UN HONOUR PROMPTS VISITOR BAN
A Japanese island where women are banned has now made the sanctuary offlimits to everyone — after being declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Tiny Okinoshima, off Kyushu’s northwest coast in the Sea of Japan, has allowed male visitors to visit its shrine, but only after they’ve first bathed naked in the sea.
A select number of tourists — fewer than 200 this year — have also been permitted to make brief visits, subject to strict rules.
But now the Munakata Taisha shrine that owns the island has barred everyone except priests and the occasional researcher to protect the island from the expected publicity generated by the United Nations designation. “Strict preservation is a must now that the island has received a UNESCO listing,” according to a spokesman quoted in the Japan Times. He added that the island will be protected by Shinto priests.