The Underwater Pyramids of Yonaguni, Japan

Posted on July 16th, 2006.

Mysterious underwater pyramids were discovered in the 1980s off the island of Yonaguni, Japan. The enigma of their origin remains, but they make for what looks like a fascinating dive site.

I just tripped over this amazing dive destination on the excellent ScubaBoard discussion forums. Here's the first paragraph of the superb ToriiTraining.com site that summarises the information about Yonaguni and is the origin of the two photos above:

In 1985, Kihachiro Aratake, a dive tour operator in Yonaguni, Japan was scouting for a new site to view hammerhead sharks. He had dropped into the water on the southeast side of the small island, off a place called Arakawa Point, expecting to see the normal crevices, coral heads, and possibly an entrance to an underwater cave. What lay before him, however, was something that no one had viewed in thousands of years. In the amazingly clear water, stretching to the limits of visibility was a megalithic structure that appeared to be man-made with expansive terraces interrupted by large angular steps and bounded by flat vertical walls. Further investigation revealed symmetrical and angular channels, round holes 7 feet (2 meters) deep, and angular, raised platforms. The megalith was over 300 feet (100 meters) long.

Read the full article to find out more about the mysterious underwater pyramids of Yonaguni. Unsurprisingly, it's already been the subject of a documentary -The History Channel's "Japan's Mysterious Pyramids" - and there is an English speaking dive operator based in Yonaguni that specialises in dives on the site. See Reef Encounters for more information.

// geo ip
require_once("geoip.inc");
$handle = geoip_open(realpath("GeoIP.dat"), GEOIP_STANDARD);
$remote = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$country = geoip_country_code_by_addr($handle, $remote);
// echo " $country ";
if ($country == "GB")
{
include 'http://www.divehappy.com/amazonh3.php?language=en&locale=uk&mode=books&page=1&search=Yonaguni&searchtype=KeywordSearch';
}
else
{
include 'http://www.divehappy.com/amazonh3.php?language=en&locale=us&mode=books&page=1&search=Yonaguni&searchtype=KeywordSearch' ;
}
?>
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• Scuba Diving in Japan
• Whale Sharks In Okinawa Aquarium
• Monster Jellyfish Invade Japanese Waters
• Diving Amongst The Demons
• Great Barrier Reef Guide Book - for free!

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