is an island off the coast of

Munakata, Fukuoka is a city in Japan, located in Fukuoka Prefecture, in the north Chikuzen region of the prefecture. The city was founded on April 1, 1981. As of April 30, 2022, the city has an estimated population of 97,098 and a population density of 810 perso ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is considered sacred land by the local

Munakata Taisha is a collection of three Shinto shrines located in Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the head of the approximately 6,000 Munakata shrines all over the country. Although the name Munakata Taisha refers to all three shrines—Hetsu-gū, ...

. The island's population consists of a single employee of the shrine. He is one of about two dozen Shinto priests who spend 10-day intervals on the island, praying and guarding against intruders. The entire island is considered a

shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

'', and the island is off limits to women. One proposed reason is that Shinto views blood as impure and menstruation would desecrate the island. For centuries, only 200 men were allowed on the island on one day each year after they had "purified" themselves in the surrounding sea. The island covers area of and has maximum elevation of approximately .

Munakata Taisha Okitsu shrine

Purifying ceremony in Okinosima, Munakata

The Okitsu-gū shrine is located at the southwestern portion of Okinoshima. It was established in the mid 17th-century. Prior to the shrine's establishment as a

sacred natural site A sacred natural site is a natural feature or a large area of land or water having special spiritual significance to peoples and communities. Sacred natural sites consist of all types of natural features including mountains, hills, forests, groves ...

, the surrounding site served as a location for the worship of the ''

''. The shrine has been maintained in relatively the same condition since the

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

1932, prior to which, it had undergone repair and rebuilding several times.

Legend

Japan’s two oldest historical documents, the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and the '' Nihon Shoki'', include references to Okinoshima. The ''Kojiki'' states that the sun goddess Amaterasu created three daughters from a sword and sent them to Japan where they were worshiped by the Munakata clan. The Munakata Taisha, a collection of three shrines in Munakata, is dedicated to the goddesses. Locals continue to worship them for protection across the sea. Likewise, the island itself is considered a deity. The mainland has several Okinoshima worship sites as travel to the island is restricted. Okinoshima has several traditions and taboos involving conduct both on and off the island.

Ritual purification Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may ...

must be performed by undressing and bathing in the ocean. Nothing, even a blade of grass, may be removed from the island. No one may speak of what they have seen or heard during their stay (''oiwazu-no-shima''). Women are not allowed to set foot on the island (''nyonin kinsei''). The only men permitted on the island are priests, researchers, military, and the media. Fishermen limit themselves to the port and do not enter the interior. Prior to receiving UNESCO World Heritage status in 2017, two hundred people (all-male) would visit the island once a year to celebrate a military victory. The yearly event has been indefinitely canceled. These restrictions contribute to Okinoshima’s reputation as a place of mystery. Other names for the island include “Island where gods dwell,” “Shosoin Treasury of the sea,” “Island of mystery,” and “The Unspoken One.” Archeological evidence dates religious rituals since the 4th century. Numerous iwakura (sacred rocks) from that time remain intact. Over 80,000 artifacts have been unearthed, which are now considered national treasures. The sacred view of Okinoshima and various taboos and prohibitions may have deterred travel to the island and preserved the artifacts. The island's deity was said to guard a popular trade route to Korea. In exchange for safe passage, fishermen provided offerings that included swords, flat-iron ingots, elaborate mirrors and bronze dragon heads. The offerings were concealed underneath stones or scattered between boulders. In the 1600s a Christian feudal lord,

Kuroda Nagamasa was a ''daimyō'' during the late Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods. He was the son of Kuroda Kanbei, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's chief strategist and adviser. Biography His childhood name was Shojumaru (松寿丸). In 1577, when Nagamasa was a ...

, collected the offerings and put them in a tower of his castle. According to legend, the tower began to shake, bright objects streaked through the sky, and diseases plagued Nagamasa's people. Nagamasa returned the objects to the island, and the unsettling events stopped. Today many of the treasures are on display in the Munakata shrine on

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

UNESCO Status

In 2009 the island was submitted for future inscription on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

as part of the serial nomination

Okinoshima Island and Related Sites in Munakata Region , officially Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region, is a group of sites in northwest Kyūshū, Japan, that was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017, under criteria ii and iii. Background The three ...

. The island gained status as a UNESCO World Heritage site on July 9, 2017. Local residents had expressed their worry that the island's inclusion on the UNESCO list would cause an increase of tourism that would threaten its sacredness. Takayuki Ashizu, the chief priest at

, said that regardless whether or not Okinoshima is added to the UNESCO cultural heritage list they would not open it to the public because "people shouldn't visit out of curiosity."

Important Bird Area

The island, along with the nearby reef islet of Koyajima, have been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because they support populations of

Japanese wood pigeon The Japanese wood pigeon (''Columba janthina'') is a species of columbid bird. It is found in East Asia along shorelines of the Pacific's Korea Strait, Philippine Sea and East China Sea. They are believed to be the largest representative of the ...

streaked shearwater The streaked shearwater (''Calonectris leucomelas'') is a species of seabird. The adult bird averages in length, with a wingspan. Description The streaked shearwater feeds mainly on fish and squid. It follows fishing boats, attracted to anch ...

Japanese murrelet The Japanese murrelet or crested murrelet (''Synthliboramphus wumizusume'') is a small seabird in the auk family that occurs along the remote rocky coasts and in the offshore waters of Japan, and may also be found after the breeding season as far ...

s and

Pleske's grasshopper warbler Styan's grasshopper warbler (''Helopsaltes pleskei''), also known as Pleske's grasshopper warbler and Taczanowski's warbler, is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It breeds in eastern Siberia to Korea, Kyushu and Izu ...

References

External links