infamous
association with disappearing boats
and aircraft is known across the globe.
Less well known is an area off the west coast
of Japan which has an equally deadly history.
It is an area where Japanese sailors fear to
voyage; they call it ‘Ma-no Uni’ – the ‘Sea of
the Devil’. Legend has it that huge restless
dragons surface from their deep shelters to
seize any unfortunate passing mariners.
Japanese sailors have often recorded freakish
occurrences in the area and talk of hearing
terrible noises and seeing awful red lights.
They believe one particularly potent creature
lives in an immense palace beneath the
waves. They call this monster ‘Li-Lung’, the
‘Dragon King of the Western Sea’, and say his
lair is decorated with the ships he has
captured.
This mysterious zone stretches from
western Japan to Yap island in the south and
Taiwan to the west. Like the Bermuda
Triangle, it is seen as having an aboveaverage
number of navigation and communication
failures. In truth, this area of ocean
bears a remarkable resemblance to its
Western cousin. Both areas are known for
extreme changes in weather conditions,
unexpected fogs, tidal waves, seaquakes and
hurricanes, and both have examples of
agonic lines, lines upon which a compass
needle will point true north and south. Their
most unwelcome similarities are the truly
horrifying levels of unexplained sinkings
and disappearances.
By the late 1940s, the amount of ships
being lost without trace in the region lead to
the Japanese government declaring the area
a danger zone. In the early 1950s they
decided to dispatch a research vessel to
study the area. Despite enjoying good
visibility and calm seas, the Kiao Maru No.5
disappeared without trace on 24th
September 1952. The lives of all twenty-two
crew and nine scientists were lost. The
vessel has never been found. It has only
been in relatively recent years that these
incidents of strange disappearances have
been reported in the West. To the Japanese,
they are regular occurrences which stretch
back for centuries and continue to this day.
Whether it is dragons or not, the real
evidence behind this ocean’s terrible secret
remains on the seabed.
