The Yonaguni Monument wasn’t discovered until 1987, and in that short time, it’s already become a tourist attraction off Yonaguni Island.
Masahiro Kaji / Wikimedia Commons“The Turtle ” , one of the many formations on the Yonaguni Monument .
For decades , multitude thought that the most telling natural lot you could see near the Japanese island of Yonaguni were the frenzy hammerhead shark sharks that circled the shoring during the cold winter months .
That all changed in 1987 when local scuba diving instructor and managing director of Yonaguni - Cho Tourism Association Kihachiro Aratake chance upon something underwater that was far more interesting than shark .
Masahiro Kaji/Wikimedia Commons“The Turtle”, one of the many formations on the Yonaguni Monument.
According to a paper written by American author and reader John West style “ Diving For Lemuria , ” Aratake was scouting out new spots to take his clients when he stumbled upon an submersed rock constitution that take his breath away .
It was a gigantic “ cliff - cheek cut into a serial of Brobdingnagian geometric terraces , with liberal , 2-dimensional horizontal surfaces , and transparent perpendicular rock risers , ” West drop a line . “ It might have serve as a covered stand for the entourage of whoever the Japanese equivalent of Poseidon may be ; a property where gods convened to watch titanic subaqueous spectaculars . ”
Wikimedia CommonsDivers checking out what is often described as the main terrace of Yonaguni Monument .
Wikimedia CommonsDivers checking out what is often described as the main terrace of Yonaguni Monument.
Underwater Mystery
The formation is mostly composed of sandstone and mudstone , while various structures connect to the John Rock beneath them . The most striking part of the Yonaguni Monument is a giant slab of rock ‘n’ roll that is virtually 500 feet long , 130 feet wide and 90 feet grandiloquent . The distance from the aerofoil of the water to the top of the memorial is around 16 feet .
What make many people — including some scientist — think that the monument is more than just a giant art object of John Rock underwater is the variety of particular that point to human influence . There are what looks like couple of pillars , a stone column , a wall that is 33 foot all-encompassing , a road , and even a principal - shaped platform .
Not long after Aratake ’s discovery in 1990 , a group of scientists from the University of the Ryūkyūs made an expedition to visit what was being called the Yonaguni Monument .
Wikimedia CommonsA group of diners line up to show the size of the Yonaguni Monument.
A Ryūkyūs professor bring up Masaaki Kimura was among them . A marine seismologist , he was spellbind by draw a blank and lost ancient civilizations — including Lemuria , a legendary Din Land rumored to have submerge in the Pacific Ocean centuries ago .
The Japanese Atlantis
Kimura visited the Yonaguni Monument repeatedly and meticulously studied it until concluding that it was either entirely humanmade or at least enhanced by humans at some point . He reckon that it was around 2,000 years old and would not have been underwater when first constructed .
However , the mudstones that the monument is made of are believed to be over 20 million eld old .
Wikimedia CommonsA chemical group of diners line up to show the size of it of the Yonaguni Monument .
Divers explore the monument.
Still , the professor believed . He even went so far as to fence that the whole structuremight be grounds for the lost Pacific continent of Mu , and that he can sharpen to a pyramid , castle , roads , and a stadium in the repository that are remnants of the 1st - century country of Yamatai .
If they are ruins of Yamatai , then Kimura believes they see back at least 5,000 years due to grounds in underwater caves he regain while diving around the repository . He also claim to be explore a relief on the site that has a picture of what resemble a cow .
But again , this has never been show .
Natural Beauty
While it ’s not officially asunken metropolis , the Yonaguni Monument certainly draws tourists like one . Divers often brave the sea ’s strong currents that could sweep them away to catch a glimpse of its towering , cryptical - ocean walls .
To this twenty-four hours , no one is quite certain what the Yonaguni Monument is or where it came from , but there are plenty of logical theory the structure . Some hoi polloi believe it is only a unequaled natural formationdue to the many parallel crack and joints on the rock and roll .
Since Yonaguni is in an earthquake - prostrate surface area , it would make sentience for these fractures to form . The walls on the monument could only be platforms that fell into a vertical posture due to corrosion .
While there is grounds of communities of stone - worker in prehistorical Yonaguni , many scientist lay claim that they would n’t be able to make giant stone sculpture .
Divers explore the repository .
Still , there ’s also ample evidence that the memorial is humanmade . Some of the rock-and-roll ’s details seem too exact and too precise for born methods , like a trench that feature two 90 degree angles , and two megalithic structure with straight edges and sharp corners . Erosion usually lead to muted and curved edges . And when ’s the last time anyone ’s see a perfectly square rock ‘n’ roll ?
There ’s also a triangular depression in the monument with two large round holes beside it , which could be proof of attempts to carve up the rock’n’roll using wedges .
Origins Unknown
Despite its ever - grow popularity and the mystery that fence in it , the Yonaguni Monument has never been recognise by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs or the government of Okinawa Prefecture as an important historical artifact . More research still take to be done to limit what its on-key origins are .
So it ’s of no material surprise that to this 24-hour interval , no one can fit on what the Yonaguni Monument is . But despite its mysterious and slightly controversial story , underwater diver around the world still believe that it ’s right smart more interesting to see than the sharks .
If you wish reading about lost cities and building , check out the story of therecently find Mayan “ megalopolis”and memorise Canadian settlement that ’s older than the pyramids .
