Japan’s menonly island gets UNESCO nod
A men-only island in Japan where women are banned and male visitors must bathe naked in the sea before visiting its shrine, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The tiny landmass of Okinoshima is permanently manned by a Shinto priest who prays to the island’s goddess, in a tradition that has been kept up for centuries.
Limited numbers are permitted to land on the island in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) -this year it was 200 -- for a yearly festival that lasts just two hours, but they must adhere to strict rules. Most importantly, they must be men, but they must also strip off and take a purifying dip in the ocean before they are allowed to set foot on the sacred ground of the shrine.
Despite its inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, often the prelude to a leap in tourist numbers, shrine officials say they are now considering banning future travel for anyone apart from priests, partly out of fears the island could be “destroyed” by too many visitors.
“The island has sometimes been said to ban women, but in principle anyone but the priests who pray there for 365 days a year is barred from entering,” said a spokesman.
The ban on female visitors specifically “has nothing to do with discrimination against women,” the official told AFP, adding the centuries-old rule will not be changed. AFP