Yonaguni

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For the breed of horse, see Yonaguni (horse).

For the administrative division, see Yonaguni, Okinawa.

Yonaguni

Yonaguni (与那国島, Yonaguni-shima^?), or ドゥナンチマ Dunan-chima in the local language, is the name of the westernmost island of Japan, as well as the language spoken there (see Yonaguni language). The native name for the island, Dunan, is cognate with the element Yona- in the Japanese name.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Seabed structures
- 3.1 Ice Age relevance
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Yonaguni lies 125 kilometers (78 mi) from the east coast of Taiwan at the end of the Ryukyu Islands chain. The island has an area of 28.88 km² (11.2 sq mi), a population around 1700, an annual mean air temperature of 23.9° C, and annual precipitation of 3000 mm. Cape Irizaki is the westernmost point in Japan. 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 Ryūkyū royal court in 1610.

[edit] History

Yonaguni was part of the continent until the last ice age. In the 12th century, it was incorporated to the Ryūkyū Kingdom until the 17th century and then incorporated into the Japanese han of Satsuma. By 1879, the island was formally incorporated into Japan. Until the early 20th century, Yonaguni was part of the larger Yaeyama village, which included the neighboring Yaeyama Islands, but then became an independent village in 1948. From 1945 to 1972, it was occupied by the United States and was then returned to Japan to form a part of Okinawa Prefecture.

[edit] Seabed structures

Image:Yonaguni Ruins Scuba.jpg

Sunken structures

This island has recently become well known for massive sunken rock and stone structures known as the Yonaguni monument which surround the island. If human made, the monument is likely an ancient temple complex, antedating all known buildings^[1]. It would also be evidence of a prior civilization once located many meters above the Ice Age shoreline. However, it could be merely a geological curiosity where conditions have been just right to create squared off megalithic blocks reminiscent of Stonehenge and Easter Island. If so, a sufficient explanation for the lack of debris and rubble falling to the floor around the find needs to be developed in full.

Divers also congregate on the island in winter due to the large population of hammerhead sharks found in nearby waters. It was diving to scout for a good place to observe the sharks which led to the discovery of the "monument", a part of which is two closely spaced pillars which rise to within eight feet of the surface. Study of the curiosity is hampered by a significant ocean current sufficient to exhaust divers if they swim in the opposite direction.

Image:East China Sea.jpg

Located at the bottom of the arc of the Ryukyu Islands separating the (marginal) East China Sea from the Pacific Ocean proper, Yonaguni would have been much larger when the ocean was 39 m (100 ft) shallower circa 10,000 BCE as the last Ice Age ended.

The seabed contains what appear to be ruins of a previous glacial age and traces of terrestrial flora, fauna and stalactites that form only on the surface. Their appearance to structures in the ancient world have lead some to theorize they could be the remnents of an ancient civilization. Were they to be human-made they would be among the oldest human made structures at some 10,000 years old.

The fame of Yonaguni island began in 1985, when a Japanese marine explorer, Kihachiro Aratake, by chance discovered a set of very singular seemingly architectonic structures allegedly belonging to an ancient civilization and previously unknown in archaeology and history. Shortly thereafter, a group of scientists directed by Masaaki Kimura (木村政昭), of the University of the Ryūkyūs, confirmed the existence of the vestiges. They appear, at least superficially, to be comparable to the pyramids of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mexico, and Peru. Some also speculate that several of the seemingly natural features could in fact be human made, such as the discovery of what some called a "face" on the side of one of the monuments. To date, there is no archaeological evidence to prove this.

On 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. Were this to be human made it would be much older than the first constructions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. This antiquity has created disagreement among historians and archaeologists since it goes against the accepted chronological history of humanity. Several noted writers, including John Anthony West and geologist Robert Schoch argue that under inspection, the "ruins" turn out to be largely explicable by ocean erosion and coral reef settlements. Professor Kimura still maintains that the structure is human made however.

Most geologists familiar with the area also maintain that the structures are mere geologic processes of natural origin and consistent with other known geological formations.^[2] They point to the fact that local rocks above the surface have right angle cleavages, and that aquatic flora and fauna have simply smoothed out much of the surface of the rocks. However the photographs available on the Internet show (with a varying degree of clarity) parts of the structure with precise geometrical shapes, in varying complexity. Although this may be taken as a strong hint of human presence, some natural formations, such as the Giant's Causeway, or natural staircase structures on Old Rag Mountain^[3], present similar shapes. No tools have been found at the site, which could positively identify human settlement, but this implies one expects to find neolithic or similar stone tools rather than metal tools which cannot be expected to last that long under sea water. There is also the possibility that stones that vaguely resemble faces may be simply the result of the human brain's tendency to see faces and animals in natural objects, such as the "The Face on Mars" Cydonia Mensae or the "Badlands Guardian" [1].

At the time that it would have been constructed, the affected area of Yonaguni composed a land bridge between the islands of Taiwan, Ryūkyū, 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. Geologist Teruaki Oshii suggests they have been constructed before the end of the glacial era.

In addition to scientific explanations, other esoteric theories are that Yonaguni was part of the legendary ancient civilizations of Mu (Lemuria), whose fate it shared with Atlantis or Thule, as an ancient advanced civilization which sank into the sea. Another theory is that the Yonaguni structures fit in with the claims made by some biblical creationists regarding the presence of advanced civilizations prior to a global catastrophe, resulting in the destruction of many such civilizations.

[edit] Ice Age relevance

During the height of any Ice Age period ocean levels drop as much as 400 feet, drastically altering shorelines. Such a drop could account for a vast repository of corresponding myths and legend throughout the world referencing great floods. Civilizations could theoretically have grown up along shorelines only to be washed out by the rising sea levels.