Exploring the Beautiful Toba City, Home of Incredible Ama-san and Splendid Pearls

They don't speak English, but they were very friendly and kept smiling while they were cooking. It was so charming.

And since Mr.Gildas was on this tour, we were able to learn more about what we wanted to know , with Mr.Gildas acting as an interpreter.

I was curious about the symbols on their hoods, and they told us those symbols were like talisman to them. The star was called “Seiman”, meaning that drawing in one stroke, keeps the evil away, and the lattice pattern, called “Doman”, represents many eyes that ward off the demons.

The ladies were so friendly and kind, telling us their great stories, and scary ones as well, they were even cracking Ama-san’s jokes. I just loved their personality, their positive energy.Ama-san were the real wonder women! 

Osatsu-Kamado
https://osatsu.org/en/

If you come to Osatsu and see a stone like this in front of a private house, it means that Ama-san lives there. This stone used to be the weight used by Ama-san when diving.

In this town of Osatsu, you will see many things related to the wonderful culture of the Japanese sea, "Ama-san".

We said goodbye to the women of sea and headed to an amazing museum, the final destination of our tour.

Once again, another place that I’ve heard a lot about but I’ve never been to is the Mikimoto Pearl Island.
I’m not a pearl person, but after learning how the pearl was cultivated, I was really looking forward to coming to the pearl museum of this Island.Pearl cultivation in Japan started on this small island in 1893, and Mikimoto Pearl Island is well-known worldwide,so much so that the late Queen Elizabeth II came to this island in 1975.
We met Mr Shibahara, the manager of the museum. He explained to us everything, from beginning to end..

Mr Shibahara gave us a quick explanation about the process of cultivating pearls before we watched a video explanation with more details.
In this museum, all explanations are written in English as well as Japanese, and there are  guides in various languages in the corner that explains the process of putting the nucleus into the pearl.

Everything was so fascinating. We even learned how to recognize a real pearl. We gently rubbed one pearl to another and felt a little friction, while the fake one was smooth.
And I was shocked by this information.Only about 30% of the finished pearls can be sold as jewelry. Even though they put a lot of effort into cultivating them, only a few high-quality pearls are made into products. It is no wonder pearls are so expensive. Fortunately, the pearls that couldn’t be made into products could be used for other things like in cosmetic products.
It was fascinating to know that buttons can be made from one of the types of pearl oyster shells.
As you know, pearls are expensive and I can't own many pearls, but it was interesting to learn the process of pearl cultivation.

There was a gallery inside the museum that almost had my eyes popping out! This ornate globe is made of pearls, gold,rubies and diamonds! And what about this gorgeous pagoda?!?! This was the most beautiful and probably most expensive pagoda I’ve ever seen in my life! More than 12000 pearls were used! Although these were the ones that really got my attention, there were many other magnificent arts made by various artists. Everyone should come and see them in person, I promise you, you will not regret it.

Mr. Shibahara showed us samples of pearl necklaces, golden and white specially for this article.. The necklaces were beautiful, shiny and pricey as well. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Never in my life again will I be holding in my hands so many magnificent pearl necklaces. 

And we finally went to the pearl shop on the island . What an amazing store! Even for someone like me who is not a pearl person, I was astonished by the different designs, shapes, and colors. There were also accessories made in collaboration with Mie Prefecture.

In this photo, I’ll present you the most expensive pearl at the store, the perfect golden pearl. This pearl alone costs 7 times more than the bunch of pearl necklaces that I was holding. Can you imagine the reaction of the person who found this pearl?

And our day was coming to an end, but not before we watched the Ama-san’s diving show. At Mikimoto Pearl Island, the Ama-san take turns performing this presentation. Don’t worry about missing the show if you are at the museum, they perform the show many times a day.

And the show is also available in various foreign languages. Although it is not in front of the show, there is a building next to the show seats, and you can watch the show while listening to foreign language announcements in the building.

I noticed that they whistled a couple of times before diving or after coming back to the surface and I learned that this technique is called “isobue”, a way of relaxing her and making it easier to breathe.  

 These ladies were really incredible because I wouldn’t dare to jump into the ocean on the day we went, it was quite cold, 13 degrees Celsius. Respect!

Mikimoto Pearl Island
https://www.mikimoto-pearl-island.jp/en
TEL:0599-25-2028

We had a wonderful time in Toba. We have been to Toba before but this time, we went to places we had never been. One, we had never heard of until today, and being in all those places was truly a great experience, one that I will for sure recommend to everyone who wants to come to Toba city. So much so that soon I’m bringing friends to Toba City to learn about the history of the amazing Ama-san and the incredible pearl cultivation. 

Osatsu-Kamado One-day Ama diver tour（Private Tour）

https://osatsu.org/en/privatetour/