"The place is the south end of the Izu Peninsula, southwest of the Kanto (Tokyo) area. The women are Ama—diving girls who are trained to dive into shallow water and reef areas and retrieve shellfish and other marine life used in gourmet seafood meals. It was a hard and dangerous occupation, and the girls used no special equipment. Most of them worked for a labor boss, who took a cut of their wages (the man on the left is not the 'boss,' but the attendant to watch over the women)." Photo taken by a village photographer.