While women participated in new occupations, some traditional occupations have continued to be passed down through families. The occupation of ama is one of them. Ama are women who skin-dive in the ocean to catch fish, and collect clams, pearl oysters, and seaweed. They can be found on islands and shores in various parts of Japan. The ama have a long history and they were described in the Manyōshū, an ancient book of Japanese poetry that was edited in the eighth century. It is said that ama stay under the water for about fifty seconds, but some can dive for more than a minute. Ama start diving as teenage girls, and many continue diving past the age of seventy. Ama used to dive wearing only a cotton cloth wrapped around their hips, but nowadays they dive wearing cotton shirts or wetsuits.