Why the Japanese Island of Okinoshima Has Been Off-Limits to Women for Centuries (8 photos)
It may be hard to believe, but even in a highly progressive and tech-savvy Japan, ancient religious taboos still endure in certain places. One such location is Okinoshima, a small island situated between Kyushu—Japan's third-largest island—and the Korean Peninsula. Women have been strictly forbidden from setting foot on this tiny patch of land since ancient times. 
Okinoshima is home to Okitsu Shrine, one of the most revered Shinto sanctuaries in the Munakata shrine group. The island has been inhabited since ancient times, serving as a site where seafarers and travelers prayed for safe passage before setting sail for the perilous "barbarian lands" of China and Korea. 
An Island Steeped in History
Archaeological excavations on Okinoshima revealed multiple artifact-rich cultural layers. Researchers cataloged more than 80,000 items spanning various eras and civilizations, including weapons, pottery, jewelry, mirrors, and ritual objects. Many of these artifacts originated overseas—clearly left as offerings to the shrine by travelers giving thanks for a safe return from distant voyages. 
Okitsu Shrine and the entire island are dedicated to Tagori-hime no Kami, a Shinto sea goddess and patron deity of sailors. She is mentioned in Japan's oldest historical record, the
Nihon Shoki
(
The Chronicles of Japan
). Even though this deity of the sea is female, women are strictly banned from visiting Okinoshima. Some suggest this may be a Japanese variation of the old maritime superstition that a woman on a ship brings bad luck. 
Even for men, gaining access to the island is no easy feat. The priests at Okitsu Shrine allow outsiders to visit the sacred site just once a year, on May 27. On this day, a religious festival is held to appease the spirits of Japanese sailors who perished near Okinoshima in 1905. The number of male visitors is strictly capped at no more than 200. 
The fortunate few who receive an invitation must strip naked upon arrival and perform a ritual purification bath in the sea before being permitted to approach the shrine. Okinoshima enforces other strict rules as well: men attending the festival are forbidden from speaking about what they witnessed on the island, and nothing may be removed from it—not even a tiny pebble or a blade of grass. 
Life on an Island Without Women
Once the festival concludes, the visitors depart, leaving only the priests behind. Aside from them, the tiny island is inhabited by seabirds, insects, several species of crabs, and swarms of rats. The rodents pose a major headache for the priests and inflict severe damage on the local bird population. 
Environmentalists and Fukuoka Prefecture authorities have repeatedly offered to help resolve the pest problem, but the priests remain steadfast: they refuse to allow anyone on the island whose purpose isn't worship. The priests have similarly rejected all proposals to develop tourism on Okinoshima. 
“We will not open the island to the public. Everything will remain as it is, even if it is named a UNESCO World Heritage site. People should not visit Okinoshima out of mere curiosity.”
This position was made clear by Takayuki Ashizu, the chief priest of the Munakata shrine complex. Naturally, lifting the ban on women is completely out of the question for the priesthood. They maintain that throughout the island's meticulously recorded centuries-old history, there is not a single mention of a woman setting foot on its shores.
