More than 700 years ago, work was carried out to salvage the anchor of a ship that invaded Japan during the Kamakura period and sank off the coast of Matsuura City in Nagasaki Prefecture.
In the Kamakura period, the Yuan Dynasty, which had expanded its territories in mainland China, invaded Japan twice during the Genko invasion. It was discovered on the seabed off the coast of Takashima, a remote island, and the surrounding area is a nationally designated undersea ruin.
On the 1st, work was carried out to salvage part of the anchor that had been confirmed in the immediate vicinity of this submarine ruins.
A piece of wood about 1.70 cm long was pulled up from the seabed at a depth of 20 meters under the watchful eye of Matsuura city officials and researchers.
The grain of the wood is clear on the surface, and a hole that seems to have passed through the stone was also confirmed.
Matsuura City and others are aiming to salvage the ship body following the anchor.
Professor Eishi Ikeda of Kokugakuin University, who led the salvage work, said, "I was relieved because I was worried that it would break or chip when I took it out of the sea. I collected various data, grasped the know-how of preservation processing, and salvaged the main body of the ship. We expect to be able to start an important experiment of this from now on."