●Ancient Rituals on Okinoshima

The sacred island of Okinoshima, situated between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula, has long attracted the devotion of the local population in the Munakata region, who possessed advanced nautical skills.

Large-scale rituals utilizing an enormous quantity of precious votive offerings were conducted on the island to pray for safe ocean voyages from the 4th to the 9th centuries, a period of more than 500 years during which overseas exchange occurred frequently in East Asia.

Ritual sites bearing witness to the successive phases of ancient rituals that chronicle the formation of indigenous beliefs in Japan have survived to the present almost intact because the island of Okinoshima, as an object of worship, has been protected by established taboos strictly limiting access to the island.

●A Legacy of Faith in the Three Female Deities

In the second half of the 7th century, open-air rituals similar to those conducted on Okinoshima began to be performed also at Mitakesan ritual site on the island of Oshima and Shimotakamiya ritual site on the main island of Kyushu.

At that time Munakata Taisha was established as these three sites, linked by a vast stretch of sea, for the worship of the Three Female Deities of Munakata. The oldest Japanese historical documents, the Kojiki and Nihonshoki, both of which were composed in the early 8th century, mention that the Munakata clan worshipped the three female deities at Okitsu-miya, Nakatsu-miya and Hetsu-miya.

The form of worshipping the Three Female Deities of Munakata has been passed down to the present day in rituals conducted mainly at the shrine buildings and safeguarded by people of the Munakata region.

●To Protect and Preserve

To preserve this World Heritage Site for future generations

The Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region have been preserved and passed down by the local people, who have nurtured a tradition of faith in the island.

The goal for a World Heritage Site is to preserve it as a collective human legacy, and pass it down to future generations. Preserving a World Heritage Site requires a structure to manage preservation efforts. The shrine precincts and mounded tomb group of Munakata Taisha have been designated as Cultural Properties and are legally protected as such.

The challenge is not just a matter of protecting the cultural sites themselves. It is also about preserving the surrounding ocean and rich natural landscape, and the livelihood and religious faith of the local people, all of which constitute the World Heritage value of the sites.

To protect this group of properties and its surrounding landscape, however, requires not only a framework of legal protection but also the active participation of the local population that has inherited the faith from generations past.

The landscape we see today has been formed through the daily activities of the people who have lived here since ancient times.

That ordinary-looking landscape tells a hidden story of the history and meaning of this property.

We are working together with local residents to preserve the property, including the local culture and traditions that are associated with it.