyo who returned every summer
I met her at Mikimoto Pearl Island in 2003 and came back every August after. She handed me my first awabi and said, 'Eat it slowly; it took fifty years to grow.' I have never rushed a meal since.
- SN
Fellow ama diver, Toshijima
Sixty years in the same boat on the same cold mornings. She always dove first and whistled loudest to let us know she was safe. In the amagoya I still turn toward her empty seat, expecting her to pour the tea.
- MF
Chairman, Toshijima Fisheries Cooperative
At meetings she spoke last and shortest, and the cooperative always did what she said. When younger divers wanted bigger quotas she asked, 'Will the sea agree?' Nobody could answer, and the quotas stayed small. Our waters are richer because of her.
- RT
Priest, Jōkō-ji Temple
She came to the temple every New Year with a basket of awabi, enough for the whole congregation, and never sat in front. At her funeral her fellow divers whistled once, all together, from the shore. The tide was coming in.
