Kerama Islands, Okinawa, Japan

[Mr T.]

Well they've managed to keep this quiet, what? Have a butcher's at the photo gallery! Top kit! Just a bit further than Abbs though

http://opencoast-travel.com/Diving/Japan/Kerama.php

[Mr T.]

The Underwater Cities of Japan
Posted on Tuesday 10 February 2004

If you spend much time diving for esoterica in the depths of the World Wide Web, sooner or later you are likely to bump into those great submerged monoliths known as the Underwater Pyramids of Japan.

I first posted about these on Metafilter in 2000 but even back then there were greybeards who remembered them with nostalgic affection.

A STRUCTURE thought to be the world's oldest building, nearly twice the age of the great pyramids of Egypt, has been discovered. The rectangular stone ziggurat under the sea off the coast of Japan could be the first evidence of a previously unknown Stone Age civilisation, say archeologists. The monument is 600ft wide and 90ft high and has been dated to at least 8000BC. The oldest pyramid in Egypt, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, was constructed more than 5,000 years later.

It really is too bad that they were just naturally occurring rock formations just as the locals had always maintained.

Most of the original websites have, alas, eroded away with time and even the intrepid Team Atlantis has turned its collective back on them (apparently, there are sexier fish to fry). But luckily you can still enjoy them over at the wonderfully bent Morien Institute and the "pyramids" discoverer Masaaki Kimura can be still found expounding on their "true value" to the local tourism industry.

But, imagine for a moment that they were actually real, after all, deep down we know you really want to. If you just took the time to really believe in them, imagine what the combined psychic energy of millions of web surfers and tourism authorities around the world might be able to achieve:

Medieval ruins found off Atami?
The Asahi Shimbun

These steps, archaeologists believe, may be signs of a city from the Kamakura Period.

ATAMI, Shizuoka Prefecture-Archaeologists say they may have found ruins of a submerged city from the Kamakura Period (1192-1333) off the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture.

They say numerous stone structures at depths of 20 to 50 meters unlikely occurred naturally and appear to have been made deliberately. Archaeologists pinpointed about 20 sites of interest covering a 1-square-kilometer area.

While no one is certain, historical evidence points to an ancient city having existed in this part of Sagami Bay.

Hyakurensho, a record of the Kamakura Period, describes land sinking in 1247 in what is now the southeastern part of Shizuoka Prefecture and the Izu islands.

Scuba diving instructor Hidenori Kunitsugu, 54, began his own research in 1975. He found what appeared to be steps carved from stone as well as flagstones and stone walls. The site lies between 100 meters and 1 kilometer off the coast of Atami.

``As far as I can see from photographs, these structures were not created naturally,'' said Torao Mozai, an underwater archaeologist and professor emeritus of Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. ``The evidence points to artificial construction.''

-- IHT/Asahi: February 4,2004

Admittedly, these ruins are not quite as old as the Okinawan ones (you just weren't trying hard enough were you?) but, nevertheless, I take this find as the strongest evidence yet for the existence of a biomorphic field that envelopes our Cosmos.

[soldave]

Well I'm digging up this thread from the past here. Just to say that I may well be going to Yonaguni to see the "underwater pyramids" and hopefully migrating hammerhead sharks in a few weeks. It all depends on if I choose to get a new underwater digital camera or go for this trip! Everyone I know who has visited Yonaguni has said the diving there is amazing.

And yes the Keramas is very nice too. And I'm happy to say it's only a $50, hour-long trip away from me by speedboat

[soldave]

Just wanted to bump this as I've recently watched a History Channel documentary on the "Underwater Pyramids" of Japan at Yonaguni. I ahve to say the place fascinates me, and all the divers who I've spoken to have been there have felt the same. Hopefully I'll get to go this winter, when the hammerheads are migrating through the area.

If anyone gets the chance to see the Yonaguni domentary, I can highly recommend it.

[Steve Sub]

Originally Posted by soldave

Just wanted to bump this as I've recently watched a History Channel documentary on the "Underwater Pyramids" of Japan at Yonaguni. I ahve to say the place fascinates me, and all the divers who I've spoken to have been there have felt the same. Hopefully I'll get to go this winter, when the hammerheads are migrating through the area.

If anyone gets the chance to see the Yonaguni domentary, I can highly recommend it.

Is that the Graham (Man From Atlantis) Hancock one? Mad as a badger that bloke! Still he's made a few bob from his ridiculous "theories". And got to dive some fascinating, if not Atlantian, places!
Steve

[soldave]

Not sure about this Graham Hancock man. The "ruins" here were found by an Okinawan Divemaster, who was looking for new dive sites to see the migrating hammerhead sharks.

[Steve Sub]

Originally Posted by soldave

Not sure about this Graham Hancock man. The "ruins" here were found by an Okinawan Divemaster, who was looking for new dive sites to see the migrating hammerhead sharks.

See: The Official Graham Hancock Website

Steve

[soldave]

Originally Posted by Steve Sub

See: The Official Graham Hancock Website

Steve

I'm still unsure of where he has said that he found the ruins. It says he has worked on them with a dive company in Yonaguni and written a book about it, but that's about it.

I may be not looking hard enough though...