Ottoman and Roman coins have been discovered among the remains of the Katsuren Castle in Japan's Okinawa Island.



According to an article published by Sputnik, a total of 10 coins belonging to the Roman and Ottoman empires were unearthed by the archeologists who have been working on the site since 2013.



Hirokiyi Miyagi from Okinawa University, where the coins were taken for further investigation, told press members he did not believe the coins were real at first and thought they were replicas. "However, when we used an X-Ray on the coins, the ornamentation on the coins was more visible," he added. Miyagi said that one of the Ottoman coins featured the date 1697 and the Roman coins were believed to date back to 300 and 400 A.D.

The Ottoman and Japanese empires have a long history of friendship. This friendship, however, was carried to another level when the Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul sank in 1890 and most of the Ottoman sailors were rescued by Japanese people.

Currently, an excavation project initiated in partnership with the Bodrum Culture and Art Foundation (BOSAV) and the Underwater Archaeology Institute is being carried out in order to bring the remains of the sunken Ottoman frigate to the surface.



The excavations, which kicked off nine years ago, continue at a depth of 45 meters, 200 meters off the Japanese shore. While a total of eight divers undertake eight-hour shifts within the excavation area, nearly 450 new pieces have been discovered since earlier this year.