A tiny island covering just 28 square kilometers, Yonaguni has a population of less than 2,000 people and is located 127 kilometers from the Japanese island of Ishigaki, and another 125 kilometers from Taiwan. One of the Ryukyu Islands, which stretches from southern Japan toward the Chinese mainland, it has long been renowned for its schooling hammerhead sharks and other marine life. Thanks to a diving instructor named Kihachiro Aratake, it is also known for the Yonaguni Monument.
About the Yonaguni Monument
In 1987, Aratake-san, as he is known locally, was scouting the area around Yonaguni Island, looking for new dive sites. At the easternmost point of the island, he discovered what appeared to be an underwater cliff face, with huge terraces and steps. As word about his discovery spread, so did the site’s popularity. People have come here in search of the lost legend of Lemuria or Mu, and while some suspect that the site is purely natural in origin, many who have studied it beg to differ, saying Yonaguni is an underwater ruins of sorts.
If not entirely man made, scholars say, the Yonaguni Monument has at least been enhanced by man, as sculpting natural landscapes is part of Asian tradition; in particular, it is an important part of the Chinese practice of Feng Shui. An interesting note is that the Ryukyus belonged to China for centuries, lending even more weight to this supposition. Regardless of where this magnificent site originated, and whether it was sculpted by man or by nature, it is simply amazing.
Yonaguni Monument: Dive Features
Rising up from the seabed 80 feet beneath the surface, the enormous structure stretches upward for about sixty feet, stopping at a depth of just a little more than 20 feet. Rather than the rounded lines that one often finds underwater, the structure features crisp, ninety degree angles, areas that appear to have been carved out to act as steps, and even huge towers twenty feet tall, which are perfectly aligned with one another.
One feature appears to be a 20 foot deep Tida hole, or sacred well associated with the sun’s rising and setting – such holes are commonly found at fortresses and sacred sites all over Japan. A wide arch and a massive shape that appears to be an oversized carving of a loggerhead turtle lend even more weight to the idea that the monument is manmade or man-enhanced, and artifacts found at the scene suggest that there really is something to the theory. Professor Masaaki Kimura, a marine seismologist of Okinawa’s University of the Ryukyus, has discovered a stone tablet, ancient tools, and what appear to be post holes at the site. Once skeptical himself, the professor is now convinced that the Yonaguni monument is more than a feat of nature.
Topside, the island exhibits ancient tombs and monoliths inscribed with characters so archaic that modern Japanese translators cannot decipher them. Legends and mysteries abound. Come see for yourself; and when you do, you’ll find swathes of coral and sponge so thick that outlines once sharp have been blurred. Anemones host brilliant clownfish, while trevally and marlins, tuna, and barracuda can be seen out in the blue. Hammerhead sharks school nearby, sometimes numbering more than 100, and gobies, seahorses, and nudibranchs, plus a full complement of reef fish add an extra touch of magic. Manmade, or natural? Either way, the diving can’t be beat.