Taiwan-Japan cooperation has continued into 2019 with the "Holistic Reenactment Project of the Voyage 30,000 Years Ago" project — an attempt to confirm the viability of a prehistoric marine route between Taiwan and Okinawa.
With the input of rowing experts, three-plus years of research, adjustments, and revisions have led to the handcrafted creation of a wooden canoe that will be used for this year’s 200-kilometer voyage from Taitung's Changbin Township to Yonaguni, the westernmost inhabited island of Japan.
The canoe's predecessor, Ira 1, was built by Amis craftsman Lawai (賴進龍). Composed of 11 massive bamboo poles fixed together by rattan, Ira 1 measured 11 meters in length and 0.8 meters in width, and weighed between 700 and 800 kg. After a trial run, project manager Yosuke Kaifu (海部陽介) and the rowers all agreed the raft was too long and heavy, affecting steering and speed.
Experience led to the remodeled 2018 edition, Ira 2. Built with seven bamboo poles and again fixed with rattan, with additional sand-burial treatment to strengthen it and protect it against termites, Ira 2 was 8.9 meters long, 1.2 meters wide, and weighed between 450 and 550 kg. Overall, it was shorter, wider, and substantially lighter than its predecessor but its leak-prone bamboo elements received substantial pummeling from the waves.
The team then decided to change its main building material to cedar harvested from Noto Peninsula, using replicated prehistoric tools to make a canoe measuring 7.6 meters long, 0.7 meters wide, and 0.7 meters tall. Weighing at roughly 350 kg, the five-person canoe was crafted in Japan after attempts to procure suitable wood from the eastern Taiwanese coastline to craft with traditional Amis techniques failed.
Potential Paleolithic landings in Japan
Kaifu, head of anthropological research at Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science, explained that Japanese archeological studies have found three possible routes by which Paleolithic man may have made it to the Japanese archipelago:
(1) The "Tsushima Route," from the Korean Peninsula via the Tsushima Strait to Kyushu approximately 38,000 years ago;
(2) The "Hokkaido Route," from northern Eurasia via Sakhalin Island to Hokkaido and down through the Tsugaru Strait approximately 25,000 years ago;
(3) The "Taiwan-Okinawa Route," across the Kuroshio Current approximately 30,000 years ago.
In recent years, a succession of human skeletons from more than 20,000 years ago has been unearthed in Okinawa. As such, based on the distribution of animals, ocean currents, Paleolithic human remains, DNA from unearthed skeletons, and social behaviors, it has been estimated that humans have occupied the islands of Okinawa for some 30,000 years. There is a strong possibility that these prehistoric settlers found their way to Okinawa by sea from Taiwan.
This project began in July 2016 with the idea of setting out from Yonaguni Island and heading to Iriomote Island some 75km away using a grass-made concept prehistoric boat, but poor weather ultimately scuppered the attempt. In 2017, Ira 1, constructed based on indigenous Amis methods, successfully made the 41-km journey from Taitung's Dawu to Green Island, crossing the Kuroshio Current. Ira 2 also completed a trial journey along Taiwan's east coast, from Wushibi in Taitung up along the Hualien coast to Yilan.
The ultimate goal is this year's trip to Japan, traveling from Taitung's Changbin to Yonaguni Island this July. The canoe and its rowers have arrived in Taitung's Wushihpi Fishing Harbor on May 24, and an 11-day training period will commence on May 27. Previous trials have revealed that while the cedar canoe has less stability than its bamboo raft predecessors, a 1.5-fold improvement has subsequently been recorded in speed.
Through this project, Taiwan's National Museum of Prehistory and Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science are jointly working on interpreting research into the origins of the Japanese people and human migration in Asia, including a possible maritime link between the Changbin culture of prehistoric Taiwan and the people of Yonaguni.
More information can be found on the project's Japanese-language Facebook and Twitter.