Pyramids underwater in Japan. Yonaguni - underwater city

Japan is an island state, which includes an impressive number of islands. Most of them have something unusual. Remember, for example, about the smallest municipality on a volcano island.

Now we will tell you about another Japanese island, located in the westernmost part of the country. This is Yonaguni Island. But we’re not really talking about the island, although it certainly has an attractive island charm. We, like the whole world, were interested in its coastal waters, or rather, what was hidden in them. In the 80s of the last century, something was found off the coast of Yonaguni that challenged world history itself.

The island itself is known among divers as one of the most picturesque diving spots. A large number of hammerhead sharks can be observed in the surrounding area. They are mostly harmless to humans (but that doesn't mean they don't attack) and are very graceful. Therefore, many divers come to the island. Yonaguni has special diving schools and its own tourist association. So one day in 1986, Kihachiro Aratake (at that time director of the island’s tourist association), while looking for new dive sites, came across surprisingly smooth and regular stone structures at a depth of several meters. They were very reminiscent of buildings, more likely even pyramids. One of them went down 25-27 meters to the very bottom and had very smooth planes.

After several dives, it was established that the dimensions of the underwater complex are approximately the following: the central part has a height of slightly more than 40 meters and the base is 180 by 150 meters. The surfaces of the pyramids have steps, diamond-shaped projections and smooth edges. Underwater pyramids are located near the shore at a depth of 25-30 meters.

Yonaguni on the map

• Geographic coordinates 24.435431, 123.011148
• Distance from the capital of Japan Tokyo is about 2100 km
• The nearest airport is located directly on Yonaguni Island, 5 kilometers from the underwater pyramids

This one does not have a specific name. It is usually called the "Pyramids of Yonaguni" or "the underwater city of Yonaguni." But in any case, if you hear a phrase with the word Yonaguni, then most likely we are talking about this underwater complex.

Research of underwater pyramids

An interesting fact is that the Yonaguni Monument somehow did not interest the world’s scientific community. The underwater city has been virtually ignored by archaeologists. The pyramids were discovered in 1986, the first scientific expedition took place only in 1997. Money for research was allocated by Yasuo Watanabe (a major industrialist from Japan). In addition to professional divers and a Discovery Channel film crew, the expedition included Graham Hancock and Robert Schoch.

Science education theory

Graham and Robert put forward the theory that the underwater pyramids of Yonaguni are the result of natural forces. In particular, this is indicated by the composition of the monument. This is sandstone that can crack, forming regular geometric shapes. Sandstone layers have an interesting property of stratifying at an angle of 90 and 60 degrees to each other. In the process of layering, they form such interesting structures. In addition, earthquakes periodically occur in this corner of the globe, making the sandstone even more susceptible to cracking. However, the expedition members suggested that human influence cannot be completely ruled out. Perhaps these are ancient mines or quarries. But still, the main emphasis was on the natural appearance of the Yonaguni pyramids.

Evidence in favor of the artificial origin of the pyramids

Perhaps the mystery of the pyramids would have been attributed to nature if Masaaki Kimura, a professor at the Japanese University of Ryukyus, had not intervened in the matter. Having immersed himself in the Yonaguni monument and examining it very carefully, Kimura began to insist on the version of artificial origin. He presents a number of facts as evidence.

Scientific controversy

Robert Schoch, who was part of Graham Hancock's expedition, initially adhered to the version of the natural formation of the monument, but after meeting with Professor Kimura, he partially changed his mind. Both scientists agreed on a theory according to which, most likely, the monument itself is of natural origin (that is, no one moved or erected the rock anywhere), but the smooth surfaces, right angles and other structures that are non-standard for nature are the work of man.

For example, this massive formation, nicknamed “Turtle,” contradicts the theory of the natural origin of the complex.

Scientists also argue about the age of the underwater city. Analysis of stalactites found in a cave near the pyramids suggests that they are at least 10,000 years old. Since stalactites cannot form in water, we come to the conclusion that the entire territory of the pyramids was under water just 10,000 years ago.
This fact challenges the official history, according to which 10,000 years ago man still lived in caves and hunted mammoths. Naturally, he was not old enough to build such pyramids in those days. This leads to the following: either the generally accepted story is not entirely true, or... one of two things. This may be why the scientific community did not take this discovery seriously.
But Masaaki Kimura himself believes that the pyramids are about 5,000 years old, and they only came under water 2,000 years ago due to an earthquake.

Scientists are still arguing about both the age of the find and its origin.
Be that as it may, the discovery of the Yonaguni pyramids is an important step in the exploration of our planet. After such a discovery, Yonaguni became known not only to all divers and scientists, but also to many lovers of searching for ancient civilizations.
It's no secret that there are still unsolved underwater attractions on the planet, such as the famous one.

1. The Japanese government has NOT recognized the complex as a cultural heritage site.
2. Professor Masaaki Kimura has been researching the phenomenon for more than 15 years, and even risking his reputation, he was the first to express confidence in the artificial origin of the pyramids
3. The number of artifacts found in the complex underwater and on the coast turned out to be approximately the same
4. One of the Japanese legends tells about the fisherman Urashima. One day he went to sea as always, but instead of a fish he came across the same turtle three times. And every time he let her go. Desperate, the fisherman sent the shuttle towards the shore, but a large ship appeared on his way. He was sent by Otohime, the daughter of the Dragon Lord of the Seas. It turned out that the turtle is Otohime. She invited Urashima to her palace, located under water. A big celebration was held in honor of the fisherman. Urashima spent three whole years in the palace, but he became homesick and decided to return. As a parting gift, Otohime gave him a box that can only be opened at the most difficult moment in life. Returning home, Urashima saw that 300 years had already passed and everyone he knew was no longer in the world. He became very sad. Remembering the gift, the fisherman opened the box and immediately turned into a crane. And Otohime turned into a turtle again and went ashore to meet Urashima. This is where the famous Japanese dance of the turtle and crane comes from. Maybe the Yonaguchi Pyramids are the palace of the Lord of the Seas, and the “Turtle” is a monument to his daughter Otohime

Underwater City Yonaguni in the photo

Passions do not fade around the underwater city of Yonaguni. The estimated date of its construction does not fit into modern historical theories.

The underwater city of Yonaguni was first discovered in 1986. While observing hammerhead sharks off the Japanese island of Yonaguni, diver Kihachiro noticed a series of sea formations lying 5 meters underwater. Their architecture resembled step pyramids. The center was a building 42 meters high. It consisted of 5 floors. Near the central object there were small pyramids 10 meters high. The edge of the object dropped vertically down to the very bottom to a depth of 27 meters.

The diver told Professor Masaki Kimura, a specialist in marine geology and seismology, about the discovery. He became interested in the object and made more than a hundred dives, studying the discovery, becoming a real expert in its matters. Soon he held a press conference at which he announced that an ancient city unknown to science had been found - a whole complex consisting of castles, wells, tunnels, stairs, terraces, monuments, a stadium, connected by a system of roads and waterways. All of Yonaguni's massive stone blocks were created by hand and carved directly into the bedrock.

Since then, passions have not faded around the underwater city of Yonaguni. The estimated date of its construction does not fit into modern historical theories. Most archaeologists believe that human civilization arose about 5,000 years ago. Research has shown that the rock in which this city was carved sank under water no later than 10,000 years ago. That is, Yonaguni is older than the Egyptian pyramids and historical monuments of the ancient Indians. It is believed that in that era people lived in caves and knew only how to collect edible roots and hunt wild animals. And the creators of the Yonaguni underwater complex at that time processed stone, owned tools, and knew geometry! This is in no way consistent with the data of traditional historical science.

Many historians are still inclined to explain the incredible relief of the underwater rock off the coast of Yonaguni Island as created by a natural disaster. Skeptics say that the sandstone that makes up the rock formation tends to crack along planes, which could explain the terraced arrangement of the complex and its geometric shapes. But the regular circles and symmetry of stone blocks cannot be explained by this property of sandstone.

The only thing that supporters and opponents of the artificial origin of the underwater city of Yonaguni agree on is that it was submerged under water as a result of a major natural disaster, of which there were many in the history of the Japanese Islands. Professor Kimura suggested that there are 10 underwater structures near Yonaguni Island, and another five structures are located off Okinawa Island. The massive ruins cover an area of ​​more than 45,000 m2. Underwater caves off Okinawa with stalactites indicate that this area was once on land. The underwater city of Yonaguni itself is a continuation of a whole complex of land-based structures.

It is interesting to note that some researchers considered the underwater city of Yonaguni to be further evidence of the existence of the Lemurian race. If we remember that the continent of Lemuria extended over the entire Pacific Ocean and included the territory of the islands of Yonaguni and Okinawa, then these ruins may belong to the Lemurians.

Yonaguni complex - mysterious underwater ruins near Okinawa April 11th, 2013

The Okinawa archipelago stretches with a scattering of small islands hundreds of kilometers south from Japan, all the way to the island of Taiwan. 100 km east of the island of Taiwan is the last islet of the Okinawa archipelago - the Japanese islet of Yonaguni, which is popular among diving enthusiasts.

In the spring of 1985, in the coastal waters of the small Japanese island of Yonaguni, local diving instructor Kihachiro Aratake accidentally stumbled upon a strange object. Not far from the shore, literally under the surface of the waves, he saw a huge stone monument that extended to the limits of visibility. Wide, level platforms, covered with patterns of rectangles and diamonds, turned into intricate terraces running down large steps. The edge of the object breaks vertically down the wall to the very bottom to a depth of 27 meters, forming one of the walls of the trench running along the entire Monument.

Even if this turned out to be just a trick of nature, Arataka would have been lucky - he had found an object worthy of surprise even the most picky tourist. But the abundance of regular geometric shapes made us think about the possibility of their man-made nature, and Aratake decided to report his discovery to specialists. Japanese newspapers were full of sensational headlines.

Alas... The scientific community almost completely ignored these messages. Historians have no information about the culture that could create such a structure here. Therefore, they preferred to declare the hypothesis of the artificial origin of the underwater monument of Yonaguni a simple speculation and attribute everything to a bizarre game of nature. And quite quickly, discussion of the find became the property of only esoteric publications, ignored by official science.

Only Masaaki Kimura, a professor at the University of the Ryukyu, took the discovery seriously. And in this, the Monument was very lucky, since Kimura is a recognized expert in the field of marine geology and seismology. He has been studying the underwater surroundings of Yonaguni for more than 10 years, during which time he has completed more than a hundred dives and become the main expert on the object. As a result of his research, Professor Kimura decided to go against the vast majority of historians and risk his reputation by defending the artificial origin of the Monument.

But, as often happens in such cases, his opinion for a long time remained a voice crying in the wilderness...

It is unknown how long the “conspiracy of silence” around the Aratake find would have lasted if Graham Hancock, a staunch supporter of the hypothesis of the existence of a highly developed civilization in ancient times and the author of a number of books on this topic, had not learned about it.

In September 1997, he arrived in Yonaguni with a film crew. He managed to interest and attract to the trip Robert Schoch, a professor at Boston University, a geologist, best known for his conclusion that the real age of the famous Egyptian Sphinx is much greater than official Egyptology believes. And Hancock hoped that Schoch would use his authority to confirm the artificial nature of Aratake’s find. But it was not there…

On his first trip in 1997, Schoch did not find clear evidence of the man-made nature of the object. Quite the contrary...

The fact is that the Monument consists of sandstone and sedimentary rocks, outcrops of which are still visible on the coast of the island. Under the influence of sea waves, rain and winds, they are destroyed in such a way that forms like steps and terraces appear. Nature is not capable of such “whims,” but here, in addition, the very structure of the deposits leads to the appearance of almost perfectly straight cracks. Moreover, at angles of 90 and 60 degrees to each other, which contributes to the formation of strict geometric shapes: rectangular steps, triangles and rhombuses...

Everything seems to indicate that the Monument is of natural origin. This was Shoch’s first conclusion.

It is characteristic that in several films - including one from the BBC - this opinion of Schoch was cited as arguments against Hancock's theory. Unfortunately, the authors of these films “forgot” to mention that this story had a direct continuation...

Schoch understood perfectly well that in just a few dives it is impossible to see absolutely everything and it is quite possible to miss some important details. Therefore, he and Hancock’s group flew to Okinawa to meet with Kimura, whose arguments significantly undermined his position. Moreover, these arguments were supported by photographs and diagrams of parts that Shoch simply did not see during his dives.

From the point of view of Massaki Kimura, the following facts speak in favor of the artificial origin of the Yonaguni megalith:

Firstly, the blocks separated from the rock during the formation of the Monument do not lie where they should have fallen under the influence of gravity and other natural forces. Instead, they often end up clustered in one place, or sometimes missing altogether. If the structure was created by erosion, then there would be quite a lot of debris on the bottom next to it, as is the case, say, on the modern shores of the island. But the Monument does not have such an abundance of fragmentary material.

Secondly, often within a limited area of ​​the monument there are several elements of completely different types very close to each other, for example, a face with sharp edges, round holes two meters deep, a stepped descent, a perfectly straight narrow trench. If the reason were only natural erosion, then it would be logical to expect that it would manifest itself equally throughout the entire piece of rock. The fact that such different forms are found side by side is a strong argument in favor of artificial origin.

Thirdly, in some upper sections, steeply descending to the south, there are deep symmetrical trenches, the formation of which cannot be explained at all by known natural processes.

Fourthly, on the southern side of the monument there are steps rising at regular intervals from a depth of 27 meters to the very top, located at a depth of 6 meters.

And fifthly, the western part of the monument is covered by a clearly defined “wall”, the presence of which is difficult to explain by the action of natural processes, since it is made of limestone blocks, which are not typical for the Yonaguni area.

Upper terrace of the Monument:

Ring road:

Sun Stone (now fallen from the site):

A very remarkable and obviously artificial element is the two colossal megaliths at the western edge of the Monument. Their appearance and position evokes associations with the famous Stonehenge. These megaliths are sometimes called "twin pillars". Looking at their strict geometric shape, it is difficult to doubt their artificial origin. Moreover, Kimura’s research leads to the same conclusion: the “twins” are not made of the same material as the monument itself, but of limestone. But where did they come from then? Who and why dragged these blocks here, reaching, according to some estimates, two hundred tons each!?

And another question: why are they here?.. Their position seems simply meaningless. Masaaki Kimura considers the “twins” to be a symbolic gateway to the Monument. But why do we need such efforts as moving such blocks requires, for the sake of some kind of symbolism?.. Conventional logic suggests a completely different option: the “twins” seem to have simply fallen from the top of the Monument...

“After meeting with Professor Kimura,” Schoch later wrote, “I cannot completely exclude the possibility that the Yonaguni monument was at least partially processed and modified by human hands. Professor Kimura pointed out a number of important elements that I did not see during my first, short visit...”

The meeting of two professional geologists was literally of epoch-making significance for the Yonaguni monument. If earlier Shoch adhered to the version of the natural nature of the object, then Kimura insisted on its completely artificial origin. As a result of taking into account all the available facts, both experts agreed on a kind of “compromise”, both of them abandoning extreme points of view. They came to the conclusion that the Monument belongs to the so-called “terra-formations”, that is, the original natural “blank” was later changed and modified by human hands. Such “terra-formations” are not something completely unusual, but were quite common in the ancient world...

Materials from the 1997 expedition were included in the documentary film “The Search for the Lost Civilization,” shown on British television and accompanying the release of Hancock’s next book, “Mirror of Heaven.” The film and book received wide response. The information blockade around the Yonaguni megalith was broken, and the scientific community was forced to respond.

13 years after the opening of the Monument, in July 1998, a decision was finally made on its interdisciplinary scientific research. Led by diver and certified archaeologist Michael Arbuthnot, a team of specialists tried to uncover the mystery of the object. The group included geologists, underwater archaeologists, experienced divers, and even anthropologists and linguists. Shoch was also invited to join the expedition, who had the opportunity to satisfy his desire to re-inspect the Monument and be convinced of the fruitfulness of his “compromise” approach with Kimura.

The group spent 3 weeks diving and exploring. And, perhaps, the opinion of its leader speaks very eloquently about the results of the expedition. At first, Arbuthnot was skeptical of Kimura's theory about the artificiality of the Monument, but during the course of research he was forced to abandon his skepticism.

“I was convinced of the man-made processing of the Yonaguni object,” he concluded. “We examined the natural geology around the find, but there are no such uniform external forms there, and therefore the likelihood of human processing of the monument is very high. There are also many details that exclude the possibility that the object formed naturally.”

A kind of intermediate result of the research that continued after the expedition was Kimura’s report at a conference in Japan in 2001. The general conclusion that the Yonaguni megalith is a trace of an ancient civilization has received the support of most Japanese scientists.

It would seem that the question about the nature of the Monument is closed. However, the scientific community is very inert, and even conservative in matters of ancient history. And despite the conclusions of the conference, despite the numerous eyewitness accounts, including geologists, writers, journalists and simply amateur divers, the fact of the artificiality of the Yonaguni Monument is still either simply ignored or tried to be refuted in the world scientific literature. And as often happens, the most active “refutators” themselves have never seen it with their own eyes...

While there were disputes between supporters and opponents of the artificial origin of the Monument, the search in the coastal waters of Yonaguni continued. It soon became clear that this was far from the only contender for the title of ruins of an ancient civilization.

200 meters southeast of the Monument there is an object called the “Stadium”. It really looks like a kind of stadium, representing a clear area about 80 meters in size surrounded by stepped structures reminiscent of spectator stands. Although the “tribunes” themselves are very similar to purely natural formations, they also contain cut gutters and “paths”.

In the end, an object was found that resolved all questions. From a distance it somewhat resembles the control room of a large submarine. But as you approach this “conning tower”, it turns into... a 7-meter human head!!! It is sometimes called a "moai-like figure" in allusion to the statues of distant Easter Island. And if desired, a certain similarity can be found, although very separate.

In principle, the “head” itself could well be a purely natural formation. But what is absolutely indisputable is that the recesses forming the mouth and eyes have signs, if not of artificial origin, then of obvious modification. In addition, the remains of a bas-relief can be seen on the side of the head, in which some perceive a distinct resemblance to an Indian headdress made of feathers. To be honest, the “resemblance” is so-so... Unless you turn on your unlimited imagination...

If anyone else might have any doubts about the presence of evidence of an ancient civilization in the coastal waters of Yonaguni, then with the discovery of this statue, skeptics find themselves in a very unenviable position...

Head:

However, the problem is not at all limited to adding another civilization to the list of ancient civilizations. The fact is that although the megaliths were found below sea level, they clearly had to be created on land. Then, in order to determine the time of their creation, you must first answer the question of how the structures ended up in the sea: very quickly during the catastrophe, how, for example, during an earthquake or volcanic eruption, or slowly during gradual geological or climatic changes. As, say, this is happening now, when, as a result of global warming, the ice of the polar caps and mountain glaciers is melting, the water of which flows into the sea, causing the level of the World Ocean to rise. Some of the small island states even fear for their continued existence...

The option of a rapid change in the position of Yonaguni objects is supported by the fact that the area is located in a very active tectonic zone. This is not surprising, since the island is located directly on the so-called fault line; here the Pacific and Eurasian plates collide, supported in addition by the Philippine plate, which wedges between them from the south.

But if the area near Yonaguni were to sink under water during some catastrophe, then a miracle would have to happen for the Monument not only to maintain its horizontal position on the seabed, but also to survive without any signs of destruction, inevitable in such an impressive earthquake. which is accompanied by a change in heights of several tens of meters. In such catastrophic events, the Monument would not only be covered with cracks, but would almost inevitably split into pieces. And certainly at least small fragments of it should have remained next to him. But there is nothing like that at all! And the same is the case with other underwater objects near the island. Everything indicates that water covered the structures gradually as a result of a slow rise in the level of the World Ocean. However, the slow sinking of the Yonaguni objects (given their size and depth) means that they could only have been created when the sea level was several tens of meters below the current one. That is, no later than 8-10 thousand years ago!!! This is what shocks historians!..

But the arguments of geologists are inexorable. The facts directly pointing to such a distant time are also inexorable. For example, in the immediate vicinity of the Yonaguni monument, diver Chouhachiro Izumi discovered a “stalactite cave” on the seabed. But in nature, stalactite caves are formed only on land, when slightly acidic rain or river water seeps into a limestone layer. Water dissolves limestone salts and, encountering a cavity or cave on its way down, drips from its ceiling onto the floor. Slowly, over many centuries, these salt-rich droplets create stalactites on the ceiling and stalagmites below. This is the only way the “stalactite cave” found near Yonaguni could have formed.

Radioisotope dating (no matter what the degree of its reliability) carried out for this cave indicated that the process of formation of stalactite and stalagmite in it was completed no later than 10 thousand years ago!.. Just when the cave was absorbed by sea waters during changes in the level of the World Ocean. Although many researchers give much earlier dates for the creation of the Yonaguni underwater objects. Up to 16 thousand years ago!..

Who created the Monument at such a distant time? If an entire civilization existed here, then there should have been something else left that would allow us to lift the veil of secrecy about the builders of giant structures. There really are other finds.

Researchers, for example, recovered from the bottom several stone exhibits with simple symbols such as dashes, crosses and hooks carved on them. Similar symbols can be found on stones that still lie under water. The most interesting exhibit is a stone with a relief in the shape of a four-legged animal resembling a bull. And at the bottom around Yonaguni, several parts of stone tools were also found - primitive scrapers.

On the “upper terrace” of the Monument, researchers also discovered traces of wedges that ancient people used to split rocks - the wedges driven into the recesses were poured with water, the wood swelled from the water and split the monolith. The same traces were found on separate blocks in other places in the coastal waters and on the island itself...

The simplest symbols, primitive tools and equally primitive technologies... Somehow all this does not fit with the strict grace of the straight lines and geometric shapes of the Monument. And this is even less compatible with its size and the scale of work that was required to create not only the Monument, but also other underwater objects. The megalithic structures of Yonaguni are more consistent with a very highly developed rather than primitive civilization. However, the main expert, Dr. Kimura, agrees with this, and believes that the creation of the Monument required a high level of technology and the use of machines. How to be?..

In fact, there are clearly two periods in the history of the monument. At the first stage - in a very long time, somewhere from 10 to 16 thousand years ago, the Monument was created by a highly developed civilization that had quite complex technologies that made it easy to handle multi-ton blocks. At the second stage, after many thousands of years, this civilization was replaced by another, primitive one, which did not find (and could not find) anything better than to dig a certain number of holes in the heritage it inherited and use it only as a convenient berth and, perhaps a burial ground, until the Monument was completely covered with water...

At a 2001 conference, it was reported that a giant stepped structure similar to the Yonaguni Monument had been discovered off Chatan Island in Okinawa; mysterious underwater “labyrinths” are located near the island of Kerama; and near Aguni Island, cylindrical depressions similar to those found in the “triangular basin” of the Monument were found. On the other side of Yonaguni, in the strait between Taiwan and China, underwater structures resembling walls and roads were discovered...

At the moment, these listed objects, unfortunately, lack scientific data. Their research has not yet really begun. But one can hope that it will still take place without such long interruptions, as was the case with the Yonaguni Monument, which remains the most exciting discovery in the region.

However, there is something interesting on the island itself...

One of the ancient Japanese legends, which even Okinawa schoolchildren know, tells about a fisherman named Urashima-Taro, who lived in ancient times on the seashore. One day Urashima went on a boat to buy fish. But that day he was clearly unlucky, and instead of a fish, the same turtle was caught on the hook three times, which the fisherman each time, regretting it, released back into the sea. Having caught nothing, he had already sent his boat to the shore, but then, out of nowhere, a large ship appeared with a messenger from Otohime, the daughter of the Lord of the Seas, who invited Urashima to visit her. Urashima boarded a ship, which suddenly plunged into the depths of the sea and sailed to such a magnificent palace, the beauty of which cannot be seen on earth...

Otohime arranged a sumptuous feast in honor of the young fisherman. And he liked it so much in the underwater palace that three years flew by like one day. But finally he became homesick, and as a farewell, Otohime gave him a casket, which Urashima was supposed to open in case of insurmountable trouble.

When the fisherman returned to his village, he discovered that everything around him had changed a lot, since during this time not three years, but three hundred years had passed on earth. Feeling upset, Urashima opened the casket, instantly grew old, turned into a crane and flew away. And Otohime turned into a turtle and climbed ashore to meet Urashima...

There is an interesting detail in the legend about the fisherman that we briefly retold. When Urashima returned and went to look at the ruins of his house, he saw that all that remained was the slabs in the courtyard and stone bowls for washing hands. Slabs and stone bowls, as it turns out, have a very real embodiment - they are found throughout the island. But some of the bowls are so large that you can not only rinse your hands in them, but also wash your entire body. Not a jacuzzi, but still... Local residents, however, prefer to grow flowers in them... The true initial purpose of the bowls and information about those who made them has long been covered by the darkness of time. And only their presence in one of the most ancient legends gives at least one clue: slabs and bowls already existed in those immemorial times when this legend was composed...

During the expedition, it turned out that some photographs of Yonaguni objects published on the Internet were clearly retouched in order to give greater “authenticity” to the artificiality of their origin: the gutter on the upper platform of the Monument has excessively sharpened edges; the bas-relief on the underwater head is painted on to give it a greater resemblance to an Indian headdress made of bright feathers and the like. Such techniques do not help supporters of the ancient history of the underwater objects of Yonaguni, but only discredit their arguments and mislead the uninitiated.

We also had to abandon the version of the artificial origin of the “arched gate”. Photos of them are most often published on the Internet only from one side and from an advantageous angle - so that one gets the impression that they were hand-made by someone from huge stones. However, the view from the other side of the “gate” makes me very, very doubtful: nature is capable of something other than that...

However, no matter how many arguments are given in favor of the human, one might say, highly developed human origin of the structures, there are those who dispute this idea. If you try to accept their point of view, it turns out that all these blocks and even sculptures received their shape only thanks to the random play of nature - the peculiarities of water flow, fluctuations in its temperature and composition.

One of the most famous skeptics is Robert Schoch, a professor at Boston University. He visited these ruins, carefully studied them and did not find anything “human” in them. He points out that the monolith is made of a type of sandstone, and this stone tends to crack along its planes. Hence the straight lines, sharp corners, brick-like surfaces, and the like. And if we take into account such a factor as the increased seismic activity of the area, then the greater “cracking” of the rock is not at all surprising.

It seems that, unfortunately, representatives of the Japanese authorities also adhere to a similar point of view. They do not recognize any cultural value in the ancient monument. And, naturally, they refuse to engage in any support for researchers of the heritage of an unknown people who founded an amazing stone city.

Because of this, the study of underwater structures is very slow. It is still unknown how the city ended up under water. Obviously, the reason is some kind of cataclysm - apparently, some kind of tsunami that happened, according to Kimura, about 2 thousand years ago. But how severe the disaster was is still unclear.

We can only hope that these mysteries will be resolved sooner or later, and some interesting facts of the past will become known to us. And maybe the future... Who knows what the heavy silent stones of a mysterious civilization store?

Three professional geologists - Masaaki Kimura, Robert Schnoch and Wolf Wichmann - dived off Yonaguni, gaining first-hand impressions of the underwater formations, and publicly commented on what they saw. As far as is known, at the time of writing these lines, they are the only geologists who have ever carried out underwater research there. Therefore, when we talk about the "geologists' opinion" regarding the Yonaguni anomalies, it is very important to consider that we are relying on the work and ideas of only three people who also do not agree with each other, and thus there is no consensus of opinion. Other geologists who expressed their opinions without having dived at Yonaguni were unlikely to be able to participate in the debate professionally enough.

Yonaguni Island is located in western Japan. Yonaguni became famous in the mid-80s, when divers discovered mysterious rock terraces and pyramids with sharp corners underwater. There are still debates, but no one knows what secrets the island hides. Scientists are inclined to believe that these pyramids were created artificially many millennia ago by an unknown civilization that disappeared from the face of the earth.

The mysterious underwater pyramids of Yonaguni Island off the coast of Japan still cause controversy - are they a natural phenomenon or a human creation? If the Yonaguni monument was created by man, it will radically change the history of mankind. The history of these underwater pyramids dates back to 1986, when divers discovered an unusual rock formation 25 meters underwater. These were rocks in the form of smooth stepped terraces, pyramids and platforms. One of the tallest pyramids was 600 feet wide and 90 feet high.

There are traces of processing and carving left on the stone blocks, which confirms the scientists’ theory that the Yonaguni monument is not a natural formation, but was created artificially. Masaki Kimura, a marine geologist at the University of Japan, has been studying underwater pyramids for more than 15 years. The scientist believes that this place is more than five thousand years old, but it was flooded 2 thousand years ago during an earthquake.

Other scientists believe the structure is much older, including Teruaki Ishi, a geology professor at the University of Tokyo. He determined that the immersion of the terraces under water occurred at the end of the last ice age - about 10 thousand years ago. In this case, the age of the Yonaguni pyramids is twice as old as the Egyptian pyramids. Interestingly, the number of artifacts found was approximately the same on land and under water. Not far from the pyramids, a human head carved from stone was discovered, on which many unknown hieroglyphs were carved. It is difficult to imagine that this is a natural formation.

“There is a land of the Gods, called Nirai-Kanai, where the ancient gods live - this unknown, distant place is a source of happiness for the whole world.”

“After meeting with Professor Kimura,” Schoch later wrote, “I cannot completely exclude the possibility that the Yonaguni monument was at least partially processed and altered by human hands. Professor Kimura pointed out a number of important elements that I did not see at the time my first, short visit..."