Japan's Atlantis

**Japan's Atlantis** is the 11th episode in Season 2 of Expedition Unknown.

## Plot Synopsis

Gates goes to the ruins off of Yonaguni Island, the westernmost Japanese island, to determine whether the undersea structures are geologic or man-made. The discoverer of the Yonaguni Ruins, Kihachiro Aratake, dives with Josh, showing him an undersea area with cut steps leading up to a level platform. Josh takes a rock sample for geologic analysis.

## Historical Context

"Hiding beneath the waves of southern Japan is a mystery - a massive and perplexing stone edifice called the Yonaguni Ruins. Its detailed structure and precise angles appear to have been man-made yet since the site was discovered by divers decades ago, it has done nothing but divide the scientific community. To some, Yonaguni is the last remnant of an advanced culture, thousands of years older than the pyramids of Egypt. Skeptics, however, believe the formations are a natural, albeit strange, geological formation."

- Josh Gates

## Summary

Josh goes to Yonaguni Island and meets with Kihachiro Aratake, the diver discovered the Yonaguni Ruins. They talk about the discovery of the ruins and then they go dive and survey the ruins. find the ruins are very architectural with straights angles and perfectly round holes. They also see markings on the ruins and a structure like a very defined face. Afterwards, Josh goes to a jungle on Yonaguni to see a rock formation that looks similar to the face underwater. He meets Masaahiro Tanaka, a researcher, who takes him to the ruins. They render a 3D image to compare to the one underwater.

He then heads to Okinawa where he meets Masaaki Kimura, a professor, who believes the ruins are man-made. He thinks it was a religious site and shifting plate tectonics caused it to sink. He thinks this because they have a stone from the site with a cross carved in it. Josh then is directed to Katsuren Castle where he finds many similarities in the structure of the castle to the structure of the ruins.

He goes to Osaka where he meets Michio Maezano, an archaeologist, who takes Josh into the forest. There they see a large granite tomb from 1500 years ago. It had similar angles to the Yonaguni ruins. Then Josh takes a rock from Yonaguni to geologist, Masahide Furukawa, who belives Yonaguni is natural because of the intense currents on the sandstone which creates the angles and stairs. They test his theory on the rocks that Josh brought from Yonaguni and they crack off in street pieces and angles.

Josh meets with Akihiko Yakoo, a volcanologist, who takes him in a helicopter to Mount Aso, an active volcano. This shows there is a lot of volcanic activity in Japan, hammering the "ruins" with tectonic activity and shifting plates. Josh heads back to the ruins to dive one last time and they encounter a deadly sea snake. Back on dry land they compare evidence and decide it is a manmade structure.

## Final Words

"To get to the bottom of the mystery that is the Yonaguni Ruins, I've hopped my way across the islands of southern Japan and I've had the adventure of a lifetime. Ultimately, everything I've learned about the ruins brings me full circle to the belief that they aren't man-made at all, but a natural formation of astounding uniqueness. Likely, they are a product of tectonic shifting and pounding currents that have shaped the seabed into a kind of geological snowflake. The rock faces? They're interesting, but detailed scans show they're likely natural. And the symbol found on the loose rock? Very compelling, but not attached to anything so who knows how it got there. But the ship at Masuda is man-made as are the strange tombs and castles across southern Japan. And there's so much we don't know about these later cultures. As for Yonaguni, half of it is still buried in sand. To the faithful, I say keep looking. I don't think it's the Japanese Atlantis, but that doesn't make it any less of a wonder."

- Josh Gates

## Notes & Trivia

* *This is where you can put notes and trivia, anything that is interesting or strange can be included here*

## Quotes

* "Welcome to Yonaguni Island. Not exactly a bustling spot. It's only about 11 square miles home to about 1,500 people and I have seen exactly zero of them so far."
* "I've heard this island referred to as quiet. I think that's something of an understatement. It's like I'm in The Walking Dead out here."
* "This appears to be a 200-foot long child's slide made out of scorching hot metal and rollers from a meat-packing factory."
* "In the United States, this slide would exist for one day before a class action lawsuit would shut it down."
* "I don't know why this exists on this island, but here it is, just waiting for some idiot to try it out."
* "I'm telling you, we get some rollers in your hair, and it's full Uptown Funk on this boat right now."
* "This is a vending machine that dispenses toys in the shape of horribly depressed Japanese businessman. Collect the whole set."
* "I feel like Captain Nemo right now."
* "It's a very simple test to know whether something is great or not. You simply feed it to my camera operator, Evan Stone. The problem though is that whenever Evan eats anything he says, "I'm calling it. This is the best whatever ever," every time. Evan thinks everything's the best and it's because I don't feed him."
* "Minty eye drops."
* "That feels like I just squeezed a whole tube of toothpaste in my eyeball."

## Gallery

Photos shown in the slideshow are from Travel Channel: Amazing Places Featured on Expedition Unknown, Season 2 slideshow. If you hover over the images, their exact image address will appear.

* Josh, Kihachiro, and his son dive at the Yonaguni RuinsGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullrights/2016/07/12/0/TEXU207H\_Josh-Gates-Underwater-Yonaguni-Ruins\_203946\_699707\_1246900.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491593023249.jpeg
* The Yonaguni Ruins that lay off the coast of the Japanese island of YonaguniGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullrights/2016/07/12/0/TEXU207H\_Underwater-Yonaguni-Ruins\_203946\_699702\_1246895.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491593023280.jpeg
* Josh rides a motorcycle on Yonaguni IslandGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullrights/2016/07/12/0/TEXU207H\_Josh-Gates-Yonaguni-Ruins\_203946\_699665\_1246862.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491593023239.jpeg
* Masaahiro takes Josh to this structure in the jungles on Yonaguni IslandGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullrights/2016/07/12/0/TEXU207H\_Yonaguni-Ruins-Japan\_203946\_699664\_1246861.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491593023402.jpeg
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## References

1. ↑ https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTU2ODAzMDYxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODU4MDE1NzE@.\_V1\_.jpg