Ban all Women: No Girls allowed on Japan's Men-only island, know the reason

July 10, 2017

This shrine, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In Japan, there's a men-only island where women are absolutely banned & the male visitors must bathe naked in the ocean before visiting its shrine. It's been declared a Unesco World Heritage site.

Okinoshima island is permanently manned by a Shinto priest who prays to the island's goddess, in a tradition that's been kept up for centuries.

Limited no. of visitors are permitted to the island, this year it was 200 — for a yearly festival that lasts just 2 hours, but they must adhere to strict rules.

These strict rule most importantly say that, they must be men, but they must also strip off & take a purifying dip in the ocean before the're allowed to set foot on the sacred ground of the shrine.

Inclusion in Unesco's World Heritage list — often leads to a leap in tourist no. — shrine officials say that they're now considering to ban future travel for anyone apart from priests; partly out of fears the island could get "destroyed" by too many visitors.

An official told that the ban on female visitors specifically "has nothing to do with discrimination against women."

It's considered dangerous for women to travel by sea to get to this island & the shrine won't be changing this centuries-old rule, he said.

"It's(the rule) meant to protect women; the birth-giving gender," the official added.

Thousands of gold rings & valuable items have been found there.

"These treasures're believed to have been offered to the gods to pray for national prosperity & the safety of marine traffic," says the website -Munakata Taisha, the shrine which owns Okinoshima.

Unesco's World Heritage list includes over 1,000 sites, monuments and natural phenomena that are of "outstanding universal value" to humankind.