Ama Hut Satoumian — Restaurant in Shima

It was a unique experience for sure, and the ama divers were friendly and hospitable. I do think you’re paying more for the experience than the food, but the seafood served was also quite fresh and simply grilled. You get to watch them grill the food for you (we were lucky to have one room to ourselves). I think you’re also supposed to be able to learn more about their lifestyles and stories, but maybe that’s only for Japanese-speaking folk as they didn’t initiate conversations with us to share their tales!

There’s also a nice stretch outside the hut to walk along the water.

I’m not quite sure if the way we went there was the wrong way, but the road was very narrow and windy, with barely enough room for one car. Nearing the place, there’s also a “three way road” — the one to the left leads to a little house / shop / restaurant, another leads to a really steep diagonal slope up, and the last one straight forward past the “wall” that leads to what looks like a port.

The correct way in is the steep slope, but we chose to park below instead and then it’s just a 5 min walk in. We did see another road / parking area on the other side of the ama hut, so there might be another way in other than what our...

Quite an experience! Friendly staff who were willing to communicate in English even though they didn’t speak very well. Also kept me informed by emails before the event. Understandably the ama who served me didn’t speak English at all but she was also a very nice person. Tried very hard to talk to me in Japanese. I happened to know so so very little Japanese that I could barely tell the name of seafood. Ate in a small hut with tatami mat. The seafood were very fresh. Didn’t seem to have a lot for each lunch set but trust me, it’s more than enough and tasted fantastic thanks to the cooking skill of ama. She grilled everything just right. By “just right” I actually meant perfect! Got one squid per set. Not a big squid but that should fill your stomach very well. After the meal you might want to have a walk on the beach just across the street. An...

Fantastic dining experience with the Ama divers so we were able to ask questions and learn about their techniques and traditions. They were able to accommodate me as a vegan diner as well. If you eat fish, many of the seafood and fish is locally caught, some by the Ama divers themselves. The museum and Ama hut displays are interesting and there's a short bilingual video which explain about the ama divers and the local festivals. Try the local sake and sparkling...