Fostering a Future for Fishery

Where We Call Home Nakanoshima is part of the Oki archipelago in the Japan Sea.

On this island where fishery was once a flourishing industry, one non-Japanese works as a fisherman.

The weather, the wind
and the tide are perfect today.

Aung Moe Oo from Myanmar.

He's been fishing here for seventeen years.

He now leads a crew of twelve.

Being a fisherman is a wonderful job.

However, as most of the younger generations leave the island, the industry is lacking successors.

This young woman recently moved here from Tokyo with a dream to work as a fisher.

Yes. Well done!

Seeing in her a new hope for the future of fishery on the island, Aung Moe Oo has become her mentor.

Let's follow them in their efforts.

The town of Ama is on Nakanoshima Island in Shimane Prefecture, off the mainland coast.

It's a small community of 2,200.

The town's name is said to refer to the ocean and those who work to reap its harvest.

Fishing has been supporting the lives of the island's inhabitants throughout history.

Good morning.

Aung Moe Oo shows up for work ahead of everyone else.

In the cold air before sunrise, they prepare to go out to sea.

Aung Moe Oo and his team specialize in fixed-net fishing.

They set large nets, then pull them out along with all the fish within.

Careful as you let it go down.

January through March is the peak season for squid.

On especially bountiful days, they fill up the net as many as four times.

Including Aung Moe Oo himself, all twelve members of the team have moved to the island from elsewhere.

Many of them became fishers after coming here.

Stop! I need to explain.

One more time!

One of the members failed to secure his part of the net.

He has to try again.

Overseeing his motley crew of fishers, Aung Moe Oo always makes sure to provide careful instructions.

I'm the leader, but the times when leaders
just ordered their staff around are over.

Each member has his or her own strengths.

My role is to give cohesion to the team.

Once the boat returns to harbor, the locals gather to buy some of its catch.

Aung Moe Oo and his crew support the islanders' everyday diet.

Long time no see.
What're you buying today?

Filefish and squid.

When he first moved here,
he was still immature.

Now, he's a real chief fisherman.
He looks after everyone.

Before Aung Moe Oo's arrival, fixed-net fishing had been in the red, and the industry was struggling to find islanders who wished to learn the trade.

Take the floats out.

Nice.

Then in 1996, a construction firm bought the fixed-net fishing enterprise from the local fishery cooperative and hired crewmembers from outside the island.

The enterprise managed to stay afloat, but its continuity is far from assured.

I'm back!

Aung Moe Oo lives with his wife Makiko.

He loves to cook in his spare time.

On the menu tonight: chicken and radish curry, Myanmar style.

Bon appetit!

It's good!

Really good.

Aung Mo Oo was born and raised in a port town in the south of Myanmar.

With both his parents working in fishery, he became quite familiar with the trade.

He'd intended to pursue higher education in economics, but due to the political instability that followed the 1988 military coup d'etat, the university closed down.

Looking for a future overseas, Aung Moe Oo came to Japan.

He met Makiko while working at a restaurant in Tokyo, and the two got married.

They went on to have four children.

In 2005, Aung Moe Oo heard Makiko's home prefecture of Shimane was looking for fishermen.

Wanting to work in this field he'd known since childhood, he applied for a job.

The main reason why I came to Ama
was to become a fisherman.

It's a rewarding job.
We catch fish to feed the people.

For this, we must work hard
in cold or hot weather.

When the fishing is good, it feels great.

A new member came to join Aung Moe Oo's team.

Hamaguchi Natsuki moved here in January.

Aung Moe Oo wants to train her to become a fully-fledged fisher.

Pull at the front of the net.
The back's too heavy.

That's it!

Eager to learn, Natsuki proactively takes on any task.

Aung Moe Oo sees in her a lot of potential.

Natsuki's dream of pursuing the fishing trade was born in an unusual way.

I saw videos of fishermen online
and was deeply impressed.

I knew it was the work I wanted to do.

After graduating from music school in Tokyo, Natsuki became an office worker while teaching the piano on her days off.

Before moving to the island, she was an employee of an IT business.

As the pandemic lingered, she worked from home, spending most of her days indoors.

Then she stumbled upon Ama's website.

She immediately decided to apply for a job in fishing.

Everyone around me was so surprised
by my decision.

But no one seemed
to be worried for me.

They were surprised, but at the same time,
they seemed to understand how I felt.

This is my room.

She keeps material possessions to a minimum.

A simple lifestyle.

Though it's only been two months, her new job has already transformed her pianist's fingers.

When I moved here on January 7th,
I was wearing this ring.

Now, I can't put it on.
It gets stuck here.

Today, Aung Mo Oo gives Natsuki a new task to learn.

From today, I'd like you to practice using
the landing net. Can you?

I'll do my best!

Fixed-net fishing employs a large landing net to scoop up the catch.

To prevent the fish from getting damaged, they have to be taken out quickly.

Watch the rope.

Get in there!

One more time.

It's important to plunge the net as deeply as possible, as scooping up more fish each time helps minimize the damage they sustain.

Find your way through.

Very nice!

A bit of encouragement always helps.

Plunge it in!

If you tense up and resist,
it becomes harder to move the net.

Aung Moe Oo decided to put Natsuki in charge of the landing net for a week.

It was hard. The net is heavy.
I felt like it was pulling me in.

It's hard to push the net where I want to.

I felt I couldn't move it with precision.

But I'm really glad he asked me to do it.
It encourages me to work hard.

After a day's work, Aung Moe Oo always drops by one of the few general stores on the island.

Hi. You look busy.

Hi, how's it going?

The customers and staff are all acquaintances.

- You look happy.
- Fishing was good today.

- I'll take some snacks.
- You like these?

- You're not picky.
- That's right. Thanks.

Everyone here is like family - a feeling Aung Moe Oo cherishes.

Blessed with a bountiful ocean, Ama and its people enjoy a calm and peaceful lifestyle.

However, many of the younger generations leave the island, looking for something more.

Aung Moe Oo had hoped his children would remain and become fishers like him.

But they were of a different mind.

All four of them have left the island and now live in cities far away.

I once told my youngest that
there'd be room for him...

if he wanted to work with us.

But he didn't.

They were born in the peak of the economy.

They had all they wanted.
It's a peaceful country.

They'd never had any hardships,
so when they look at fishing...

they prefer to choose an easier career.

There's a place Aung Moe Oo likes to visit.

Wharves that are about a hundred years old.

The sheds used to store equipment still stand.

These old structures remind me
of the work of past generations.

It's thanks to the efforts
of the fishermen of yesterday...

that we can be here today.

Aung Moe Oo's determination to help the local fishing industry endure is stronger than ever.

Aung Moe Oo has set his hope on Natsuki.

A week has passed since she began training on the landing net.

Let's go!

He puts all his heart into teaching her.

Alright! One more time.
Nice!

OK. Check behind you!

Using her entire body, she skillfully maneuvers the net.

She switched hands.

It shows she's got good balance.

She knows how to move.

He sees her progress as very promising.

Done!

Good job!

Nice work.

From the men who've supported the island's fishery to the newcomers who moved here, the torch is passed on.

When you started a week ago,
you had difficulty holding the net...

and keeping your balance.

Today, you were using your whole body
to push in the net.

It's like the net had become a part of you.

I'd like to not stop here,
and continue to work the landing net.

- Join in when you see they need someone.
- I will.

Let's work hard together.

Ang Moe Oo also hopes the younger generations of islanders choose fishing as a career.

He's started a new project.

He organizes events where the local children come in contact with the fish his team caught, so they can familiarize themselves with the work of fishermen.

It's heavy!

This one is hard!

I want the kids to love their island,
and to know more about fishing.

Some of them may be
the fishers of tomorrow.

Hoping to foster a future for fishing on this island they hold dear, Aung Moe Oo and his team continue to cast their nets into the ocean.

We'll keep working hard!

Hello! I'm Carli from South Africa.
I'm a creator of plasterwork.

I don't think a lot of people know my world - this world of plaster work.

And it's not only walls, but it's furniture, it's floors, it's ceilings.

It's literally any surface you can plaster.

So, this is the sample room.

This is where we experiment and get the unique color or get the unique pattern that the client would like.

So, yes, this is where the magic happens!

This company creates beautiful
plastered interior finishes.

Carli's job consists of creating samples
to help clients choose the right design.

We have... there's lots and lots of different types of rocks, or aggregate, that we put to make different types of finish.

You have your bowls and your spatula and everything.

So, it really is like baking a little bit.

When I was young, I baked a lot.

So, it does remind me a little bit.

Because I'm quite a very specific person, so, I make sure everything is to the gram.

She uses a variety of trowels
to create the samples.

Today's sample, our client asked us, and like, a sample going from beige to gray, although that's quite vague.

So, what I decided to do is make a few colors.

She makes several samples to find
the one that best suits the client's idea.

In any creative process, it's a repetitive process.

Interested in Japanese architecture,
in 2018, she entered grad school in Tokyo.

Up until now, I studied six years architecture, and it's always theory and always in the books.

So, there are a few things that led me to choose this job.

In the back of my mind, one thing was I want to make something with my own hands.

And of course, I feel like doing... being able to do this in Japan, I'm learning a lot about the technology they have here, the materials, the way of doing, which is so completely different from South Africa.

And there's a lot of things here that's not even available in South Africa.

Yokoyama-san is always in the sample room.
He's an amazing craftsman.

At first, he lets me work freely.

He immediately sees
what needs to be improved.

She's still learning.

Carli's been doing this
for about half a year now.

But in my opinion,
she's got a sense for it.

She doesn't have much knowhow yet.

But she can mix colors, and...

though it's limited, she can do textures
and she can work based on a picture.

It makes me happy
to be told I've got a sense for it.

She said she'd like to introduce
Japanese plasterwork in South Africa.

She's got a big goal in mind, so it acts
as a great motivator in her work.

She puts thought into it.

As long as she doesn't overthink.

I'll do my best.
Thank you.

Welcome!

This is the home that me and my boyfriend built together.

He designed it and then we built it together with other students from scratch by our own, everything.

Me and my boyfriend now live here while we're still finishing up the last details.

So, I am practicing my plastering skills in this house.

All done.

So, this is my treasure.

It's a necklace I received from my parents because of coronavirus.

So, it's about a year and a half I couldn't see my family.

So, that was a very difficult time for me.

When I went back to South Africa, and I just realized again how much I love my country and, and I don't want to forget it, that I do have a dream to go back to South Africa and make a difference, which whether it's plastering or designing.

I wear this not to forget me and South African me, but also, yeah, to remind me of my family and my dream.