Shima hotels collection

Two signs are stitched on the white headscarves of the ama of Shima: a star, drawn in one stroke that returns to where it began, and a grid, whose cells serve as so many eyes against the dangers of the sea. These women dive on a held breath for abalone, then warm themselves by the fire of a wooden hut. Ago Bay cuts the coast into a ria scattered with wooded islets and rafts from which pearl oysters hang; Mount Yokoyama shows it from above. The oysters are opened in the depths of winter: in cold water the nacre is laid down finer and takes on more lustre.