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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 ]
Pukao were not made until the 15th–16th centuries and are later additions to the moai. [2] The reason that pukao were made is not known, though various theories exist. One is that the placing of a pukao on top of the moai was a recognition of the power of the individual represented.
The statue was a gift from the people of Nii-jima (an island 163 kilometres (101 mi) from Tokyo but administratively part of the city) inspired by Easter Island moai. The name of the statue was derived by combining "moai" and the dialectal Japanese word moyai ( 催合い ) 'helping each other' .
Its moai were toppled during the island's civil wars. In 1960, a tsunami caused by an earthquake off the coast of Chile swept the ahu inland. Ahu Tongariki was substantially restored in the 1990s through the efforts of a multidisciplinary team headed by archaeologists Claudio Cristino and Patricia Vargas Casanova.
Easter Island is a volcanic island, consisting mainly of three extinct coalesced volcanoes: Terevaka (altitude 507 metres) forms the bulk of the island, while two other volcanoes, Poike and Rano Kau, form the eastern and southern headlands and give the island its roughly triangular shape.
The population of the island which was 2,770 in 1972 rose to 3,792 by 2002, mostly concentrated in the capital. [6] The island was brought under the administrative control of Chile in 1888. Its fame and World Heritage status arise from the 887 extant stone statues known as "moai". Much of the island has been included in the Rapa Nui National Park.
A group of seven replica moai arranged in an Ahu exist in the city of Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu. 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]
The graphics and themes are largely derived from Easter Island imagery, [3] [4] with many backgrounds taking cues from island landscapes and objects and enemies frequently resembling primitive stones or statues. Fantasy elements are present, with many stages taking place in the clouds and enemies using magic.