Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon The best of Hong Kong straight to your inbox We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news Sign up for our email to enjoy Hong Kong without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush) Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Hong Kong Akune Wagyu Tachikui Yakinikumise is the first standing restaurant that serves Japanese-style BBQ in Hong Kong Apart from the classic Japanese wood sliding doors and red lanterns decorated at its front the long chimney cooker hoods and the mini barbecue stove placed on the bar tables also give the restaurant a refined elegance Offering different cuts of A4 and A5 Wagyu beef from Kagoshima briskets and plates are softer and oilier in texture while the chuck part is more tender and richer in taste All the beef cuts are charged by piece with the cheapest costing only $12 salt and spicy powder available for you to match with An unmissable place for all carnivores indeed Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! twitteryoutubeinstagramAbout us Contact us LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. If you eat lunch outside the Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo, look for the large granite arch, with a flagpole in front of it. It's the "Go For Broke" monument, commemorating Japanese-Americans who served in World War II despite being detained as suspected traitors in internment camps by President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. "Go For Broke" was the mantra of the 442nd during WWII. Veteran Yoshio Nakamura remembers breaking the Gothic Line. "We climbed up this tremendous mountain in the dark, and surprised the German outpost on the high ground, and that ended the war in Italy." (Yoshio Nakamura, of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Courtesy of the Nakamura Family) In 2000, President Clinton awarded the 442nd Regiment 20 Medals of Honor, a total of 21 for the unit. Tokuji "Toke" Yoshihashi, from the 442nd's 100th Battalion, recalled the regiment's first Medal of Honor recipient, Sadao Munemori. "He was in A Company, which I was, and I was there when he (posthumously) got his medal. He threw himself on a German grenade to save his two buddies, but he lost his life doing it," says Yoshihashi. Munemori led his squad through German fire in Seravezza, Italy after his leader was injured. He took out two German machine guns and gained ground for his squad before sacrificing himself. ("Toke" Yoshihashi. Courtesy of the Yoshihashi Family) (Camp Amache, where Ken and Harry Akune were interned, in Granada, Colorado. Credit: J Curnow/Flickr Creative Commons) On the same block as the Go For Broke monument and the Japanese American National Museum, is the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. This was a deportation site for the internment camps, but during the war, monks kept internees' possessions safe in the basement of the temple. GFB President Don Nose says it will be the new Go For Broke Education Center to teach students about civil rights history and current events. 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Or sign-in if you have an account Principal Aaron Akune can’t do anything to alleviate the poverty found beyond the boundaries of North Delta Secondary but he can certainly try when he finds it on school property Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience is in the middle of an area where the contrast between financially comfortable and poor is often stark “There are some very lavish houses around here but then a few blocks later we have people living in social housing and basement suites.” He met families occupying both ends of this financial spectrum during a walkabout he took with students as an outreach to residents Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. There were signs of poverty in some dwellings and Akune sees tell-tales of the condition in his school We see them wearing the same clothes week after week “The kids are hungry because sometimes families are scrambling and can’t get it together but mostly it’s because they don’t have food Akune and his staff have been doing what they can to feed them using a small contingency fund of $2,300 from the school district they have purchased food from the school’s privately operated cafeteria but it’s not sustainable doing this,” said Akune who ran out of money within six weeks of school opening in September “It would be more efficient if we ran this ourselves and we think we can reduce the cost by half,” he said He has applied to The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School campaign for $12,000 so he can provide hungry students a proper breakfast and lunch Akune and teachers will make use of a classroom Breakfast will be laid out like a buffet and students will be able to drop by and help themselves cereals — a good breakfast — and if we need to we see more pressure for breakfast than lunch.” They’ll be able to choose what they want.” He is also concerned about a number of students who don’t come to school regularly “I’m not sure if it’s lack of food or if there are financial issues but some of the kids have a challenging home life — running back and forth from one house to another parents are working two minimum-wage jobs and working odd hours “I have a student who said he hadn’t seen his mother in a week I asked him why and he said when he comes home from school she has gone out to work until midnight and he never sees her He is worried some students are going hungry then gbellett@gmail.com MAIL: Complete the donation form printed here Mastercard or a cheque or money order payable to The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund Society Mail to: The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund Society transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report 10 caused two deaths and left widespread destruction as it barreled north over western Kyushu from Sept 6 through 7 while maintaining its strength the Akune city government and other sources She was reportedly on her way to her acquaintance’s home to seek shelter A man in his 50s who was residing in Kashima died after falling from a roof where he was working late in the afternoon of Sept Four people were reported missing after the typhoon triggered a landslide in Shiiba village in Miyazaki Prefecture A construction company office and a residential building in the village were washed away in the landslide shortly after 8 p.m according to the Shiiba village government a son in his 30s and two Vietnamese technical intern trainees in their 20s who work at the company firefighters and others continued search and rescue efforts for the missing four people on Sept A total of 82 people suffered minor or serious injuries as of 10 p.m according to prefectural authorities in the Kyushu region and the Yamaguchi prefectural government More than 200,000 people evacuated in the Kyushu Chugoku and Shikoku regions as the Japan Meteorological Agency called for a maximum level of caution against the typhoon 10 injures dozens; torrential rain warning in effect Fearful Kyushu region bracing for powerful Typhoon No 10 likely to hit with record-breaking force in Japan 9 slams Okinawa with powerful winds; 5 injured Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission In another unfortunate reminder of just how little Hollywood cares for the creatives upon which their industry is actually built an unforeseen rise in medical and living expenses for both him and his wife has led storied television and film writer Ron Friedman has found himself turning to crowdfunding in order to help alleviate some of their financial pain RELATED: GoFundMe Established for Disney SEC Whistleblower As Legal Battle Allegedly Takes Personal Toll Perhaps best known for having created the original G.I Joe animated series and penning the screenplay for both 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie and 1987’s G.I Friedman’s extensive Hollywood writing career stretches all the way back to 1965’s My Favorite Martian and includes such credits as Gilligan’s Island and Marvel’s 1994 Iron Man and Fantastic Four animated outings he found himself diagnosed with prostate cancer – and it was in light of both this unfortunate condition and his wife’s own failing health that he turned to the public for help In launching a GoFundMe for Friedman his friend and campaign administrator Jared Egol explained Ill health and the mounting bills that follow mean they need to move urgently to a less expensive rental near the hospital on which they both rely for their care.” “We are seeking funds that will go directly to Ron and Val to pay for their move and cover their rent bills and living expenses for a few months so that they can focus on their ongoing treatment and recovery,” he detailed “The $48,000 we are seeking breaks down into $28,000 for their medical bills and the balance would cover the cost of relocation We would be so grateful if you would consider helping.” RELATED: ‘Cobra Commander’ And ‘Duke’ Review – Joshua Williamson Pens A ‘G.I. Joe’ For The Young Fan In Every Gen Xer’s Heart Providing further context to the campaign’s necessity Ron no longer teaches and writes only because he wants to but because he has to pay for his prostate cancer and chronic pain treatments as well as basic living expenses no longer covered by his WGA pension [at present the circumstances behind Friedman’s loss of pension coverage has not been publicly detailed] Val has been in poor health for a number of years limiting her ability to work and contribute.” “Ron has given so much joy and entertainment wisdom and thrills to generations of film and TV fans,” he added “Please consider helping Ron and Val in this difficult period of their lives.” roughly two weeks out from its opening and with approximately the campaign has raised $9,507 of its $48,000 total goal across 169 donations Should fans wish to make a donation of their own, they can head over to the GoFundMe page itself and directly contribute to the campaign NEXT: Battaglia’s Drawing Board: Transformers And That Sweet Nostalgia Trip More About:TV Shows Sign In Subscribe Now The families of Grade 8 students going into Sands Secondary School received two unusual visitors between Aug The pair were out hand-delivering welcome letters to the Grade 8s’ families before the school’s start of school information session on Aug “I felt really pumped at the end of the day yesterday (Aug 23) when we got to everyone,” Macintosh said “Now a lot of the students know who we are They know our faces — they’re friendly faces “It’s nice to talk to people when you have good news,” Akune added “Rather than ‘I have to talk to you about —” he said The idea for delivering the letters came from a blog post Akune read over the summer written by an American high-school principal ‘I’ve been in the living room of every one of my students’ houses,’” he said we really pride ourselves on relationships And I think we do a really good job with the kids,” he continued “But kids are easily accessible because we see them everyday definitely more challenging to find close contact.” it was a chance to meet the families on their grounds and develop a relationship Akune compared it to a parent-teacher interview but we always viewed parent-teacher interviews as an opportunity not just to tell parents how their kids are doing but to have parents tell us bits and pieces about their kids that we might not ordinarily have known,” he said “This was a similar opportunity to hear from a parent if they wanted to share something.” walking to many in the North Delta catchment area but also driving to those few students who were coming from other catchments or districts In total about 40 per cent were home to greet them and some of those took to Twitter to applaud the endeavour Wow @aakune hand delivered a 'welcome to gr8' ltr to my son will visit every gr8 family this is #educationalleadership @SandsSec @deltasd37 pic.twitter.com/uXr5hcWNz4 the plan is to keep the personal touch going delivering the newsletter to Grade 8 families every year “It’d be interesting to see how the relationship is with those families,” he said but I think it’s going to be a successful program.” Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. We ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines Sign In Register By David Valencia for the North Delta Reporter Incoming Grade 8s at North Delta Secondary got some unexpected visitors last week when the school’s administrators dropped by to introduce themselves and hand-deliver welcome letters to the students along with vice-principals Kevin Dalgetty and Ben Scarr and a small group of student volunteers made the rounds delivering the letters and giving the students’ families a chance to meet them before the start of the school year on Tuesday you matter enough to us that we’re going to take the time to come to you to try and initiate that relationship,” Akune said “We’re probably working with [the students] for five years so why not make the first point of contact a positive one.” “I was familiar with the idea,” Dalgetty said especially after our first few months here trying to reach out and connect with the community that is based around the school.” The idea for delivering the letters came from a blog post by an American high-school principal that Akune read during the summer of 2017 Akune made the rounds with vice-principal Joanna Macintosh READ MORE: North Delta Grade 8s get a hand-delivered start to the school year This year was Akune’s first time delivering letters as principal of NDSS and he enlisted the help of Hindi- and Punjabi-speaking students from the school’s leadership club to help with the deliveries and to translate for him when visiting non-English speaking families “The biggest challenge we were anticipating Student volunteer Sandeep Rakhra related a bit of positive feedback a parent had given to him after translating for Akune and company: “Convenient that you brought a translator because there’s a lot of Punjabi speaking community here.” Not only did the student volunteers help break down the language barrier they also introduced themselves to incoming Grade 8 students as someone who they could ask for help during their transition from elementary to high school “[The] first day of school can be kind of nerve-wracking,” student volunteer Anisha Gill said “Knowing someone who can say hello to you and call you by your first name and maybe have the connection of being able to speak the same language “A lot of us are helping out the Grade 8s within the first year of school,” student volunteer Haris Muhammad said “So they might not remember our names [from] when we went door to door but when we are doing our presentations about school expectations they’ll recognize us so that we can build the sort of friendship within that first year of school.” Akune and his team delivered letters to 200 homes with the student volunteers translating their greetings at about a third of them That personal touch and face-to-face contact is already having a positive effect and helping to build bridges between the school and the families of its students with many of them reaching out to thank Akune and his team for their warm welcome to NDSS editor@northdeltareporter.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter students lined up next to a fold out table holding gingerbread men on a plate It wasn’t the orderly line of a classroom waiting for instruction from a teacher; it was a noisy talking and pushing to smear icing on top of their cookies some teens played a video game on a projector screen Other sat at round tables looking at the boxes of board games Two more struggled to string twinkling lights above the door using painter’s tape The doors had opened to the IDEAs drop-in event at 3 p.m the after-school program had run out of gingerbread although some youth still stayed to play board games or basketball 14 marked the Christmas edition of Sands’ IDEAs after-school program a Friday drop-in event run by students in an attempt to create a stronger sense of community at the school The seven organizers were meandering around the room setting up decorations and talking with other students University students Leah Wong and Sonum Rana were also there Wong and Rana had started IDEAs with their fellow Grade 12 student Yajya Rishi in fall 2016 It began out of a need to fill a space in the teens’ timetables Sands principal Aaron Akune decided to put them in an independent studies course and pose them two questions: what bothers you in the world and your community RELATED: Students at North Delta’s Sands Secondary create after-school program come back with a list of things that are really bugging you spreading his hands far apart to demonstrate how long the list was “We all collectively decided to focus on as local as it kind of gets They wanted to address students’ attitudes to education — and to do that they decided to create a program that would promote a sense of community in the school ”It was geared towards younger kids,” Wong added we felt like we weren’t connected to the school community,” Wong continued “You just came to high school kind of nervous “So this was for all the grades to get together and just feel like one community a weekly after-school program based on the principles of inclusivity the program was intended to be a chill hang out space; it offered a place for students to play Nintendo Wii and board games as well as enjoy some snacks and hang out with friends It wasn’t always easy to get students to come the number of students who participate in IDEAs grows And with each new group of organizers to take over the program “You have to find new things to do at IDEAs and new events to hold to get people to come,” said Grade 12 student and current IDEAs organizer Simran Gandhi “We also bring back old stuff” like the gingerbread cookie decorating Some of the new ideas included opening up IDEAs to include the adjacent gym the group introduced the first ever “seniors night” for students in Grade 10 IDEAs organizers can expect to see the same 10 or 15 students walk into the school’s canteen ready to spend some time relaxing after their Friday classes “That’s what we like,” organizer Devansh Vasdev or they just kind of chill,” fellow organizer Jaidyn Sandhu “[IDEAs] helps you talk to people you never thought you’d talk to,” she added That connection between students is why Rishi Wong and Rana started the program two and a half years earlier “Our passion is that some people are coming in new to our school,” Grade 12 student and organizer Joseph Boban said and eventually made his way onto the organizing committee Sands graduate and former organizer Will Mann-Maxwell agreed He was involved with IDEAs last school year but sometimes returns with his fellow IDEAs alumni to check in on the program “We see the change it has in the kids’ lives that do come,” he said We want to see if more people are joining and if some of the same people are here and how they’re doing.” nearly every former IDEAs organizer managed to make it back to Sands Secondary to reconnect over the program who Akune said was unable to come because she was writing an exam “What are the chances they would all be able to come back here on a day like this when four of them are going to go write final exams tomorrow in university,” Akune said “The fact that they’re willing to make some time to come Akune said the students coming back also shows that they see their work over the last two and a half years as a legacy And it’s one that the current organizers plan to continue by the end of the year I’ll be able to see what people like and don’t like,” Vasdev said “The things that I figure out they don’t like I can get those ideas in that we need to change this around put this new idea in and take this one out … for the next year grace.kennedy@northdeltareporter.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter McMath Wildcats senior girls soccer team capped off a stellar season with a silver medal at the recent provincial high school championships. The girls made it to the gold-medal game in the AAA B.C. Girls Provincial Soccer Tournament held last week in Cloverdale. The Wildcats, coached by Nav Badyal and student teacher Dallin Akune, started off the tournament by beating Sea-to-Sky Champions Handsworth High School 2-0, with goals coming from Grade 10’s Brook Viccars and senior Teagan Ng. In their second game of the day, McMath faced G.W. Graham of Chilliwack, and beat them 5-2, with Ng scoring four no less and senior Andreas Chan adding another, which set up a showdown match on Thursday morning for first place in their pool against Dr. Charles Best High School, of Coquitlam. A 4-3 win was completed, thanks to “spectacular saves” from senior goaltender Makayla Kusch and goals from Kiayara Hohlweg and a hat-trick from Ng. In the semi-final, the Wildcats met Centennial High School, of Coquitlam, and brushed them aside with goals from Viccars and another from Ng. South Delta Secondary awaited the girls in the final and the Wildcats took the early lead, thanks to a well-placed free kick by Viccars before South Delta equalized just before half. McMath would again take the lead at 2-1 with an excellent individual effort by Ng, but South Delta levelled yet again, forcing extra-time. And it was South Delta who would bag the only goal of the added time, leading to a 3-2 final score. The Wildcats can take pride from their season, however, knowing that their second place finish is the school’s highest ever at the AAA provincial championships. Ng, who will be attending the University of Arizona next year on a full scholarship to play lacrosse, took the tournament’s Golden Boot Award with an incredible 10 goals. To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page. This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies. Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. KANONJI, Kagawa — Two retired sleeper train cars that had been left out in the open for about seven years in Kyushu are being renovated to become lodgings for those doing the famed Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage. The cars, used for a service dubbed the “blue train,” were transported from Akune, Kagoshima Prefecture, and placed in Kanonji, Kagawa Prefecture, in front of a ropeway station leading to Unpen Temple, one of the 88 Shikoku sacred sites. Rust is being removed before repainting the cars. Damaged equipment and water systems are also being repaired. The goal is to begin accepting pilgrims, called henro, this autumn. The cars had served a Japan Railway sleeper express connecting the Kansai region and Kyushu, but were retired in 2008 due to aging. They were then used as simple accommodations in Akune, but sluggish business forced the accommodations to close in 2014. Masaki Kishii, 60, a railroad enthusiast who runs an udon noodle restaurant in Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture, learned about the cars and bought them in June 2020. Kishii and his wife raised about ¥14 million through crowdfunding from about 900 people to pay for the transportation of the cars and repairs. They plan to install a roof over the cars and open an udon restaurant next to them. The couple is also considering opening a tourist farm where visitors can pick fruit. “I want to transform them into a place where guests keep wanting to come back,” Kishii said. Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting, readable fomat. © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Buddhist temple marks milestone'The lessons learned are not lessons relegated to history You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account and saw destruction and revival in the century that followed the heart of what was once the thriving Japantown neighbourhood and is now the Downtown Eastside Not many Vancouver institutions can boast a 115-year history And the temple’s milestone is especially remarkable considering what the community overcame in those years Around 200 people of all ages attended Sunday’s service including representatives from temples in Toronto but while speakers addressed the crowd about Vancouver Buddhist Temple’s history more than one raised a chapter that was devastating for both the temple and the broader community: what one speaker referred to “the shadow of the war.” with Canada and its allies at war with Japan the Canadian government detained and dispossessed most people of Japanese descent living in B.C. supposedly in the interest of “national security.” Trains carried Japanese detainees to camps in B.C.’s Interior With Japanese Canadians suddenly declared “enemy aliens,” the government confiscated their property estimated to be worth more than $800 million in today’s dollars The government sold their homes and businesses to pay for their detention I cannot see that Japanese Canadians constitute the slightest menace to national security.” adding: “When they spoke I felt … the physical presence of evil.” The government didn’t allow uprooted Japanese families to return to coastal cities like Vancouver until 1949 Sitting in the quiet temple after Sunday’s ceremony shared memories of roller-skating down Powell Street as a 14-year-old in 1941 when Vancouver’s vibrant Japantown was filled with cafes and when they finally returned to Powell Street in 1950 The street upon which she had roller-skated as a teenager felt unsafe eight years later “It was definitely not Japantown anymore,” she said some Japanese families returned to Vancouver and some reopened businesses on Powell Street But the neighbourhood would never return to what it was before the war The government targeted everyone of Japanese descent even those whose families had been in Canada for generations and the government seized his family’s home and his father’s fishing boat “We are still moving forward and not reflecting on some of the trials and tribulations of the past.” which is dedicated to Japanese Canadian history Canadian society has not entirely left behind the kind of racism that Japanese people endured in Canada not only during internment but in the decades before and after the Second World War “These are uncomfortable discussions to have I think the biggest take-away from the community “The lessons learned are not lessons relegated to history “We like to think of ourselves as altruistic and we like to point a finger at our neighbours to the south and blame everything on Trump emotional debates about immigration broke out in this year’s byelection in Burnaby South the federal riding that happens to be home to the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre February’s byelection included the first candidate seeking office with the People’s Party of Canada a new party formed by former Conservative MP Maxime Bernier and candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson campaigned on a “Canadians-first” message leading to finger-pointing and shrieking in the audience.” “Thompson directly appealed to prevalent anxieties in the riding about public safety as she repeatedly brought up the case of Marissa Shen a 13-year-old Burnaby South girl who was murdered in the region who was employed in Canada and had family here Vancouver Mayor and former Burnaby South MP Kennedy Stewart described that result as “deeply disturbing.” “We know there are parts of the population that are inclined toward racism or homophobia,” Stewart told reporters the day after the byelection “But what I find especially disturbing is that the People’s Party has been specifically formed to bring that to the surface.” for the first time in the 25 years EKOS has been polling on the issue opposition to visible minority immigration was higher than opposition to immigration in general the only non-white member of Vancouver’s 11-person council sending him an email instructing him to “get out of Canada,” and “take your mom (Trinidadian-born Liberal Member of Parliament Hedy Fry) with you.” despite the uglier elements still present in Canadian society Kajiwara struck a somewhat optimistic tone for the future I think the potential opportunity to be better does exist here And that’s really the challenge that all of us face: how do we do that?” dfumano@postmedia.com Japanese version Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. Copyright THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Broome pearl diver Ahmat Bin Fadal prepares to put his copper diving helmet on. (Supplied: Broome Historical Society) Link copiedShareShare articleRetired pearl diver Ahmat Bin Fadal remembers vividly the moment he almost died underwater fifty years ago. He was starting to resurface when a workmate on the lugger accidentally cut off his oxygen. Mr Bin Fadal, 77, said his mother's face appeared in the glass of his round metal helmet before he blacked out. His torso tightened, then he saw his mother's image and the Arabic word for God. "I fade away and then suddenly people shake me from sleep" Mr Bin Fadel said. After emigrating from Singapore as a 22-year-old, Mr Bin Fadal joined a small group of divers in the pearl town of Broome who wore the bulky suits and round metal helmets used to gather pearl oysters since the late 1800s. The equipment may have been cutting edge when first introduced, but Mr Bin Fadel found there wasn't a day under the waves enclosed in rubber, copper and brass, when he didn't fear death. But with shells providing an income, he focused on collecting as many as possible from the seabed. "And when they start to put on the glass then I don't think dead or alive I think of the shell." Mr Bin Fadal and four other retired divers were recently brought together at Shinju Matsuri, Broome's festival of the pearl, for a demonstration of the old equipment by dive history enthusiast Peter McMahon. He had the suit, helmet and boots, which weigh about 80 kilograms, freighted to Broome. The demonstration was in the calm water of a resort swimming pool. Retired pearl divers Akira Masuda, Ahmat Bin Fadal, Yoshihiro (Nicky) Akune, Eddie Roe, and Freddy Corpus with Peter McMahon. (ABC Kimberley: Cecile O'Connor) Mr McMahon, from the Fremantle Sailing Club's dive section, said the suits and helmets were used from the 1860s to the early 1970s. "They sat around for quite a while after that and then enthusiasts started to get them out again and just use them for recreational use." The work was dangerous. Records from Broome's Historical Society show in just 1912, 29 divers died from 'diver's paralysis' in the local pearl industry. "They had no way of knowing what the bends was, what it was doing with the nitrogen getting into the blood stream and divers would come out of the water in pain, in crippling pain and dying from it." Decades after retiring Ahmat Bin Fadal smiles remembering his time as a diver. And he was keen to try on a helmet for old time's sake. "My memory come especially when I held the helmet after so many years. I carry the helmet and I'm very very happy." And half a century after coming so close to death, he puts on the helmet and laughs like a man given a second chance at life. CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)