japanese pyramid experiment

Japan's Ancient Underwater "Pyramid" Mystifies Scholars

Submerged stone structures lying just below the waters off Yonaguni Jima are actually the ruins of a Japanese Atlantis—an ancient city sunk by an earthquake about 2,000 years ago.

That's the belief of Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist at the University of the Ryukyus in Japan who has been diving at the site to measure and map its formations for more than 15 years.

Each time he returns to the dive boat, Kimura said, he is more convinced than ever that below him rest the remains of a 5,000-year-old city.

"The largest structure looks like a complicated, monolithic, stepped pyramid that rises from a depth of 25 meters [82 feet]," said Kimura, who presented his latest theories about the site at a scientific conference in June.

But like other stories of sunken cities, Kimura's claims have attracted controversy.

"I'm not convinced that any of the major features or structures are manmade steps or terraces, but that they're all natural," said Robert Schoch, a professor of science and mathematics at Boston University who has dived at the site.

"It's basic geology and classic stratigraphy for sandstones, which tend to break along planes and give you these very straight edges, particularly in an area with lots of faults and tectonic activity."

And neither the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs nor the government of Okinawa Prefecture recognize the remains off Yonaguni as an important cultural property, said agency spokesperson Emiko Ishida.

Neither of the government groups has carried out research or preservation work on the sites, she added, instead leaving any such efforts to professors and other interested individuals.

Ruins Point

Yonaguni Jima is an island that lies near the southern tip of Japan's Ryukyu archipelago, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) off the eastern coast of Taiwan.

A local diver first noticed the Yonaguni formations in 1986, after which a promontory on the island was unofficially renamed Iseki Hanto, or Ruins Point.

The district of Yonaguni officially owns the formations, and tourists and researchers can freely dive at the site.

Some experts believe that the structures could be all that's left of Mu, a fabled Pacific civilization rumored to have vanished beneath the waves.

On hearing about the find, Kimura said, his initial impression was that the formations could be natural. But he changed his mind after his first dive.

"I think it's very difficult to explain away their origin as being purely natural, because of the vast amount of evidence of man's influence on the structures," he said.

For example, Kimura said, he has identified quarry marks in the stone, rudimentary characters etched onto carved faces, and rocks sculpted into the likenesses of animals.

"The characters and animal monuments in the water, which I have been able to partially recover in my laboratory, suggest the culture comes from the Asian continent," he said.

"One example I have described as an underwater sphinx resembles a Chinese or ancient Okinawan king."

Whoever created the city, most of it apparently sank in one of the huge seismic events that this part of the Pacific Rim is famous for, Kimura said.

The world's largest recorded tsunami struck Yonaguni Jima in April 1771 with an estimated height of more than 131 feet (40 meters), he noted, so such a fate might also have befallen the ancient civilization .

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Kimura said he has identified ten structures off Yonaguni and a further five related structures off the main island of Okinawa. In total the ruins cover an area spanning 984 feet by 492 feet (300 meters by 150 meters).

The structures include the ruins of a castle, a triumphal arch, five temples, and at least one large stadium, all of which are connected by roads and water channels and are partly shielded by what could be huge retaining walls.

Kimura believes the ruins date back to at least 5,000 years, based on the dates of stalactites found inside underwater caves that he says sank with the city.

And structures similar to the ruins sitting on the nearby coast have yielded charcoal dated to 1,600 years ago—a possible indication of ancient human inhabitants, Kimura added.

But more direct evidence of human involvement with the site has been harder to come by.

"Pottery and wood do not last on the bottom of the ocean, but we are interested in further research on a relief at the site that is apparently painted and resembles a cow," Kimura said.

"We want to determine the makeup of the paint. I would also like to carry out subsurface research."

Natural Forces

Toru Ouchi, an associate professor of seismology at Kobe University, supports Kimura's hypothesis.

Ouchi said that he has never seen tectonic activity having such an effect on a landscape either above or below the water.

"I've dived there as well and touched the pyramid," he said. "What Professor Kimura says is not exaggerated at all. It's easy to tell that those relics were not caused by earthquakes."

Boston University's Schoch, meanwhile, is just as certain that the Yonaguni formations are natural.

He suggests that holes in the rock, which Kimura believes were used to support posts, were merely created by underwater eddies scouring at depressions.

Lines of smaller holes were formed by marine creatures exploiting a seam in the rock, he said.

"The first time I dived there, I knew it was not artificial," Schoch said. "It's not as regular as many people claim, and the right angles and symmetry don't add up in many places."

He emphasizes that he is not accusing anyone of deliberately falsifying evidence.

But many of the photos tend to give a perfect view of the site, making the lines look as regular as possible, he said.

Schoch also says he has seen what Kimura believes to be renderings of animals and human faces at the site.

"Professor Kimura says he has seen some kind of writing or images, but they are just scratches on a rock that are natural," he said.

"He interprets them as being manmade, but I don't know where he's coming from."

But Kimura is undeterred by critics, adding that the new governor of Okinawa Prefecture and officials from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization have recently expressed interest in verifying the site.

"The best way to get a definitive answer about their origins is to keep going back and collecting more evidence," he continued.

"If I'd not had a chance to see these structures for myself, I might be skeptical as well."

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• Discovery of a big void in Khufu's Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons

Discovery of a big void in Khufu's Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons FY2018

To see through buildings non-destructively

The pyramids of Egypt are the world' s oldest stone buildings, and the largest of these is the Great Pyramid of Giza, built around 4,500 years ago for the Pharaoh Khufu, which stands at approximately 150m. News that a big void exceeding 30m in length was discovered inside the pyramid astounded people the world over when announced in the online version of the English-language science journal, "Nature." The void was discovered with cosmic-ray muon radiography, using nuclear emulsion films, as developed by Professor Mitsuhiro Nakamura and others.

Probably the very first thing that comes to mind as a fluoroscope technology is X-ray photography. ut X-rays cannot image things beyond the thickness that the rays penetrate. So what should be used to see through huge structures, such as into building interiors and archaeological sites? The answer to this is "muons," which are one of the types of particle that rain down on us from the space. They have far higher energy than X-rays, and are able to penetrate even enormous structures.

A unique type of film called "nuclear emulsion films" is used to record the muons. In his laboratory, Professor Nakamura has employed "nuclear emulsion films" to attain numerous positive results in elementary particle research, such as with neutrinos. The team of Professor Nakamura and others commenced their research in around 2007, on the assumption that since muons are also elementary particles, cosmic-ray muon radiography may be possible if "nuclear emulsion films" is employed. To date, fluoroscope technology using "nuclear emulsion films" has proven successful for seeing into a range of things, from volcanoes to pyramids and nuclear reactors, and so has been attracting substantial interest as an exclusive, one-of-a-kind technology currently possible to just Professor Nakamura and his team, out of the whole world.

Pyramid of Khufu photographed from the North ©Kunihiro Morishima

From conventional technology to the state of the art

"Nuclear emulsion films" has been in use for a great many years, which the reader will recognize if he or she thinks about photographic film for X-ray photography. The flight path of particles is recorded by the applicatiion of a very thin layer of emulsion, approximately 0.3mm, onto a clear plastic sheet. Of course, because the subject of interest is elementary particles, a hight level of performance is required. In the case of muon paths, recording is possible at high precisions below 1µm (0.0001mm).

Furthermore, the technology benefits significantly from being lightweight, compact and re uiring no electricity, so can be used even outdoors, or in confined spaces. However, there is a major challenge, namely the enormous amount of time it takes to read muons.

Professor Nakamura and his team have succeeded in developing a unique ultra-high-speed reader that can digitize data at a rate 100 times that of previous technology, within the JST's program "Development of Advanced Measurement and Analysis Systems" in which they have been involved since 2011. They succeeded in shortening the total time from measurement through analysis substantially, making it possible to conduct fluoroscopy experiments in many large structures.

External view of automatic reading technology

Principle behind the muon radiography system

Technology developed in Japan draws attention from the world

The international project "Scan Pyramids" commenced in 2015 to look at the group of pyramids in Egypt. Various cutting-edge technologies have been used so that damage to subjects is avoided during their examination. Assistant Professor of Nagoya University, Kunihiro Morishima, a member of Professor Nakamura' s team, was among those who joined the project. Since the cosmic-ray muon radiography of Professor Nakamura' s team, used in the project, can examine a wide area, and with great precision, there were high hopes for it to enable the discovery of new spaces in the Pyramid. Professor Morishima set the "nuclear emulsion films" in the Queen' s Chamber, in the center of Khufu' s Pyramid, and analyzed 11 million recorded muons. The results showed a place into which a large number of muons flew, and thereby ascertained that there was a big void that was previously unknown. It is possible that this space is Khufu' s King' s Chamber, which has not yet been found, and there are plans to investigate it further, to examine finer, more detailed structure, in the near future.

Cross-section of the Pyramid. Red part is the set-up location

Setting up the nuclear emulsion films within the Bent Pyramid © Scan Pyramids Mission / Ph. Bourseiller

Expectation as a social infrastructure inspection technology, for volcano observation, underground caves, and more

Development of this cosmic-ray muon radiography is ongoing under the JST program, to strive for higher precisions and systematization. There are more applications for this technology than simply the investigation of pyramids and other ruins. or example, it was used to observe the interior of the reactors damaged by the Great ast Japan arth uake, confirming that there had been a core meltdown. Experiments are underway to investigate caves, to prevent road cave-ins in advance, and to ascertain the magma situation in volcanoes, to help in forecasting eruptions. It is being considered now for use in investigating Mount uji in the future. This was originally foundational research for observing elementary particles, but it looks set to be of use in the activities of us researchers in ways we have yet to imagine.

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Japanese archaeologists use lasers and drones to map out pyramids

Japanese researchers have gone high-tech in an effort to unravel the mysteries behind the construction of Egypt's pyramids, mapping out the gigantic structures using advanced laser scanners and a drone.

In February, Kawae's group also worked with TV Man Union Inc., a Tokyo-based production company, to use a drone to take digital photos from various angles of the Great Pyramid of Giza as part of efforts to create detailed survey maps of the structure.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

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You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? Submit interesting and specific facts about something that you just found out here.

TIL that in 1978, a Japanese TV company (Nippon) got permission for an attempt to build a small pyramid near the large pyramids at Giza

Did the Japanese attempt to rebuild the great pyramid?

In 1978 the Japanese corporation, Nippon attempted to build a 60 foot high pyramid using primitive building techniques (similar to the techniques assumed by mainstream Egyptologists, which I personally do not believe*). They were to build it from one blocks of limestone quarried from the same site used by The Great Pyramid builders quarried. Once built the Japanese were told by Egyptian authorities to dismantle it and return the site to its original state. From the start they struggled with using old and archaic technology and techniques - even transporting the blocks across the River Nile proved too difficult so eventually they were ferried across by steamboat. Teams of 100 men attempted to move the stones over the ground but failed completely. Once again modern vehicles had to be used to move the stones but once at the site could not be lifted in to place. In the end they used a crane and helicopter to position the blocks.

* My final note: Read the book The Giza Power Plant as it breaks down from an engineering perspective the improbability of building the Great Pyramid using primitive stone tools.

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The Truth About Yonaguni Monument, Japan's Ancient Underwater Pyramid

Stories of the " lost island of Atlantis " have circulated ever since the Greek philosopher Plato mentioned them in his dialogues, Timaeus and Critias , circa 360 BCE. It's an appealing tale, for sure: a time-lost, advanced civilization that sunk into the ocean and carried with it secrets untold and unknown. Nearly 9,000 years prior, Plato estimated — way, way before DC's Snyder Cut gave  Jason Momoa some extra screen time to flex his workout routine — the Atlanteans grew war-like and had to be eliminated. Also in the queue to be drowned by a deity, as 200 different versions of the Biblical flood story recount (per Ark Encounter )? All life on Earth. Babylonian, Aztec, Chinese, Buddhist, Hindu, Norse, Aboriginal, Hawaiian, Egyptian, and more: all of these societies and traditions tell this same flood story, as PBS explains.

And indeed, as Curiosmos outlines, there are indications of water damage around the base of the Sphinx, despite conventional wisdom placing its construction at about 2500 BCE. If so, the Sphinx would have been built by the end of the Pleistocene Epoch (Ice Age), about 11,700 BCE, per Live Science , when lots of ice melted. Sound familiar? Yeah, that's about when Plato said a flood sunk Atlantis. Dwarka, India (per Flynote ), Atlit-Yam off the coast of Israel (per the Times of Israel ), Pavlopetri south of Greece (per The Guardian ): these are just a few more examples of  ancient, sunken cities .

And on the eastern side of the Asian continent? We've got Yonaguni Monument near Okinawa, Japan.

A potentially man-made pyramid with tools and roads from the last Ice Age

Back in 1986, local diver Kihachiro Aratake found what would be dubbed "Yonaguni Monument" west of Okinawa, Japan, off the coast of the tiny island of Yonaguni (Okinawa is a chain of islands). Officially Yonaguni-jima Kaitei Chikei ,   the site is twice as close to Taiwan and its capital, Taipei, at 120 kilometers (75 miles), rather than Naha, Okinawa's main city. It's never been acknowledged by the Japanese government nor the prefectural, Okinawan government as an official cultural property or national heritage site, and there's been no preservation nor research. Instead, as National Geographic states, such efforts have been left to "professors and other interested individuals."

Naturally, Yonaguni Monument has become a hotspot for divers and amateur mystery solvers, as sites like World Adventure Divers illustrates. Pictures show uncannily straight-lined, right-angled stone geometry composing the kind of stepped pyramids seen at Mesoamerican sites like Chichén Itzá, Tenochtitlan, and Cholula in Mexico. There are channels like roads, and steps along their interior, as well as evidence of "a drainage system, a loop road, a retaining wall, a drinking water pool, holes for pillars," and more. There are even, as Atlas Obscura says, tools, pottery, and fireplaces.  

If man-made, the site would date back to at least 2,500 BCE. Realistically, though, it would be closer to (you guessed it) the end of the last Ice Age, when there was still a land bridge between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan.

A political 'hands-off' zone that might just be basic sandstone formations

Part of the reason for the government's reluctance to take responsibility for Yonaguni Monument and declare it man-made, presumably, has to do with the accepted explanation for the site. Robert Schoch, professor of science and mathematics at Boston University, said, "It's basic geology and classic stratigraphy for sandstones, which tend to break along planes and give you these very straight edges, particularly in an area with lots of faults and tectonic activity." This explanation, though, is far from satisfying, especially given the existence of human activity at the site.

Realistically, (and realistically cynical), governmental non-involvement at Yonaguni also derives from political optics. Given the proximity of Yonaguni to Taiwan, Taiwan's strained relationship with China, China's tenuous relationship with Japan, plus the history of Okinawa (formerly the Ryukyu Kingdom) as a conquered region in the 17th century (per Visit Okinawa ), it makes sense why both national and local governments want to stay hands off. Or rather, why they'd let outside parties do enough informal archaeological work for them before getting on board with any official declaration.

Until then, divers can jump in the water and explore Yonaguni at depths of a mere 6 meters (20 feet) to 30 meters (100 feet), as stated on  Ancient Origins . There are, in fact, five different sub-locations waiting to be explored that comprise the entirety of Yonaguni-jima Kaitei Chikei. Some ancient mysteries have been solved , sure, but Yonaguni Monument definitely isn't one of them.

ANCIENT ARCHAEOLOGY

Japan’s ancient underwater “pyramid” mystifies scholars.

Submerged stone structures lying just below the waters off Yonaguni Jima are actually the ruins of a Japanese Atlantis—an ancient city sunk by an earthquake about 2,000 years ago. That’s the belief of Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist at the University of the Ryukyus in Japan who has been diving at the site to measure and map its formations for more than 15 years. Each time he returns to the dive boat, Kimura said, he is more convinced than ever that below him rest the remains of a 5,000-year-old city.

“The largest structure looks like a complicated, monolithic, stepped pyramid that rises from a depth of 25 meters [82 feet],” said Kimura, who presented his latest theories about the site at a scientific conference in June. But like other stories of sunken cities, Kimura’s claims have attracted controversy.

“I’m not convinced that any of the major features or structures are manmade steps or terraces, but that they’re all-natural,” said Robert Schoch, a professor of science and mathematics at Boston University who has dived at the site.

“It’s basic geology and classic stratigraphy for sandstones, which tend to break along planes and give you these very straight edges, particularly in an area with lots of faults and tectonic activity.”

And neither the Japanese government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs nor the government of Okinawa Prefecture recognize the remains off Yonaguni as important cultural property, said agency spokesperson Emiko Ishida. Neither of the government groups has carried out research or preservation work on the sites, she added, instead of leaving any such efforts to professors and other interested individuals.

Ruins Point

Yonaguni Jima is an island that lies near the southern tip of Japan’s Ryukyu archipelago, about 75 miles (120 kilometres) off the eastern coast of Taiwan (see map). A local diver first noticed the Yonaguni formations in 1986, after which a promontory on the island was unofficially renamed Iseki Hanto or Ruins Point.

The district of Yonaguni officially owns the formations, and tourists and researchers can freely dive at the site. Some experts believe that the structures could be all that’s left of Mu, a fabled Pacific civilization rumoured to have vanished beneath the waves. On hearing about the find, Kimura said, his initial impression was that the formations could be natural. But he changed his mind after his first dive.

“I think it’s very difficult to explain away their origin as being purely natural, because of the vast amount of evidence of man’s influence on the structures,” he said.

For example, Kimura said, he has identified quarry marks in the stone, rudimentary characters etched onto carved faces, and rocks sculpted into the likenesses of animals.

“The characters and animal monuments in the water, which I have been able to partially recover in my laboratory, suggest the culture comes from the Asian continent,” he said.

“One example I have described as an underwater sphinx resembles a Chinese or ancient Okinawan king.” Whoever created the city, most of it apparently sank in one of the huge seismic events that this part of the Pacific Rim is famous for, Kimura said.

The world’s largest recorded tsunami struck Yonaguni Jima in April 1771 with an estimated height of more than 131 feet (40 meters), he noted, so such a fate might also have befallen the ancient civilization. Kimura said he has identified ten structures off Yonaguni and a further five related structures off the main island of Okinawa. In total, the ruins cover an area spanning 984 feet by 492 feet (300 meters by 150 meters).

The structures include the ruins of a castle, a triumphal arch, five temples, and at least one large stadium, all of which are connected by roads and water channels and are partly shielded by what could be huge retaining walls. Kimura believes the ruins date back to at least 5,000 years, based on the dates of stalactites found inside underwater caves that he says sank with the city.

And structures similar to the ruins sitting on the nearby coast have yielded charcoal dated to 1,600 years ago—a possible indication of ancient human inhabitants, Kimura added. But more direct evidence of human involvement with the site has been harder to come by.

“Pottery and wood do not last on the bottom of the ocean, but we are interested in further research on a relief at the site that is apparently painted and resembles a cow,” Kimura said.

“We want to determine the makeup of the paint. I would also like to carry out subsurface research.”

Natural Forces

Toru Ouchi, an associate professor of seismology at Kobe University, supports Kimura’s hypothesis. Ouchi said that he has never seen tectonic activity having such an effect on a landscape either above or below the water.

“I’ve dived there as well and touched the pyramid,” he said. “What Professor Kimura says is not exaggerated at all. It’s easy to tell that those relics were not caused by earthquakes.”

Boston University‘s Schoch, meanwhile, is just as certain that the Yonaguni formations are natural. He suggests that holes in the rock, which Kimura believes were used to support posts, were merely created by underwater eddies scouring at depressions. Lines of smaller holes were formed by marine creatures exploiting a seam in the rock, he said.

“The first time I dived there, I knew it was not artificial,” Schoch said. “It’s not as regular as many people claim, and the right angles and symmetry don’t add up in many places.”

He emphasizes that he is not accusing anyone of deliberately falsifying evidence. But many of the photos tend to give a perfect view of the site, making the lines look as regular as possible, he said.

Schoch also says he has seen what Kimura believes to be renderings of animals and human faces at the site. “Professor Kimura says he has seen some kind of writing or images, but they are just scratched on a rock that is natural,” he said.

“He interprets them as being manmade, but I don’t know where he’s coming from.”

But Kimura is undeterred by critics, adding that the new governor of Okinawa Prefecture and officials from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization have recently expressed interest in verifying the site.

“The best way to get a definitive answer about their origins is to keep going back and collecting more evidence,” he continued.

“If I’d not had a chance to see these structures for myself, I might be skeptical as well.”

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How onigiri, not as famous as ramen or sushi, became Japan’s soul food

• The humble sticky-rice ball’s popularity has shot up because it’s simple to make, is gluten-free and is versatile

The word onigiri became part of the Oxford English Dictionary this year, proof that the humble sticky-rice ball and mainstay of Japanese food has entered the global lexicon.

The rice balls are stuffed with a variety of fillings and typically wrapped in seaweed. It’s an everyday dish that epitomises washoku – the traditional Japanese cuisine that was designated a Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage a decade ago.

Onigiri is “fast food, slow food and soul food,” says Yusuke Nakamura, who heads the Onigiri Society, a trade group in Tokyo.

Fast because you can find it even at convenience stores. Slow because it uses ingredients from the sea and mountains, he said. And soul food because it’s often made and consumed among family and friends. No tools are needed, just gently cupped hands.

“It’s also mobile, food on the move,” he said.

Onigiri in its earliest form is believed to go back at least as far as the early 11th century; it’s mentioned in Murasaki Shikibu’s “The Tale of Genji.” It appears in Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1954 film Seven Samurai as the ultimate gift of gratitude from the farmers.

What exactly goes into onigiri?

The sticky characteristic of Japanese rice is key.

What’s placed inside is called gu , or filling. A perennial favourite is umeboshi, or salted plum. Or perhaps mentaiko, which is hot, spicy roe. But in principle, anything can be placed inside onigiri, even sausages or cheese.

Then the ball is wrapped with seaweed. Even one nice big onigiri would make a meal, although many people would eat more.

Some stand by the classic onigiri

Yosuke Miura runs Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku, a restaurant founded in 1954 by his grandmother. Yadoroku, which roughly translates to “good-for-nothing,” is named for her husband, Miura’s grandfather. It claims to be the oldest onigiri restaurant in Tokyo.

There are just two tables. The counter has eight chairs. Takeaway is an option, but you still have to stand in line.

“Nobody dislikes onigiri,” said Miura, smiling behind a wooden counter. In a display case before him are bowls of gu , including salmon, shrimp and miso-flavoured ginger. “It’s nothing special basically. Every Japanese has 100 per cent eaten it.”

Also a classical flautist, Miura sees onigiri as a score handed down from his grandmother, one which he will reproduce faithfully.

“In classical music, you play what’s written on the music sheet. Onigiri is the same,” he says. “You don’t try to do something new.”

Yadoruku is tucked away in the quaint old part of Tokyo called Asakusa. It opens at 11:30am and closes when it runs out of rice, usually within the hour. Then it opens again for dinner. The most expensive onigiri costs 770 yen (US$4.90), with salmon roe, while the cheapest is 319 yen (US$2). That includes miso soup. No reservations are taken.

Japanese ‘onigiri’ rice balls: an ancient snack for modern times

Although onigiri can be round or square, animal or star-shaped, Miura’s standard is the triangular ones. He makes them to order, right before your eyes, taking just 30 seconds for each.

He places the hot rice in triangular moulds that look like cookie cutters, rubs salt on his hands and then cups the rice – three times to gently firm the sides. The crisp nori, or seaweed, is wrapped like a kerchief around the rice, with one end up so it stays crunchy.

The first bite is just nori and rice. The gu comes with your second bite.

“The Yadoroku onigiri will not change until the end of Earth,” Miura said with a grin.

Others want to experiment

Miyuki Kawarada runs Taro Tokyo Onigiri, which has four outlets in Japan. She is eyeing Los Angeles, too, and then Paris. Her vision: to make onigiri “the world’s fast food.”

The name Taro was chosen because it’s common, the Japanese equivalent of John or Michael. Onigiri, she says, has mass appeal because it’s simple to make, is gluten-free and is versatile.

And other Japanese foods like ramen and sushi have found worldwide popularity, she notes.

At her cheerful, modern shop, workers wearing khaki-coloured company T-shirts busily prepare the gu and rice balls in a kitchen visible behind the cash register. The shop only serves takeaway.

Kawarada’s onigiri has lots of gu on top, for colourful toppings, instead of inside. Each one comes with a separately wrapped piece of nori to be placed around it right before you eat.

Her gu gets adventurous. Cream cheese is mixed with a pungent Japanese pickle called iburigakko , for instance, and each onigiri costs 250 yen (US$1.60). Spam and egg onigiri costs 300 yen (US$1.90); the one adorned with several types of kombu , or edible kelp, called “Dashi Punch X3,” costs 280 yen (US$1.80).

“Onigiri is the infinite universe. We don’t get tied down in tradition,” Kawarada said.

Asami Hirano, who stopped in while walking her dog, took a long time choosing her meal at Taro Tokyo Onigiri on a recent day.

“I’ve always loved onigiri since I was a kid. My mother made them,” she said.

Nicolas Foo Cheung, a Frenchman who works nearby as an intern, had been to Taro Tokyo Onigiri a few times before and thinks it’s a good deal. “It’s simple food,” he said.

Miki Yamada, a food promoter, intentionally calls onigiri omusubi , the other common word for rice balls, because the latter more clearly refers to the idea of connections. She says her life’s mission is to bring people together, especially since the triple earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters hit her family’s rice farm in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, in 2011.

“By facing up to omusubi , I have encountered a spirituality, a basic Japanese-ness of sorts,” she said.

There is nothing better, she said, than plain Aizu rice omusubi with a pinch of salt and utterly nothing inside.

“It energises you. It’s that ultimate comfort food,” she said.

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ARCHAEOLOGY WORLD

Japan’s Ancient Underwater “Pyramid” Mystifies Scholars

Submerged stone structures lying just below the waters off Yonaguni Jima are actually the ruins of a Japanese Atlantis—an ancient city sunk by an earthquake about 2,000 years ago. That’s the belief of Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist at the University of the Ryukyus in Japan who has been diving at the site to measure and map its formations for more than 15 years. Each time he returns to the dive boat, Kimura said, he is more convinced than ever that below him rest the remains of a 5,000-year-old city.

“The largest structure looks like a complicated, monolithic, stepped pyramid that rises from a depth of 25 meters [82 feet],” said Kimura, who presented his latest theories about the site at a scientific conference in June. But like other stories of sunken cities, Kimura’s claims have attracted controversy.

“I’m not convinced that any of the major features or structures are manmade steps or terraces, but that they’re all-natural,” said Robert Schoch, a professor of science and mathematics at Boston University who has dived at the site.

“It’s basic geology and classic stratigraphy for sandstones, which tend to break along planes and give you these very straight edges, particularly in an area with lots of faults and tectonic activity.”

And neither the Japanese government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs nor the government of Okinawa Prefecture recognize the remains off Yonaguni as important cultural property, said agency spokesperson Emiko Ishida. Neither of the government groups has carried out research or preservation work on the sites, she added, instead of leaving any such efforts to professors and other interested individuals.

Ruins Point

Yonaguni Jima is an island that lies near the southern tip of Japan’s Ryukyu archipelago, about 75 miles (120 kilometres) off the eastern coast of Taiwan (see map). A local diver first noticed the Yonaguni formations in 1986, after which a promontory on the island was unofficially renamed Iseki Hanto or Ruins Point.

The district of Yonaguni officially owns the formations, and tourists and researchers can freely dive at the site. Some experts believe that the structures could be all that’s left of Mu, a fabled Pacific civilization rumoured to have vanished beneath the waves. On hearing about the find, Kimura said, his initial impression was that the formations could be natural. But he changed his mind after his first dive.

“I think it’s very difficult to explain away their origin as being purely natural, because of the vast amount of evidence of man’s influence on the structures,” he said.

For example, Kimura said, he has identified quarry marks in the stone, rudimentary characters etched onto carved faces, and rocks sculpted into the likenesses of animals.

“The characters and animal monuments in the water, which I have been able to partially recover in my laboratory, suggest the culture comes from the Asian continent,” he said.

“One example I have described as an underwater sphinx resembles a Chinese or ancient Okinawan king .” Whoever created the city, most of it apparently sank in one of the huge seismic events that this part of the Pacific Rim is famous for, Kimura said.

The world’s largest recorded tsunami struck Yonaguni Jima in April 1771 with an estimated height of more than 131 feet (40 meters), he noted, so such a fate might also have befallen the ancient civilization. Kimura said he has identified ten structures off Yonaguni and a further five related structures off the main island of Okinawa . In total, the ruins cover an area spanning 984 feet by 492 feet (300 meters by 150 meters).

The structures include the ruins of a castle, a triumphal arch, five temples, and at least one large stadium, all of which are connected by roads and water channels and are partly shielded by what could be huge retaining walls. Kimura believes the ruins date back to at least 5,000 years, based on the dates of stalactites found inside underwater caves that he says sank with the city.

And structures similar to the ruins sitting on the nearby coast have yielded charcoal dated to 1,600 years ago—a possible indication of ancient human inhabitants, Kimura added. But more direct evidence of human involvement with the site has been harder to come by.

“Pottery and wood do not last on the bottom of the ocean, but we are interested in further research on a relief at the site that is apparently painted and resembles a cow,” Kimura said.

“We want to determine the makeup of the paint. I would also like to carry out subsurface research.”

Natural Forces

Toru Ouchi, an associate professor of seismology at Kobe University, supports Kimura’s hypothesis. Ouchi said that he has never seen tectonic activity having such an effect on a landscape either above or below the water.

“I’ve dived there as well and touched the pyramid,” he said. “What Professor Kimura says is not exaggerated at all. It’s easy to tell that those relics were not caused by earthquakes.”

Boston University‘s Schoch, meanwhile, is just as certain that the Yonaguni formations are natural. He suggests that holes in the rock, which Kimura believes were used to support posts, were merely created by underwater eddies scouring at depressions. Lines of smaller holes were formed by marine creatures exploiting a seam in the rock, he said.

“The first time I dived there, I knew it was not artificial,” Schoch said. “It’s not as regular as many people claim, and the right angles and symmetry don’t add up in many places.”

He emphasizes that he is not accusing anyone of deliberately falsifying evidence. But many of the photos tend to give a perfect view of the site, making the lines look as regular as possible, he said.

Schoch also says he has seen what Kimura believes to be renderings of animals and human faces at the site. “Professor Kimura says he has seen some kind of writing or images, but they are just scratched on a rock that is natural,” he said.

“He interprets them as being manmade, but I don’t know where he’s coming from.”

But Kimura is undeterred by critics, adding that the new governor of Okinawa Prefecture and officials from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization have recently expressed interest in verifying the site.

“The best way to get a definitive answer about their origins is to keep going back and collecting more evidence,” he continued.

“If I’d not had a chance to see these structures for myself, I might be skeptical as well.”

All In One Magazine

Donald Sutherland, a Chameleon of a Movie Star, Dies at 88

In a wide-ranging career (from “M*A*S*H” to “Ordinary People” to “The Hunger Games”), he could be endearing in one role, menacing in another and just plain odd in a third.

Donald Sutherland in a 1970 publicity photo. He said he was once rejected for a film role by a producer who said: “This part calls for a guy-next-door type. You don’t look like you’ve lived next door to anyone.” Credit... Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

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By Clyde Haberman

• Published June 20, 2024 Updated June 21, 2024

Donald Sutherland, whose ability to both charm and unsettle, both reassure and repulse, was amply displayed in scores of film roles as diverse as a laid-back battlefield surgeon in “M*A*S*H,” a ruthless Nazi spy in “Eye of the Needle,” a soulful father in “Ordinary People” and a strutting fascist in “1900,” died on Thursday in Miami. He was 88.

His son Kiefer Sutherland, the actor, announced the death on social media. CAA, the talent agency that represented Mr. Sutherland, said he had died in a hospital after an unspecified “long illness.” He had a home in Miami.

With his long face, droopy eyes, protruding ears and wolfish smile, the 6-foot-4 Mr. Sutherland was never anyone’s idea of a movie heartthrob. He often recalled that while growing up in eastern Canada, he once asked his mother if he was good-looking, only to be told, “No, but your face has a lot of character.” He recounted how he was once rejected for a film role by a producer who said: “This part calls for a guy-next-door type. You don’t look like you’ve lived next door to anyone .”

Yet across six decades, starting in the early 1960s, he appeared in nearly 200 films and television shows — some years he was in as many as half a dozen movies. “Klute,” “Six Degrees of Separation” and a 1978 remake of “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” were just a few of his other showcases.

And he continued to work well into his last years, becoming familiar to younger audiences through roles in multiple installments of “The Hunger Games” franchise, alongside Brad Pitt in the space drama “Ad Astra” (2019) and as the title character in the Stephen King-inspired horror film “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” (2022).

Mr. Sutherland’s chameleonlike ability to be endearing in one role, menacing in another and just plain odd in yet a third appealed to directors, among them Federico Fellini, Robert Altman, Bernardo Bertolucci and Oliver Stone.

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