This Small Mystical Stone Saved Japanese Villagers From Tsunami’s Lethal Effects
- Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:31pm by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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A relatively small stone–just four feet high–is being credited with saving the lives of those living in a small Japanese town when the tsunami hit. Carved into the stone is a warning: “Do not build your homes below this point!” That’s because beyond that point, the homes would be at risk to be hit by a tsunami.
The Daily Mail reports:
The villagers obeyed the ancient warning and the tiny community of just 11 houses and 34 residents were rewarded with survival at a key geographical point.
Aneyoshi, in the mountains of stricken Iwate Prefecture, bears a significant mark of the national natural disaster.
Just 300ft down the hil from where the stone sits is a blue line painted on the road. It marks the point in Japan where the tsunami water reached its hightest point – 127.6 feet.
The previous record height reached by flood waters in Japan was 125.3ft, which was also reached in Iwate Prefecture during a tsunami in 1896.
It is Japan‘s history of tsunami’s that led to these warning stones becoming a familiar sight along the coast of Japan as ancestors tried to warn future generations of the dangers. Some of the stones are 600 years old.
Read more.
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Comments (87)
quicker
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 5:30amHeard on the news the other day,That theiy`re shutting down the Bay City TX plant expansion.
Report Post »ChillyinAlaska
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 4:10amTo bad that little rock didn’t say, “don’t build nuclear generation below this point”..
Report Post »OneRepublic4us
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 1:14amPeople build houses in the dry river bottom and downstream in Arizona. They will all be homeless when it’s starts raining again. Idiots.
Report Post »neiman1
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:59amNo different than the City of New Orleans. When the floods came the original walled French City was dry. Why ? Because before the levees that was the high ground. Building where water floods will never be safe.
Report Post »LBNJ
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:55amI’d have to agree with a lot of what FLATFOOT had to say here. It‘s amazing that they didn’t heed the warnings or generations and generations of people before them who obviously were smart enough to leave those stone warnings there..
Report Post »Maybe the dolphins and whales can get a well deserved break from The Cove where they confuse the dolphins radar and herd them in for slaughter each year. Japan is the only country where you can go to seaworld and sample whale and dolphin meat instead of hotdogs while you watch the whales and dolphins in the show! Disgusting! While I think the Japanese are a very smart culture, I do not like their cold attitude towards dolphins and whales. I think the whole nuculear thing on the fault line on the coast was just a very irresponsible decision; it’s more than just their welfare that they are endangering. I hear there is radiation levels detected in water and milk in Philadelphia area and northern Jersey.
ChillyinAlaska
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 4:09amYou would develop a taste for them if you were hungry enough, you have just been blessed living in this country, we haven’t been hungry enough—-YET.
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:19amWhat great wisdom the Japanese forebearers had.
As quickly as our Constitution is being destroyed perhaps we should have copies of the Bill of Rights carved into stone and placed all over the country!
Is anyone with me?
Report Post »earthrise
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:17pmSold!!!
:D
Report Post »freedomisasfreedomdoes
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:06amso cool & pretty & informative & some are 600yrs old–just neat
Report Post »I SPY
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:01amRespect your elders.
Report Post »bedspirit
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:46pmthis is a typical headline on the blaze.
Report Post »JohnnyJT South Philly
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:37pmSee someone knew all about the tsunamis in the PAST
Report Post »SCARY
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:32pmEverybody knows,the richer you are the higher up the the hill you build your house.
Report Post »Obama woulda redistributed the stones back down to sea level.
BigSarge
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:20pmReminds me of an old sqaud leader in Panama who warned us of all the signs that read DANGER! PELIGRO! Not knowing the signs were bi-lingual he assumed those peligros were some awnry critters.
Report Post »OUTRIDER WRITER
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 8:00amI grew up overseas (American) and thought the word that defined “come to a halt” was STOP ALTO… until I got to grade school and learned to read. Thanks for the memory.
Report Post »LIVINGTHEDREAM
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:20pmWasn’t Moses given a couple stone tablets with some pretty good messages on them?
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:37pmYes, excellent messages!
Report Post »Thanks for the reminder!
Brvnkaerv
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:24amThe Mormon church has some interesting artifacts as well.
Report Post »saviorammo
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:13pmNew Orleans could use a couple of those rocks!
Report Post »ILM_Patriot
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 6:08amThat was my first thought.after reading the article.
Report Post »quarter horseman
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 7:06amThe French were told not to build there by the indians, should have listened.
Report Post »earthrise
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:23pmSushi….. what the heck would a “bunch of savages” know?
And now the French are “considering” leaving NATO to create another alliance in order to suck off the new pipeline teat that Russia has opened up…..
History….. wash, rinse, repeat…..
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 3:41pmIn reality the original french city, the french quarter, did not flood. Everythng outside of the city walls (which do not exist now) got flooded. The french quarter did not flood.
Report Post »ghost-of-elvis
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:03pmthis is off topic but I am in the detroit area and watching a debate on local tv with terry jones and 3 local religious leaders…some imam on there just said that tim mcveigh blew up the oklahoma building in the name of Jesus… I think jones is taking the wrong approach even though I support his right to say and do as he pleases with a koran but he came off as the civil one on the panel… I was shocked… anybody else see this debate?
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:34pmNo, but I wish I had. Am sure I would have had a lot to say about it! 8^)
Report Post »IowaWoman
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 1:42pmDid they mention Waco or Ruby Ridge? Tim McVeigh claimed those to be his “reasons” he never mentioned Jesus. He never claimed he did it for God. I do not think God entered into any of his actions, nor did he claim he was doing Gods work. This is just a “Christian straw man” erected to demonize Christians, period. You see Muslims do believe they are killing in the name of ALLAH, therefore Progressives must try and prove modern Christians also kill in the name of God. IT IS A FRAUD.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:57pmAdd your comments
Report Post »ZOMBIE JESUS LOVES ME
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:45pmOld Japanese rocks are the coolest!
Report Post »Jas0n
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:53pmWe won’t last 600 years.
Report Post »Veritas
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:51pmOur ancestors and even ourselves should have and need to, erect stones that say “Do Not Embrace The Collective!!”
Report Post »needanotherReagan
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:49pmI once saw a sign that read Danger Steep Cliff. I stopped walking, and didn’t fall off. Thank you mystical warning sign.
Report Post »marine249
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:01pmlike danger“road ends” bridge out”falling rocks’ I could go on and on.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:15pmI’d like to see some that say, “If you don’t want to stand behind your troops, feel free to stand in front of them.”
Report Post »earthrise
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 4:41amNeed and Show…
ROFLMAO……
Report Post »olddog
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:48pmThe liberal teachers in our schools are trying to erase and reshape history and our children and grandchildren will pay for it…
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:16pmWe know. Sickening, isn’t it?!
Report Post »marine249
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:41pm1930′s = 2011′s
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:14pmExactly!
Report Post »Ampleforth
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 7:49amIt’s 1859.
Report Post »Professional Infidel
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:39pmKnow history or your will have to be tortured all over again, and again, and again!!!
Report Post »Rick300
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:39pmLike it is said…those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it! Nice to see that history is respected and learned from.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:37pmDoesn’t seem mystical at all, just good advice.
Report Post »http://guerillatics.com
BetterDays
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:46pmYou noticed that to?
Report Post »But if you looked at the stone closer, you would also see “this stone is not to be used for worship or mystical purposes.”. And right there down by the grass is a tiny word “petrock co. @TM.”
RepubliCorp
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:52pmyou are right there are stones in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that say (Don’t piss off America)
ZOMBIE JESUS LOVES ME
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:52pmI like mystical rocks. They make my Ouija board work better.
Report Post »TomBombadil
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 1:43amYea the “Mystical” in the headline is not only misleading, it suggests condescension for the Shinto roots of Japan. It’d be great if the headline was fixed to something appropriate for the actual story.
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 9:40amSomeone just forgot to tell the people that built the nuclear reactors! http://wp.me/pYLB7-UB
Report Post »Veritas
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:37pmThat is awesome! Those who forget the past are doomed, if they don’t remember it!
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:46pmCan we install small stones across the country that say (Do Not Vote For Obama) ???????
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:50pmIt really says “None shall pass, sayeth the Black Knight”
Report Post »Dale
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:07pm@RepubliCorp;
“Can we install small stones across the country that say (Do Not Vote For Obama) ???????” I would recommend a slight change: not obomba, but progressives.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:09pmObama begs to differ, he’ll insist rebuilding below the said marker.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:12pm@RepubliCorp
Report Post »Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:46pm
Can we install small stones across the country that say (Do Not Vote For Obama) ???????
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want me to ask Farah over at WND if he’ll start a rock campaign instead of billboards?
RepubliCorp
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:19pmSHOWTIME Why not……. it would be different and might get a lot of press
Report Post »FlatFoot
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:22pmIn other words, the Japanese of the 14th century were a heckuva lot smarter and had tons more common sense than the Japanese of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Who the heck builds their Nuclear Power Reactors right on their coastlines in an island country sitting on the precipice of ‘the ring of fire’ and that has been knowingly ravaged by tsunami’s repeatedly for -at least- 600 years anyway? When they’re not ravaging and raping the sea of every sea dwelling creature known to man, including dolphins and whales, they’re globally polluting our entire atmosphere with radiation and nuclear fallout because they have no hindsight and no common sense. Brilliant earth loving peoples those Japanese, aren’t they. pffffffffft
GONESURFING
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:41pmTrue, very true. There will probably be a lot more of these stones going up now. When the Fukushima power plant was in the planning stage, a great tsunami in the year 869 was brought up, but sadly was dismissed, and the project went ahead, with disasterous results.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:43pmFlatfoot:
Report Post »They did build it to last against a 9.0 earthquake, but unfortunetly, a floor mat got wedged under the safety release device. Besides, it is an efficient design, it cooks the fish before they catch them, and they are trying to create a real Godzilla, but they will most likely just get Mothra. Hide the sweaters.
AzDebi
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:03am@FlatFoot
Report Post »“Who the heck builds their Nuclear Power Reactors right on their coastlines in an island country sitting on the precipice of ‘the ring of fire’ and that has been knowingly ravaged by tsunami’s repeatedly for -at least- 600 years anyway? ……………:
_______________________________
What you said, Flatfoot….AND…WHO insist on being totally stupid; and/or insane; and/or just plain greedy…AND…once the plants are built…they store the BACKUP GENERATORS at SEA LEVEL where they are CERTAIN to be damaged by the RISING WATERS? Had the generators been located at a reasonable height…we wouldn’t be having this discussion AT ALL all and the world would not be in peril!
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:10am@AzDebi
I think you missed the point on the generators, if they instead had wind and solar power that evil diesel generator would not have been needed and the power plant would have been saved.
Report Post »AGORE-ReleaseMyShakra97 posted that, and its true.
mill
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:12amhere in America it would have been torn down or filled with graffiti….
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:27amWe have a corner stone for our nation, It’s called the Constitution. It is being ignored, BIG TIME. It is TIME to READ it, and FOLLOW it, NOW before it is to late.
Report Post »trog58
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 1:39amDarmok
Report Post »If they had wind and solar (that worked) they not only wouldn’t need the generators, they would’t need the whole plant!
UPSETVET
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 5:55amThis bit of news is remarkable. Had others heeded the ancient warnings carved on the stones the loss of life and property would have been minimised.This same caution should be taken in other areas that have a history of flooding. Hazardous projects such as nuclear plants should not be constructed in such areas.
Today there’s a lot of construction in low areas that are “flood plains” and have a history and potencial for flooding. For years construction was strictly prohibited in such areas. My home town of Ft. Worth Texas is a good example. The Trinity River runs through the city and has flooded many times.
I‘m 72 years old and as I drive around fthe city I often see areas that I’ve seen under water through the years. In these areas are newly constructed large housing projects of upper class homes. When an area is designated a “flood plain” that means there is the potencial and probability of flooding based on previous floods occuring in the area within the past.100 years. Man can’t control or predict nature and sooner or later homes and businesses built in these areas will experience severe flooding.
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 6:07amThe Constitution is our Warning Stone. By ignoring it we are already losing the liberty that it’s authors cherished. It reminds us of what needs to be enforced in order to secure liberty and human dignity. Read it again– see how utterly clear the language is! It is not political philosophy. Like the warning in stone, it comes from first hand experience, experience from which the authors want to spare future generations.
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 6:11amDALE, while we’re at it, why don’t we erect monoliths with the Constitution engraved on them? Let’s get sponsors!
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 7:00amExcellent reminder of valuing the wisdom of the past generations.
Report Post »Bum thrower
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 11:48am@ RepubliCorp: Make that “DEMOCRATS”……….of any stripe!! or color!! or regardless of what they say………..
Report Post »samnjoeysgrama
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 12:47pmOK, everyone is worried about Iran making nuclear weapons if they get a reactor. If Japan, hyper techies that they are, can’t handle a reactor that just makes elec, should Iran build one when their building practices are stone age? I’ve seen concrete dumped into the forms from buckets carried on the heads of lines of barefoot workers. Until you have actually visited this part of the world, you have NO idea how backward their building practices are. That picture on the news of the imprisoned hikers dancing around through a bunch of bamboo poles? Those poles hold up the corrugated metal that is the base of the form for the concrete floor or roof just above them. Those hold it up until the concrete sets up. And THEY are building a reactor? NOT a good idea, even if they were peaceful, and they are not! I don’t know if they could ever make a bomb before they have a major disaster!
Report Post »Junter
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 2:04pmLOL! Stone relics that state “don’t vote for Obama”, I love it! Maybe I’ll etch it into my next concrete project for future generations who buy my home.
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