This place is in Japan?! I'm in.
So I was checking for movie times on a local newpaper's website and saw an article about Yonaguni Monument. The islands caught my attention and the more I am learning about them, the more I think I need to go. Read about this place (below)... it sounds incredible.
I am sort of shocked I haven't heard about these islands, but I have wanted to check out Okinawa anyways (at least Naha and a smaller island). I think I'm also heading to Yakushima during Golden Week (which is technically in the Okinawan chain, but far north, toward Kagoshima), but this is potentially worth another trip.
From Japanzine:
It strikes us as odd that, while Huis Ten Bosch brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to Nagasaki Prefecture each year, the submerged Kaitei Iseki ruins off the coast of Yonaguni Island are virtually unknown [seriously!...].
Discovered in 1985 by tour operator Kihachiro Aratake, the Yonaguni Monument is a large platform that shows traces of human development, despite being some 8000 years old. Initially dismissed by American scientists as the product of an unusual geological process, more recently Japanese authorities have found writing on the hewn rocks that bare no relation to the local calligraphy of any recorded period. Furthermore, the technology required to construct the monument - which also features staircases and corridors - does not equate with what we know of human capabilities at that time. If, indeed, the area can be confirmed as being part of some lost civilization, history books will certainly need rewriting, though disappointment from those that believe this is the remnants of an alien visitation will be palpable.
Prepare to Be Gob-Smacked......or killed.
Yonaguni Island is home to the anbonia shellfish. Beautiful to look at, and a tempting addition to any shell collection, the anbonia defends itself with a highly venomous harpoon-like limb. One jab and you might as well join the eroding monument on the seabed. The likelihood of getting to an antidote in time is negligible. What to DoAs the opportunity to get down to the monument is tempered by unpredictable weather, rough seas and a particularly prosperous school of hammerhead sharks, finding an alternative at the end of your long journey would make for wise planning. Yonaguni is a geologist's paradise, with at least 5 outstanding rock formations on the island itself, as well as a wealth of caverns. The local museum is interesting enough, however, if you can't bear the disappointment of missing out on the dive of a lifetime, the local hanazake brew should numb your pain sufficiently.
When to Go
Much like the rest of Japan, the Yaeyama Islands are a pleasant trip most of the year round. April and September are typically the cooler months. Remember that early summer brings typhoons, and the Yaeyamas are slap-bang central to Typhoon Alley.
More info available at the wikitravel site.
I am sort of shocked I haven't heard about these islands, but I have wanted to check out Okinawa anyways (at least Naha and a smaller island). I think I'm also heading to Yakushima during Golden Week (which is technically in the Okinawan chain, but far north, toward Kagoshima), but this is potentially worth another trip.
From Japanzine:
It strikes us as odd that, while Huis Ten Bosch brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to Nagasaki Prefecture each year, the submerged Kaitei Iseki ruins off the coast of Yonaguni Island are virtually unknown [seriously!...].
Discovered in 1985 by tour operator Kihachiro Aratake, the Yonaguni Monument is a large platform that shows traces of human development, despite being some 8000 years old. Initially dismissed by American scientists as the product of an unusual geological process, more recently Japanese authorities have found writing on the hewn rocks that bare no relation to the local calligraphy of any recorded period. Furthermore, the technology required to construct the monument - which also features staircases and corridors - does not equate with what we know of human capabilities at that time. If, indeed, the area can be confirmed as being part of some lost civilization, history books will certainly need rewriting, though disappointment from those that believe this is the remnants of an alien visitation will be palpable.
Prepare to Be Gob-Smacked......or killed.
Yonaguni Island is home to the anbonia shellfish. Beautiful to look at, and a tempting addition to any shell collection, the anbonia defends itself with a highly venomous harpoon-like limb. One jab and you might as well join the eroding monument on the seabed. The likelihood of getting to an antidote in time is negligible. What to DoAs the opportunity to get down to the monument is tempered by unpredictable weather, rough seas and a particularly prosperous school of hammerhead sharks, finding an alternative at the end of your long journey would make for wise planning. Yonaguni is a geologist's paradise, with at least 5 outstanding rock formations on the island itself, as well as a wealth of caverns. The local museum is interesting enough, however, if you can't bear the disappointment of missing out on the dive of a lifetime, the local hanazake brew should numb your pain sufficiently.
When to Go
Much like the rest of Japan, the Yaeyama Islands are a pleasant trip most of the year round. April and September are typically the cooler months. Remember that early summer brings typhoons, and the Yaeyamas are slap-bang central to Typhoon Alley.
More info available at the wikitravel site.
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 7:55 PM
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