In this town’s sea, ever since the far-off Jomon age, people have gathered shellfish and seaweed by breath-hold diving. The ama’s fishing — diving into the sea to gather the catch — is handed down to this sea even now. And in the middle of the Meiji era, on an island floating in this town’s bay, the world’s first culturing of pearls by human hand was accomplished. This town, where breath-hold diving and pearl culturing overlap, has greatly reduced its population. Toba’s numbers are the record of a town inscribed with the history of the ama’s breath-hold diving and the world’s first pearl culturing.
A city in the eastern part of Mie Prefecture, set at the base of the Shima Peninsula, that opens onto an intricate coastline and islands floating in its bay. The population has greatly reduced, from 24,945 in 2000 to 21,435 in 2010 and 17,525 in 2020. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "the town of pearls," but the causal thread: how the history of the ama’s breath-hold diving and the world’s first pearl culturing is translated into today’s population and finances.
01 · Seeing the present Toba in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about 18,000 (17,525 in 2020). Its transition is a clear decline. From 24,945 in 2000, to 23,067 in 2005, 21,435 in 2010, 19,448 in 2015 and 17,525 in 2020, it fell by some seven thousand — nearly three-tenths — in twenty years.
Looking inside, the figure of a sea town holding an intricate coast and outlying islands shrinking appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 22.5% in 2000 to 39.3% in 2020, nearing four in ten. The household-with-children share is low at 15.1% in 2020, and the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.40 in fiscal 2023 — its own tax revenue can cover only about four-tenths of expenditure, with large reliance on the allocation tax. The figure of a sea town of ama and pearls, greatly reducing its population while deepening its aging, appears in the numbers. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without going back over the history of the ama’s fishing and pearl culturing.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency) / Real Estate Information Library (MLIT)
02 · The ama’s breath-hold diving, the world’s first pearl culturing, the intricate coast — the history behind the numbers
This town’s skeleton is set by the intricate coast and the rich sea, and by the fishing and culturing carried on in that sea. The old layer is the ama’s fishing. This town’s coastline is intricately indented, which brought calm inlets and rich fishing grounds. In this sea, from the far-off past, people have gathered shellfish and seaweed by breath-hold diving. From a Jomon-era site within the city, shells have been unearthed that suggest breath-hold fishing was already carried on at the time. The ama’s fishing — diving into the sea to gather the catch — is bound deep into the root of this land’s livelihood, and many ama still live in this sea.
And this town’s sea gave rise to another history. In 1893 (Meiji 26), on an island floating in this town’s bay, one person succeeded, for the first time in the world, in culturing pearls by human hand by inserting a nucleus into a shell. This success, which opened the way to raise by human hand the pearls that had until then been obtained only by chance, became the starting point of an industry that would later send this land’s pearls out into the world. The geography of calm inlets nurtured the ama’s breath-hold diving and also became the place to raise the pearl-bearing shells. The ama’s breath-hold diving and the world’s first pearl culturing overlap — this town’s shape stands upon the history of fishing and culturing held by the geography of an intricate coast.
Source: Toba City, "the culture of the ama" (the ama of Toba and Shima; the traces of breath-hold diving at the Jomon-era Shirahama site — overview) / Mikimoto Pearl Island (in 1893 Kokichi Mikimoto succeeded, on an island in the bay, in the world’s first pearl culturing — overview)
03 · In a sea town, greatly reducing the population
What characterizes Toba is that, while holding the history of ama and pearls, as a sea town holding an intricate coast and outlying islands it has greatly reduced its population. From 24,945 in 2000 to 17,525 in 2020, nearly three-tenths were lost in twenty years. Fishery, pearl culturing, and tourism making use of the sea have supported the town’s livelihood, but these industries have a side swayed by the fishing grounds, the state of the sea, and the movement of visitors. The terrain holding an intricate coast and outlying islands nurtured a peculiar sea culture, while it is hard to draw in new places to work broadly. One can read that the young generation moved to urban areas seeking places to work, and the town has greatly shrunk. That the share aged 65 and over neared four in ten at 39.3% in 2020, and the household-with-children share is low at 15.1%, is the expression of that population composition.
On the other hand, the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. One can read that the childcare capacity is maintained amid few child-rearing households themselves. The Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.40 is a level whose own tax revenue can cover only about four-tenths of expenditure, with large reliance on the allocation tax. It mirrors the fact that, as a sea town holding outlying islands, its own tax source is limited. The sea town now greatly reduces its population while deepening its aging. The population has greatly fallen, the aging nears four in ten, and the fiscal stamina is on the weak side. The terrain holding an intricate coast and outlying islands nurtured a peculiar sea culture, while it is hard to draw in new places to work broadly and to hold the young generation.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
04 · A sea town where the ama’s breath-hold diving and pearl culturing overlap
Toba holds several functions of its own. One is the history of the ama’s breath-hold diving, carried on since the far-off Jomon age and handed down to the sea even now, holding an old stratum in which the fishing of diving into the sea to gather the catch was bound to the root of livelihood. Another is its character of pearl culturing, accomplished for the first time in the world on an island floating in the bay, which became the starting point of an industry that sends this land’s pearls out into the world. And the terrain of an intricate coast and outlying islands gives this town a structure rooted in the sea — fishing and culturing, and tourism making use of the sea.
Toba is a sea town where the ama’s breath-hold diving and pearl culturing overlap. From the ama’s breath-hold diving since the Jomon age, to the world’s first pearl culturing accomplished on an island in the bay — the geography "the coastline is intricately indented at the base of the Shima Peninsula" gave rise to calm inlets, nurtured the ama’s fishing and pearl culturing, and set the town’s skeleton. At the base of the Shima Peninsula, the intricately indented coast gave rise to many calm inlets. In those inlets, ama since the Jomon age fished by breath-hold diving, and on an island in the bay pearls were cultured for the first time in the world. The sea makes this town hold both livelihoods together.
Source: Toba City, "the culture of the ama" (the ama of Toba and Shima; the traces of breath-hold diving at the Jomon-era Shirahama site — overview) / Toba City, "the history of Toba City" (the 1954 merger of Toba Town and eight other towns and villages into a city; Toba Bay and its outlying islands — overview)
05 · Atlas’s note — in a town where the sea held two livelihoods
Lay out Toba’s numbers and the harsh indicators of a sea town shrinking line up: a greatly reducing population, an aging rate of 39.3%, a household-with-children share of 15.1%, and a fiscal capacity of 0.40. But when I (Atlas) read this town with an accountant’s eye, what I want to read is the connection between this large population decline and the structure of industries rooted in the sea. Fishery, pearl culturing and tourism making use of the sea all have a side swayed by the state of the sea and the movement of visitors. The terrain holding an intricate coast and outlying islands nurtured a peculiar sea culture, while it is hard to draw in broadly new places to work such as factories. A town rooted deep in the sea finds it hard, amid the ups and downs of the industries connected with that sea, to hold its young workers — this town’s population decline mirrors that thread.
Another thing to consider is that this town holds a history of "the first in the world" together with the sea. The way to raise by human hand the pearls that had until then been obtained only by chance was opened on an island in this town’s bay. The old fishing of the ama’s breath-hold diving since the Jomon age, and the modern culturing of raising pearls by human hand, overlap in the same sea. Amid greatly reducing its population, how the town will hand down this sea’s culture and industries to the next generation is a question peculiar to a town rooted in the sea. Amid greatly reducing its population, how the town will hand down this sea’s culture and industries to the next generation is a question peculiar to a town rooted in the sea. What I (Atlas) can lay side by side is these two — the history of the ama’s breath-hold diving since the Jomon age and the world’s first pearl culturing, and the numbers — losing nearly three-tenths in twenty years, the aging rate nearing 39.3%. The breath-hold diving since the Jomon age and the modern art of raising pearls by human hand still overlap in the same inlet. That thickness of the sea is not carried on the numbers, and the aging nearing four in ten does not tell its tale into the inside of that story of the sea.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Toba City, "the culture of the ama" (the ama of Toba and Shima; the traces of breath-hold diving at the Jomon-era Shirahama site — overview) / Mikimoto Pearl Island (in 1893 Kokichi Mikimoto succeeded, on an island in the bay, in the world’s first pearl culturing — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (Daiki 2026-06-02)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: wave15_8