Why not, man! Japan's island, where women are banned, becomes Unesco world heritage site
Well, the “He-Man Women Haters Club” from The Little Rascals is for real and now verified too!
As a child most of us imagined 2017 will be an age when we’d have flying cars and robot servants. Instead, 2017 is the year when 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.
Jokes aside, this sacred Japanese island, Okinoshima, is a tiny landmass located in the Sea of Japan midway between the south-western main island of Kyushu and the Korean peninsula. Okinoshima is a sacred site, steeped in the traditions of Shinto – an ancient Japanese religion, dated as early as the 8th century, Anno Domini. Shinto, the state religion of Japan until 1945, incorporates the worship of ancestors and nature spirits and a belief in sacred power (Kami) in both animate and inanimate things.
What makes Okinoshima special?
The island is home to tens of thousands (approximately 80,000) of artefacts from across the world - ritual offerings to the gods over centuries, made to pray for prosperity and the marine safety. These artefacts include mirrors from Wei Dynasty in China, gold rings from the Korean peninsula and fragments of a glass bowl from Persia.
The island is permanently manned by a Shinto priest who prays to the island’s goddess, as dictated by their ancient traditions. Only a few people are allowed on the island, that too for a yearly festival that lasts for just two hours. Even then there are a strict set of rules that have to be followed by outsiders.
First of all, no women are allowed. Only men are permitted to set foot on the island. But before they can do so, they must strip off and bathe in the ocean, a purifying tradition. Additionally, visitors are prohibited from speaking about what they witness inside. Nor are they allowed to carry anything back.
While the tradition of not allowing women on the island sounds and feels very sexist, as are most traditions related to any ancient-organised religion, the shrine officials beg to differ.
As told to the AFP by a spokesperson for the shrine island, “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. The ban on female visitors specifically has nothing to do with discrimination against women.”
The official added that it is considered dangerous for women to travel by sea to get to the island and the rule is “meant to protect women, the birth-giving gender".
That, however, may not be the whole truth. According to Shintoism, menstruating women are seen as impure during their cycle. Not only that, women are perceived to be permanently impure due to the fact that they menstruate.
The menstrual blood taboo in Shinto is believed to be influenced by the popularity of the Buddhist Blood Pond Sutra, a doctrine that preached that women were condemned to a blood pond hell for the sin of pollution through menstrual blood.
But even the measly few who are allowed to visit may soon not be. According to a report, shrine officials say they are now considering banning future travel for anyone apart from priests, as they fear that the island could be destroyed by too many visitors.
Despite the Unesco World Heritage Site status, Takayuki Ashizu, the chief priest at Munakata Taisha, said the ban on tourism would stay in place. “We wouldn’t open Okinoshima to the public even if it is inscribed on the Unesco cultural heritage list, because people shouldn’t visit out of curiosity,” Ashizu told The Japan Times.