is an island off the coast of Munakata, Fukuoka,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is considered sacred land by the local Munakata Taisha. 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 , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'', 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 ritually purified themselves in the surrounding sea. The island covers area of and has maximum elevation of approximately .

Munakata Taisha Okitsu shrine

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 Spirituality, spiritual significance to peoples and communities. Sacred natural sites consist of all types of natural features including mountains, hills, for ...

, 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 most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

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

Legend

Painting of Okinoshima by Kuroda Tsunamasa

Japan's two oldest historical documents, the ''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 The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'', include references to Okinoshima. The ''Kojiki'' states that the sun goddess

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

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

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 the 1905 victory at the

battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known in Japan as the , was the final naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 27–28 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait. A devastating defeat for the Imperial Russian Navy, the ...

situated nearby. Following the site's heritage inscription, this yearly event has since been 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, 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 Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

UNESCO status

In 2009, the island was submitted for future inscription on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

as part of the serial nomination Okinoshima Island and Related Sites in Munakata Region. 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 Munakata Taisha, 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 i ...

because they support populations of

Japanese wood pigeon The black wood pigeon or Japanese wood pigeon (''Columba janthina'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in East Asia along shorelines of the Pacific's Korea Strait, Philippine Sea and East China Sea. It is believed to be ...

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 Isl ...

References

External links