Tokyo-based correspondent and his cameraman Jun Matsuzono donned wetsuits and diving gear to bring back this colourful story for Foreign Correspondent from underneath the waters off Yonaguni, a tiny dot in the island chain known as Okinawa. At the very end of the Japanese archipelago, Yonaguni is the site of mysterious underwater carvings believed by locals to be the remnants of a vast underwater city, a kind of Japanese Atlantis. Its extraordinary, says Mark.
Absolutely enormous, and very beautiful, though the key question is whether the currents somehow carved the rocks. The ruins, if thats what they are, stretch for kilometres, but the centrepiece is a 300-metre long monument shaped a bit like a giant pyramid. However, nothing is known about who or what made it. An intriguing mystery.
FX: Waves
20:20
Simkin: At the very end of the Japanese archipelago lies Yonaguni, shrouded in mist and mystery.
Singing
20:29
Simkin: The adults sing of their islands beauty, while the children are told legends of its past --stories about a mysterious castle underneath the sea.
20:42
Old woman: A long time ago, a man called Taro Urashima was taken to the Sea Gods palace by a turtle he had rescued. The beauty of the underwater palace could not be described even in heaven.
20:52
Simkin:
Its an image that has a special place in Okinawan legend. For centuries, stories about underwater cities have appeared in song and story, passed down from generation to generation.
21:06
Old woman:
Our grandfathers often said that the sea surrounding Yonaguni Island was very deep. When I was at primary school and first heard the stories of the Sea Gods palace and Taro Urashima, I used to wonder if there was a Sea Gods palace close to Yonaguni Island.
21:22
Simkin:
Such thoughts have long been dismissed as fantasy -- but what if fiction was based on fact? Scientists are now investigating a remarkable but virtually unknown site near Yonaguni.
21:48
Simkin: Several metres beneath the surface lies one of the worlds greatest mysteries a place that could, quite literally, rewrite human history.
22:02
No one can be sure exactly whats down there but many experts are convinced its the remains of an ancient and vast underwater city -- a lost civilization -- a Japanese Atlantis.
Kihachiro Aratake made the discovery. He took me to see it.
22:06
Aratake: Thats Arakawabana, where the underwater ruins are located.
22:30
Simkin: Aratake-san is a professional diver. He was looking for new dive sites when he made the find of a lifetime in fact, the find of several thousand lifetimes something no human had seen in millennia.
22:34
Aratake: I saw the most incredible thing.
22:48
It was like my hair was standing on end and I got goose bumps. It was such a shock. I didnt believe my eyes what is such a thing doing under the water?
22:53
Simkin: At first, Aratake san kept his discovery secret, but now, well aware of the potential for tourism, hes keen to show it off
23:09
Simkin: The water is warm, the current strong. The entire site stretches for kilometres, but its centrepiece is three hundred metres long. To reach the monument as its now known you need to pass through an archway, a portal, perhaps, to another world, another time. Giant slabs of stone stand at unusual angles, perfectly parallel.
23:24
Simkin: Here, what seems to be a drainage ditch, emptying into a small pool. And here, space like a room, carved into the recesses of the rock. Nearby are the terraces -- massive stone steps, all perpendicular.
23:59
My guide has been diving all over the world for nearly forty years. Hes never seen anything like it. He believes it could be a giant pyramid.
24:25
Aratake: It has the special feature of facing south, the various sections are at right angles and the whole set of ruins is leaning about two degrees to the south. You never see angles like this and everything facing south.
24:35
Simkin: At the base twenty-five metres below the surface is a flat clear space with stones piled on each side. Aratake-san thinks it was once a bustling boulevard encircling the site.
24:56
Everywhere you look there are bizarre shapes and unusual angles some claim this is a stylised turtle, carved out of the rock.
25:10
Masaaki Kimura is the worlds leading authority on the underwater monument. Hes a professor of marine geology and has dived these waters more than one hundred times.
25:25
The professor says scientific testing reveals the site is ten thousand years old. Hes convinced the monument is the oldest building on earth -- twice as old as the pyramids.
25:39
Kimura: First, if you ask me if it is natural or an artefact, I can say almost 100% -- close to 100% -- that it cannot be made naturally.
25:56
Simkin: Isnt it possible, though in fact, probable that these shapes occurred naturally? Thats certainly the view some overseas experts take.
26:10
Kimura: We have been able to collect relics, stone tools, relief carvings of animal figures,
26:19
lithography with characters carved, and direct evidence that humans existed. Therefore, as a result, we consider it an artefact.
26:29
Music
26:47
Simkin: There are striking similarities between the underwater ruins and Okinawas above-water ones -- particularly the ancient castles. This is Shuri Jo ancient heart of the Okinawan empire.
26:54
The shape, size and style, the combination of walls, arches and walkways are reminiscent of the monument although there are key differences. The castle was built with millions of small rocks, the monument was carved out of several enormous ones.
27:12
Kimura: Underwater monument is also cutting the natural monolithic rock it is very similar.
27:32
Simkin: Parallels, too, with the regions traditional graves which were often built beside the sea.
27:45
Kimura: Archaeologists and underwater experts from Europe came to study the site, and they suggested it might have been a harbour -- a port where ships arrived -- but the whole thing looks like a temple.
27:57
Music
Simkin: If thats true, it means this tiny, laid-back island Japans westernmost point was once home to a sophisticated civilisation thats since vanished from the face of the earth.
28:26
Its possible the monument was thrust into a sea by a terrible natural disaster, but more likely, it suffered a much slower fate -- the victim of rising sea levels as the ice age ended.
28:40
Kimura: The earth is now getting warmer from the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide.
28:58
The monument may be an example of a civilised people that became extinct and perhaps it warns us about the path we may follow in the future.
29:05
Music
Simkin:
Asias Atlantis or natures artwork -- hewn by humans or carved by the currents -- the monument remains an enigmatic mystery of the deep.
29:30
Music
Reporter: Mark SimkinCamera: Jun MatsuzonoResearch: Yumiko AsadaEditor: Garth Thomas
Absolutely enormous, and very beautiful, though the key question is whether the currents somehow carved the rocks. The ruins, if thats what they are, stretch for kilometres, but the centrepiece is a 300-metre long monument shaped a bit like a giant pyramid. However, nothing is known about who or what made it. An intriguing mystery.
FX: Waves
20:20
Simkin: At the very end of the Japanese archipelago lies Yonaguni, shrouded in mist and mystery.
Singing
20:29
Simkin: The adults sing of their islands beauty, while the children are told legends of its past --stories about a mysterious castle underneath the sea.
20:42
Old woman: A long time ago, a man called Taro Urashima was taken to the Sea Gods palace by a turtle he had rescued. The beauty of the underwater palace could not be described even in heaven.
20:52
Simkin:
Its an image that has a special place in Okinawan legend. For centuries, stories about underwater cities have appeared in song and story, passed down from generation to generation.
21:06
Old woman:
Our grandfathers often said that the sea surrounding Yonaguni Island was very deep. When I was at primary school and first heard the stories of the Sea Gods palace and Taro Urashima, I used to wonder if there was a Sea Gods palace close to Yonaguni Island.
21:22
Simkin:
Such thoughts have long been dismissed as fantasy -- but what if fiction was based on fact? Scientists are now investigating a remarkable but virtually unknown site near Yonaguni.
21:48
Simkin: Several metres beneath the surface lies one of the worlds greatest mysteries a place that could, quite literally, rewrite human history.
22:02
No one can be sure exactly whats down there but many experts are convinced its the remains of an ancient and vast underwater city -- a lost civilization -- a Japanese Atlantis.
Kihachiro Aratake made the discovery. He took me to see it.
22:06
Aratake: Thats Arakawabana, where the underwater ruins are located.
22:30
Simkin: Aratake-san is a professional diver. He was looking for new dive sites when he made the find of a lifetime in fact, the find of several thousand lifetimes something no human had seen in millennia.
22:34
Aratake: I saw the most incredible thing.
22:48
It was like my hair was standing on end and I got goose bumps. It was such a shock. I didnt believe my eyes what is such a thing doing under the water?
22:53
Simkin: At first, Aratake san kept his discovery secret, but now, well aware of the potential for tourism, hes keen to show it off
23:09
Simkin: The water is warm, the current strong. The entire site stretches for kilometres, but its centrepiece is three hundred metres long. To reach the monument as its now known you need to pass through an archway, a portal, perhaps, to another world, another time. Giant slabs of stone stand at unusual angles, perfectly parallel.
23:24
Simkin: Here, what seems to be a drainage ditch, emptying into a small pool. And here, space like a room, carved into the recesses of the rock. Nearby are the terraces -- massive stone steps, all perpendicular.
23:59
My guide has been diving all over the world for nearly forty years. Hes never seen anything like it. He believes it could be a giant pyramid.
24:25
Aratake: It has the special feature of facing south, the various sections are at right angles and the whole set of ruins is leaning about two degrees to the south. You never see angles like this and everything facing south.
24:35
Simkin: At the base twenty-five metres below the surface is a flat clear space with stones piled on each side. Aratake-san thinks it was once a bustling boulevard encircling the site.
24:56
Everywhere you look there are bizarre shapes and unusual angles some claim this is a stylised turtle, carved out of the rock.
25:10
Masaaki Kimura is the worlds leading authority on the underwater monument. Hes a professor of marine geology and has dived these waters more than one hundred times.
25:25
The professor says scientific testing reveals the site is ten thousand years old. Hes convinced the monument is the oldest building on earth -- twice as old as the pyramids.
25:39
Kimura: First, if you ask me if it is natural or an artefact, I can say almost 100% -- close to 100% -- that it cannot be made naturally.
25:56
Simkin: Isnt it possible, though in fact, probable that these shapes occurred naturally? Thats certainly the view some overseas experts take.
26:10
Kimura: We have been able to collect relics, stone tools, relief carvings of animal figures,
26:19
lithography with characters carved, and direct evidence that humans existed. Therefore, as a result, we consider it an artefact.
26:29
Music
26:47
Simkin: There are striking similarities between the underwater ruins and Okinawas above-water ones -- particularly the ancient castles. This is Shuri Jo ancient heart of the Okinawan empire.
26:54
The shape, size and style, the combination of walls, arches and walkways are reminiscent of the monument although there are key differences. The castle was built with millions of small rocks, the monument was carved out of several enormous ones.
27:12
Kimura: Underwater monument is also cutting the natural monolithic rock it is very similar.
27:32
Simkin: Parallels, too, with the regions traditional graves which were often built beside the sea.
27:45
Kimura: Archaeologists and underwater experts from Europe came to study the site, and they suggested it might have been a harbour -- a port where ships arrived -- but the whole thing looks like a temple.
27:57
Music
Simkin: If thats true, it means this tiny, laid-back island Japans westernmost point was once home to a sophisticated civilisation thats since vanished from the face of the earth.
28:26
Its possible the monument was thrust into a sea by a terrible natural disaster, but more likely, it suffered a much slower fate -- the victim of rising sea levels as the ice age ended.
28:40
Kimura: The earth is now getting warmer from the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide.
28:58
The monument may be an example of a civilised people that became extinct and perhaps it warns us about the path we may follow in the future.
29:05
Music
Simkin:
Asias Atlantis or natures artwork -- hewn by humans or carved by the currents -- the monument remains an enigmatic mystery of the deep.
29:30
Music
Reporter: Mark SimkinCamera: Jun MatsuzonoResearch: Yumiko AsadaEditor: Garth Thomas