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Taiwan, Japan succesfully replicate ancient sea migration

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great to see scientific/archealogical cooperation like this.

The plan is that the paddlers will not use any modern equipment such as a compass, watch or smartphone to navigate but instead rely on the stars and wind. 

but assuming that they will be trailed by supply and emergency rescue ships/drones and the like to keep them somewhat on track? as well as some form of 2-way radio? even if average commoners are selected as the paddlers, surely they will have more general knowledge of science/stars/navigation than their counterparts 30,000 years ago.

but just imagine the feeling of those intrepid explorers back in the day, on similar voyages sailing from asia across the pacific to hawaii, tahiti, etc. wonder what the success rate was and how many didn't make the voyage...

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Replicating a hypothetical gives it plausibility. Some theories have it that Polynesians originated from Taiwan. This project reminds me of the Kon Tiki.

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Certainly the Japanese language shows more than a passing similarity to Korean and why is that?

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@Lamilly

Why not the other way round. From Japan to Taiwan

The article says this:

Discovery of relics dating back to more than 30,000 years ago on several islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago has made archeologists speculate that a group of ancient settlers migrated to Japan from what is now Taiwan in the Paleolithic era, which extends from some 2.6 million years ago to around 15,000 years ago.

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Certainly the Japanese language shows more than a passing similarity to Korean and why is that?

there probably was more than one era and avenue of migration...other group(s) possibly subsequently succumbed or were assimilated into those group(s) from the korean peninsula

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There's going to be a lot of right-wong nuts that will deny this ever happened.

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@tokyo-star

great to see scientific/archealogical cooperation like this.

It’s actually called experimental archaeology.

Archeologists using replicas of stone “weapons” and “tools” have actually hunted, killed and butchered animals to demonstrate that ancient man might have used the artifacts in that way.

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This is a non-sense.

There were no travel between Okinawa and Taiwan in ancient times due to the Kuroshio current dividing Okinawa and Taiwan/Diaoyu Islands making the sailing very difficult and dangerous. Okinawans are the descendants of Jomons who migrated south from Hokkaido, then stopped at Okinawa for the reasons I described because the sailing from Okinawa to Taiwan was very difficult unless on a large ship.

This is also the reason why Imperial Japan didn't know about the existence of the Diaoyu Islands until they discovered it on the British Navigation Chart and gave it the translated name from its original English name "Pinnacles Islands".

At the same time, Taiwan was the homeland of Pacific Islanders who went on to populate the islands of the Pacific, but even they didn't attempt to settle in Okinawa.

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Nothing new here. For all you youngsters, look up the following:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki_expedition

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Interesting, and kind of fun, but I knew the Japan-side would ultimately say (Kaifu) that "it doesn't prove Japanese came from somewhere else". It's why nationalists should never be involved in historical study -- it becomes revisionism. He even went a step beyond and tried to suggest people went to Taiwan from Okinawa! haha. The funny part being the boat barely made it to the next island.

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Living in Hawaii, I have watched the Hokulea (a catamaran type of craft) make its voyage to the S Pacific to trace the Hawaiian routes to their roots. An extremely callenging effort and ordeal. I hope this effort between Taiwan and Okinawa will prove fruitful. Gambare..!

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There were no travel between Okinawa and Taiwan in ancient times due to the Kuroshio current dividing Okinawa and Taiwan/Diaoyu Islands making the sailing very difficult and dangerous. 

I understand the Kuroshio current is the same as the Black Stream that is referred to in the article, and that is what made the voyage possible. Are you saying the current was different in ancient times?

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Samit BasuToday  12:28 am JST

This is a non-sense.

There were no travel between Okinawa and Taiwan in ancient times due to the Kuroshio current dividing Okinawa and Taiwan/Diaoyu Islands making the sailing very difficult and dangerous. Okinawans are the descendants of Jomons who migrated south from Hokkaido, then stopped at Okinawa for the reasons I described because the sailing from Okinawa to Taiwan was very difficult unless on a large ship.

Didn't you read the article?

They made the quest with a dug out canoe.

They had proven the voyage to be a possibility.

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