World mysteries ... Yonaguni Monument
Yonaguni Monument Japan's most mysterious dive ...
The Japanese mythology “Nirai-Kanani” is a faraway land where traditional gods of the land live and happiness abounds. .
In 1987, Kihachiro Aratake was scouting more hammerhead breading grounds for his scuba diving company tours. Instead, he discovered the Yonaguni Monument. It is a site with several underwater rock formations off Japan’s westernmost Island, Yonaguni. There is a debate about whether the site is completely natural, is a natural site that has been modified, or is a manmade artefact.
"The Arch." It's a crude arch at best, the five stacked stones impressively large but not seeming carved at all.
"Twin Towers," (matching obelisks). These do appear shaped-and very exactingly at that. Two perfect rectangles, more than 20 feet tall. They seem aligned for some purpose. The foremost expert on the Yonaguni Monument, Professor Masaaki Kimura of the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, believes the four-inch gap between the obelisks may have channeled a shaft of sunlight signaling the autumn equinox.
"The Chapel" Here, there is, what appears to be, a platform with an incised cross.
Then we turn a corner and are filled with wonder upon seeing "the terrace". We too, are filled with a measure of the same awe Kihachiro Aratake must have felt-the main monument itself. So massive and different from the sea around it, the edges so uncannily carved.I immediately thought of ancient pyramids and worlds long lost. Yet, like an optical illusion, the closer you get to it the more it changes. What seemed from a distance so symmetrical and distinct has no distinct details when seen piece by piece.
Hello! It's me behind the camera!
We were lucky enough to dive with one of Japan's National women's freediver. She was incredibly beautiful!
If this channel was erroded, there is no left over debris. These parallel lines that stretch more than 20 metres may have been a gutter.
The 'turtle' arial shot image source: http://pixgood.com/yonaguni-monument-turtle.html
Most Japanese children can recall, the tale of a kind fisherman named Urashima Taro (浦島 太郎?) who rescued a turtle from being bullied. He is then rewarded with a visit to a faraway palace before returning to his home village. He tries to return to the turtle’s palace only to find it is gone and he has aged dramatically
"Swimming pool"
Nearby is a cavity in the rock, maybe 20 feet deep and somewhat rounded like a well. Professor Kimura calls this a tida hole-tida being the sun, and the hole the place from which it rises and disappears. Tida holes are features of other gusuku-which are palaces, fortresses and sacred sites all rolled into one-found in Japan. Another charming myth of the distant past.
