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In Japan, a moyai statue (Japanese: モヤイ像, Hepburn: moyaizō) is a type of stone statue created in the Japanese village of Niijima. The statues, which were created to promote awareness of Niijima, are themed and modeled after the moai of Easter Island. The statues may be found across Japan, where they often serve as local landmarks.
Map of Easter Island using moai to show locations of various ahu The statues were carved by the aboriginal Polynesians of the island, mostly between 1250 and 1500. [ 1 ] In addition to representing deceased ancestors , the moai, once they were erected on ahu, may also have been regarded as the embodiment of powerful living or former chiefs and ...
The statues were built and installed in 1996 for the opening of the seaside park Sun Messe Nichinan, of which the statues are the park's centrepiece. [20] In 2000, the Embassy of Chile in the United States presented a moai replica, with a pair of reconstructed eyes, to the American University. [21] [22]
Each statue represented the deceased head of a lineage. [citation needed] Only a quarter of the statues were installed. Nearly half remained in the quarry at Rano Raraku, and the rest sat elsewhere, presumably on their way to intended locations. The largest moai raised on a platform is known as "Paro".
The ahu is on the southern coast of Rapa Nui near two extinct volcanoes, Poike and Rano Raraku. Poike is one of the three main volcanoes that form Rapa Nui. Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater formed by consolidated volcanic ash, or tuff, from which the moai are carved. Nearly half of the hundreds of moai still lie in the main quarry on the slopes ...
The town has a number of hotels and guesthouses which cater for tourists who come to see the island's World Heritage Sites, in particular the famous moai statues. Hanga Roa and the surrounding area have a number of moai, but there are larger ones elsewhere on the island.
Hoa Hakananai'a is a moai, a statue from Easter Island. It was taken from Orongo , Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in 1868 by the crew of a British ship and is now in the British Museum in London. It has been described as a "masterpiece" [ 1 ] and among the finest examples of Easter Island sculpture. [ 2 ]
The moai with headgear at Ahu Tahai, restored with coral eyes by the American archaeologist William Mullo. The moai in the park are of varying height from 2 to 20 metres (6 to 65 ft). The volcanic rock formations quarried for sculpting are a distinctive yellow-brown volcanic tuff found only at the Ranu Raraku on the southeast side of the island.