JAPAN: Japanese researcher claims there are ruins of an ancient civilization that disappeared under the sea

Japanese researcher investigating underwater rock formations claims they are the remnants of an ancient Asian civilization that disappeared under the sea off the coast of Yonaguni Island, the southwestern tip of Japan. The search for the ruins of a mysterious lost city called "Mu" sunk somewhere in the Pacific Ocean has captivated the popular imagination of adventurers for years. Many scientists dismiss the hypothetical lost world of Mu (sometimes called Lemuria) as sheer fantasy on the lines of the lost continent of Atlantis. But one Japanese marine geologist believes he has found what he calls ruins in the waters off southern Japan that at most may have been the basis of these tales. Undaunted amid persistent skepticism, Masaaki Kimura has worked for decades on proving that a group of extraordinary rock formations off Japan's southern-most island of Yonaguni is actually the foundations and evidence of an ancient culture that disappeared into the Pacific over 4,000 years ago. Professor emeritus of Ryukyu University and the chairman of a non-proftiable organisation called the Marine Science and Culture Heritage Research Association, was initially alerted to the rocks after tourists scuba diving in the area in 1985 noticed that some of the rocks seemed unnaturally smooth and formed a stone staircase close to island shores. After many further dives, Kimura says he has found irregular rock formations over a square kilometer from its shores and even a 'road' through rubble accumulated at the bottom of the ocean. In his mind, this is nothing more than evidence of man-made ruins in a submerged city. "In my estimation, the structure-like castle is situated right in the middle of the city which prevails over one square kilometer (about 0.6 square mile) from there. And though not as big as the castle, a lot of ruins of shrine-like structures too have been discovered," he told Reuters at his research room located in his residence. Kimura says he believes the city had a castle, a shrine, a triumphal arch, moai-like statues and even a colosseum once upon a time, when the city was above water. "Judging by the design and the disposition of the ruins, the city must have looked just like an ancient Roman city. I can envisage that a triumphal arch-like statue stood on the left side of the Colosseum and a shrine over the hill," he said. One explanation Kimura gives for the site's submerged state is the existence of a landbridge ten-thousand years ago from present day China throughout Taiwan and to Japan across the Okinawan archipelago, also known as the Ryukyus. Here, he said is where the first humans must have crossed to populate the Ryukyus and eventually Japan. With the end of the last ice age, the sea level rose above most of the land stranding plots of islands between Pacific and the East China Sea. But there is a problem with this theory, he says. If the city was gradually submerged after the ice age, it would make it nearly 10,000 years old and even older than the oldest existing man-made structures in the world, such as pyramids of Egypt. Rather, Kimura believes the city sunk in earthquake about 3,000 years ago. "I am getting close to a conviction that this is a mysterious civilization lost in a tectonic deformation in the Pacific ocean. I think this city is not what Western people described as Mu but Mu or Atlantis could be modeled on it," he said. However, his claim only has received a frosty reception from most other scientists who say the ruins can be accounted for by natural phenomena such as tidal and volcanic activity. Many scientists also have disputed Kimura's theory because they say very few artifacts such as clay pots or weapons have been found to prove humans lived among the rock formation at all - even the stone object Kimura says is a carving of a water buffalo has been dismissed as too speculative. But that is not stopping Kimura looking for more evidence to find and confirm his belief in the ancient submerged civilizations.

ITN Source | September 2, 2007

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