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Yonaguni Monument

Underwater Ruins off Yonaguni Island in Japan

Man-Made or Natural?

Fun Dive

Snorkel or Glass Bottom Boat

Yonaguni monument can be seen by snorkeling or by a glass bottom boat.

Discoverer and Leading Researcher

Kihachiro Aratake
Discoverer

Mr. Kihachiro Aratake is a local dive operator who first discovered the monument (No. 1) - Iseki Point - in 1986.

Masaaki Kimura
Leading Researcher

Professor Masaaki Kimura is the leading researcher of the monuments.

Marine geologist, Professor, Department of Physics and Earth Sciences University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa - Ph.D. of Marine Biology. Graduated from the Tokyo University graduate school.

Disputes

People are fascinated with the monument or rock. You can find countless videos on YouTube on the subject.

Man-Made

I think it a man-made. So here're videos and photos by Graham Hancock.

Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock has said it is man-made after his first dive. Since then, he has done over 200 dives on Yonaguni Island and other Ryukyu Islands and found definite man-made stone structures underwater.

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From a person who is "in heated kitchen" in the debate on "Man-made or natural".

Or, simply it does not pass threshold for serious study for archeology? Here's a case for example:

Dwarka: India's submerged ancient city

Natural

Robert M. Schock

To be fair:

He visited Yonaguni twice and did several dives each time, and does not say it 100% natural, admitting possibility of some "touched up".

".. However, if I simply state that the Yonaguni Monument is natural, I leave out part of the story.

On the island is evidence of very ancient human habitation, including tombs and other structures artificially carved from the bedrock (see the accompanying photo) that I am convinced mimic, and were stylistically inspired by, the natural features of the island, including the step-like features now submerged by the ocean.

Indeed, I believe that even though the Yonaguni Monument may be primarily natural (say, over 95% natural), parts may have been "touched up" by ancient humans and the ancient inhabitants of the island may have both admired and utilized the Yonaguni Monument.

Analogously, we can consider the famous prehistoric cave paintings of Europe.

The caves themselves are natural (although in a few places perhaps artificially enlarged), but the caves were utilized by ancient humans and the paintings on their walls and ceilings are artificial productions by early humans.

Although, disappointingly, the Yonaguni Monument is natural, the island itself attests to habitation by an early human population."

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From what I read after his first dive, I thought his opinion was "100%" natural. But his later idea seems to inch toward the possibility of "man-made."

"Primarily natural," "95% natural," or maybe "touched up."- It sounds like a matter of definition of "natural." At what percentage does he think it crosses over from natural to man-made?


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Last updated January 4, 2024.
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