Yonaguni
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Yonaguni (与那国島: Yonaguni-jima) is the name of the westernmost island of Japan, as well as the language spoken there (see Yonaguni language).
This island is famous for massive sunken hewn rock and stone structures which surround the island.
The island has an area of 28.88 km2, a population of 1745, an annual mean air temperature of 23.9 ℃, annual precipitation of 3000 mm. All islands are under jurisdiction of the town of Yonaguni, Yaeyama Gun, Okinawa and has three towns: Sonai, Kubura and Higawa. It was incorporated under the control of the Ryukyu royal court in 1510.
History
Yonaguni was part of the continent until the last ice age. In the 12th century, it was incorporated to the Ryukyu Kingdom until the 17th century and then incorporated into the Japanese han of Satsuma. By 1879, the island was formally incorporated into Japan and from 1945 to 1972 it was occupied by the United States and was later returned to Japan to form a part of Okinawa Prefecture.
Seabed ruins
The seabed contains ruins of a previous glacial age and traces of terrestial flora, fauna and stalactites that form only on the surface. These suggest that these ruins are more than 3,000 to 10,000 years old and the world's oldest.
The fame of the Yonaguni island began in 1985, when a Japanese marine explorer, Kihachirō Aratake, by chance discovered a set of very singular architectonic structures apparently belonging to an ancient civilization and previously unknown in archaeology and history. Shortly thereafter, a group of scientists directed by Misaki Kimura, of the University of Ryukyus, confirmed the existence of the vestiges.
On the May 4, 1998, a part of the island was destroyed by a submarine earthquake. Several analyses indicated that a certain structure, which measured 120 m in length, 40 m wide and 20–25 m high was 8000 years old, much older than the first constructions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. This antiquity created discord and controversy among historians and archaeologist since it went against accepted chonological history of humanity. Certain obstinate archeologists still maintain that the structures are mere geologic processes of natural origin.
At the time that it was constructed, the area of Yonaguni composed the land bridge between the islands of Taiwan, Ryukyu and Japan with Asia in the days of the ice age. The level of the sea was lower than at present because of the ice accumulated in the temperate zones.
The construction can not be attributed to the Ryukyu Kingdom which existed only recently(12th-17th centuries) and since historically, the tools have not been discovered, which were used to construct these edifices which are comparable to the pyramids of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mexico and Peru.
The structures are believed by geologist Teruaki Oshii, to have been constructed before the end of the glacial era.
In addition to scientific explanations, other esoteric theories are that Yonaguni was part of legendary ancient civilizations of Mu (Lemuria) whose fate it shared with Atlantis or Thule. The area fascinates tourists and visitors. The site holds the potential to change the accepted view of the origin of civilizations.
External links
- Yonaguni dive site with underwater structures (http://www.morien-institute.org/yonaguni.html)
- photos (http://www.divingobsession.com/location/userMedia.tdf?userId=152&browseMethod=userofdivesite&mediaUrl=/locationAdmin/add-media.tdf?&mediaType=userphoto&mediaMessage=Upload%20Photos%20of%20This%20Site&keyedId=149&keyedType=DVST)de:Yonaguni