A raft is set to put out to sea in June to test the theory that people living on Japanese islands could have come from Taiwan via the Kuroshio Current.
The theory was proposed in 2014 by professor Yousuke Kaifu, who claimed that 30,000 years ago there was a watershed dividing the presence of human activity in Japan.
Kaifu estimated that aside from known migration paths from Hokkaido and the sea-lanes from Korea to Japan, another possible way for people to move to Japan was from Taiwan to the Ryuku Islands using the Kuroshio Current.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
Kaifu said that unearthed utensils made from shells and artifacts made from bone in Japan were very similar to those unearthed in prehistoric settlements in Taiwan’s Basiandong (八仙洞).
It is highly possible that those moving from Taiwan took such artifacts to Japan, Kaifu said.
The project to put the raft, built using Amis Aborigine techniques, conjectured pre-Stone Age methodology and Taiwanese bamboo, to sea in June is expected to continue through 2019.
The project, a joint venture between the Ministry of Culture and the Japanese National Museum of Nature and Science, is the first large-scale joint venture on prehistoric research conducted by Taiwan and Japan, Kaifu said.
National Museum of Prehistory Director Chang Shan-nan (張善南) said that the aim of the project is to prove Taiwan’s geographical importance to the prehistoric migration of humans about 30,000 years ago.
The project also highlights that museums are not confined to solely spreading culture, but can also conduct scientific research, Chang said.
Academia Sinica researcher Huang Chi-hui (黃智惠) said Taiwan has been overtly focused on China over the past century due to political factors and has ignored the vast Pacific Ocean to its east.
Although Kaifu has raised ¥20 million (US$175,000) for the project, it still requires another NT$6 million (US$193,000), Chang said, adding that anyone wishing to donate to the project could contact the National Museum of Prehistory.
The raft would use the Kuroshio Current to travel to Yonaguno, then to another island, before crossing the 220km to the Ryuku Islands, Chang said.
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