Roughly 60 kilometers off the northern coast of Kyūshū amid the turbulent swells and currents of the Genkai Sea rises a primeval rocky island four kilometers in circumference named Okinoshima (沖ノ島). For more than fifteen centuries, ancient religious taboos have governed every footstep on its shores: women have been forbidden to land, men permitted ashore had to strip naked and immerse themselves in the cold sea for ritual purification (Misogi), no visitor could carry away so much as a single blade of grass, twig, or pebble, and no one was allowed to speak of what they witnessed on the island.
That remote island is home to Okitsu-miya (沖津宮), the outermost of the three sanctuaries that together form Munakata Taisha (Japanese: 宗像大社) in Munakata City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Serving as the supreme head shrine of more than 6,200 (by some counts over 7,000) Munakata and Itsukushima shrines across Japan, Munakata Taisha and Okinoshima preserve intact the earliest stages of ancient Shinto ritual alongside some 80,000 state offerings dedicated between the fourth and ninth centuries, earning Okinoshima the title Shōsōin of the Seas (Umi no Shōsōin).
IThe Three Munakata Goddesses, the heavenly oath, and guardians of the sea routes
Unlike a single shrine compound on land, Munakata Taisha is the collective name of three sacred sanctuaries (San-miya) aligned along a 60-kilometer maritime corridor stretching from the coast of Munakata in northern Kyūshū straight toward the Korean Peninsula and the Asian continent. These three sanctuaries enshrine the Three Munakata Goddesses (Munakata Sanjoshin, 宗像三女神), ancient deities of the sea, navigation, and all thoroughfares, honored in the imperial chronicle Nihon Shoki with the exalted title Michinushi-no-Muchi (道主貴, Most Noble Mistresses of the Way).
According to the foundational myths recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE), before the storm deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto departed for the netherworld, he ascended to the High Plain of Heaven to bid farewell to his elder sister, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami (ancestral deity of the Imperial House enshrined at Ise Grand Shrine). In a sacred Oath Ritual (Ukei) to test the purity of his intentions, Amaterasu took Susanoo's ten-span sword (Totsuka-no-Tsurugi), broke the blade into three pieces, rinsed them in the Heavenly True Well (Ame-no-Manai), chewed them, and blew out a fine mist from which were born three radiant goddesses: the Three Munakata Goddesses.
Immediately upon their birth, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu issued a solemn Divine Edict (Shinchoku, recorded in the Nihon Shoki): Descend onto the sea route leading to the northern continent, dwell there to guard and assist the descendants of the Heavenly Grandson (the Emperors of Japan), and receive the reverent worship of the Heavenly Grandson.
Obeying this command, the three sisters descended to three stepping-stone sites linking the open sea with the mainland: the eldest sister, Tagorihime-no-Kami (田心姫神, goddess of sea mist), took her seat at Okitsu-miya on the island of Okinoshima 60 kilometers offshore, the middle sister, Tagitsuhime-no-Kami (湍津姫神, goddess of swift ocean currents), took her seat at Nakatsu-miya on Ōshima Island roughly 11 kilometers offshore, and the youngest sister, Ichikishimahime-no-Kami (市杵島姫神, goddess of maritime safety, who is also the principal deity of Itsukushima Shrine at Miyajima and was later syncretized with the Buddhist goddess Benzaiten), took her seat at Hetsu-miya in the Tashima district on the Munakata mainland.
In the history of ancient East Asian seafaring, the Genkai Sea (Genkai-nada) between northern Kyūshū and the Tsushima Strait was the vital yet perilous maritime artery connecting Japan with the Asian mainland. From the fourth through the ninth centuries CE, every diplomatic embassy, military expedition, merchant vessel, and scholarly monk sailing from the Yamato court to the kingdoms of the Korean Peninsula (Baekje, Silla, Gaya) or to Sui and Tang China (the Kenzuishi and Kentōshi missions) had to cross these treacherous waters.
In an era before magnetic compasses, the 244-meter-high rocky silhouette of Okinoshima rising midway across the sea served as the indispensable natural beacon guiding navigators across the strait. Consequently, the early Japanese state and the powerful local maritime clan of northern Kyūshū, the Munakata clan (Munakata-uji, whose chieftains built the nearby Shimbaru-Nuyama Kofun burial mounds), conducted state rituals directly among the giant boulders of Okinoshima, praying to the Three Munakata Goddesses for safe passage and depositing the finest treasures of the imperial court and of Eurasian trade.
Two points require clear explanation regarding the taboos of Okinoshima and Munakata Taisha. First, many people read news accounts about the ban on women landing on Okinoshima (Nyonin Kinsei) and mistakenly assume that the whole of Munakata Taisha excludes women or that the rule derives from Buddhist monastic precepts. In reality, the two major sanctuaries of Hetsu-miya on the Munakata mainland and Nakatsu-miya on Ōshima Island are completely open to worshippers of all genders every day. As for remote Okinoshima, following its inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017, in order to protect the fragile archaeological sites and sacred ecology of the island, Munakata Taisha discontinued even the annual May 27 festival that previously allowed 200 male worshippers ashore: today no member of the general public, male or female, is permitted to land on Okinoshima, and only a single Shinto priest (Shinshoku) from Munakata Taisha resides on the island in solitary rotation to perform daily purification and offerings.
Second, visitors often ask how one can venerate Okinoshima without setting foot on the island. For centuries Munakata Taisha has maintained the Distant Worship Hall for Okitsu-miya (Okitsu-miya Yōhaisho) on the northern shore of Ōshima Island: on clear days, worshippers standing at this hall look out across 49 kilometers of open sea directly toward the silhouette of Okinoshima on the horizon, practicing traditional distant veneration (Yōhai).
IIFour stages of ancient ritual from the 4th to the 9th century and 80,000 National Treasures
Because strict taboos (Okinoshima no Tabū) forbade anyone from removing even a single stone or artifact from the island for over a millennium, the ancient ritual sites on Okinoshima remained untouched by later hands, preserving a continuous archaeological record of how early Shinto worship evolved from open-air nature rituals to permanent shrine architecture.
- Late 4th to 5th centuryStage 1: Rituals atop giant boulders (Iwakura)Beginning in the second half of the 4th century (contemporary with the great Kofun tumuli of the Yamato state), the earliest state rituals were performed directly on top of massive primeval boulders (Iwakura) inside Okinoshima's forest where kami were believed to descend. Offerings included dozens of triangular-rimmed bronze mirrors with divine beast motifs (Sankakubuchi Shinjūkyō), iron swords, jasper Magatama comma-shaped beads, and stone bracelets.
- Late 5th to 7th centuryStage 2: Rituals in rock shelters beneath overhanging cliffs (Iwakage)From the late 5th through the 7th centuries, rites shifted to flat ground beneath huge overhanging rock faces that acted as natural eaves (Iwakage). Reflecting peak maritime exchanges with Korea and Eurasia, offerings included pure gold rings from the kingdom of Silla, fragments of a cut-glass bowl from Sassanid Persia, gilt-bronze horse trappings, and miniature bronze looms.
- Late 7th to 8th centuryStage 3: Rituals partly beneath rock overhangs and partly in the open airDuring the Asuka and Nara periods (as the Ritsuryō state code took shape and Kentōshi missions sailed to Tang China), ritual spaces expanded outward from the rock shelters into stone-bordered open plazas, with offerings shifting toward gilt-bronze ritual miniatures, early copper coins, Tang celadon, and three-color glazed Nara Sansai ceramics.
- 8th to late 9th centuryStage 4: Open-air rituals (Roten) and the emergence of wooden shrine buildingsFrom the 8th to the late 9th century, state rituals moved completely away from the boulders onto a broad open clearing (Roten), leading directly to the erection of the first permanent wooden sanctuary of Okitsu-miya. Around 894, when the Heian court halted official Kentōshi embassies to Tang China, large-scale state rock rituals on Okinoshima ceased, giving way to ongoing shrine worship.
- 5th to 6th centuryConstruction of the Shimbaru-Nuyama Kofun group by the Munakata clanOn a coastal plateau in neighboring Fukutsu City overlooking the sea toward Ōshima and Okinoshima, the chieftains of the Munakata clan (who officiated at the three shrines and commanded Genkai maritime navigation) built the Shimbaru-Nuyama Kofun cluster of 41 burial mounds, including five large keyhole-shaped tumuli.
- 1557 to 1590High Priest Munakata Ujisada and Lord Kobayakawa Takakage rebuild Hetsu-miyaAfter medieval fires destroyed the mainland buildings at Hetsu-miya, in Kōji 3 (1557) the 80th High Priest and lord Munakata Ujisada reconstructed the present Main Sanctuary (Honden). In Tenshō 18 (1590), the military commander Kobayakawa Takakage (son of Mōri Motonari) added the open-sided Worship Hall (Haiden) roofed in cypress bark.
- 1954 to 1971Three landmark archaeological surveys on OkinoshimaBetween 1954 and 1971, with special authorization from Munakata Taisha, Japanese archaeologists conducted three scientific surveys across 23 ancient ritual sites around the boulders of Okinoshima, uncovering roughly 80,000 votive artifacts lying untouched where they had been offered over a millennium earlier. All 80,000 artifacts were collectively designated National Treasures of Japan.
- 2017Inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage SiteOn July 9, 2017, at its 41st session in Kraków, Poland, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed all eight component sites, including Sacred Island of Okinoshima (with three offshore reefs), Nakatsu-miya and the Yōhaisho on Ōshima, Hetsu-miya on the mainland, and the Shimbaru-Nuyama Kofun group, on the World Heritage List.
The chronological progression across four stages of open-air ritual from the fourth to the ninth century at the 23 archaeological sites on Okinoshima (moving from Atop Boulders to Beneath Rock Overhangs, then Partly Under Rock and Partly Open-Air, and finally Open-Air Plazas Preceding Wooden Shrines) provides the world's only intact archaeological record of how Shinto sacred space originated. Prior to the seventh century, the Japanese did not construct permanent wooden halls to house kami indoors, but instead purified sacred ground beside primeval boulders (Iwakura) and sacred trees (Himorogi) to invite the kami to descend during ceremonies. Only on the taboo-protected island of Okinoshima did all four transitional stages survive undisturbed in the earth alongside 80,000 treasures.
IIIThe three sanctuaries across 60 km of sea and the Shimpōkan Treasure Museum
Spatially, Munakata Taisha consists of three sanctuaries distributed along a straight maritime line running from the mainland out to the open sea: Hetsu-miya (辺津宮) beside the Tsurikawa River in Munakata City on mainland Kyūshū, Nakatsu-miya (中津宮) at the foot of Mount Mitake on Ōshima Island roughly 11 kilometers offshore, and Okitsu-miya (沖津宮) nestled among primeval forest and giant boulders on Okinoshima roughly 60 kilometers offshore (accompanied by three precipitous offshore sea stacks, Koyashima, Mikado-bashira, and Tengu-iwa, which serve as a natural stone Torii gate rising out of the sea).
The main pilgrimage center accessible to all visitors is Hetsu-miya on the mainland. Here stand two sixteenth-century wooden shrine buildings designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan, the ancient open-air ritual ground Takamiya Saijō, and the Shimpōkan Treasure Museum (神宝館), where the 80,000 National Treasures recovered from Okinoshima are conserved and displayed to the public.
Enshrining the youngest sister goddess Ichikishimahime-no-Kami, the Main Sanctuary of Hetsu-miya was rebuilt in Kōji 3 (1557) by High Priest Munakata Ujisada in a five-bay Nagare-zukuri style with a thick cypress-bark roof crowned by Chigi finials and Katsuogi billets. In front stands the open-sided Worship Hall erected in Tenshō 18 (1590) by Lord Kobayakawa Takakage with a graceful gabled cypress-bark roof. Both structures are Important Cultural Properties of Japan.
Set to the left rear of Hetsu-miya's Main Sanctuary stand two unpainted cypress shrines built in the archaic Shinmei-zukuri style: Teini-gū (enshrining thedivided spirit of the eldest sister Tagorihime of Okinoshima) and Teisan-gū (enshrining the middle sister Tagitsuhime of Ōshima). Donated to Munakata Taisha (historically honored as 'Ura-Ise' or Rear Ise) following the 60th Shikinen Sengū rebuilding of Ise Grand Shrine in 1973, these two halls allow visitors on the mainland to venerate all three goddesses in one precinct.
A shaded forest path behind Hetsu-miya leads up the lower slope of Mount Munakata (a sacred Kannabi hill) to Takamiya Saijō (高宮祭場). It is one of the very few surviving ancient open-air ritual enclosures (Himorogi) in Japan without a sanctuary building: a square court of pure white gravel enclosing sacred trees surrounded by forest, revered as the spot where the goddess Ichikishimahime first descended and mirroring the ancient open-air rock altars of Okinoshima.
Located within the Hetsu-miya grounds, the three-story Shimpōkan Museum exhibits the National Treasures excavated from the 23 ritual sites on Okinoshima: highlights include a 5th-to-6th-century filigree gold ring from the Silla kingdom, fragments of a faceted cut-glass bowl from Sassanid Persia, dozens of Han-Wei bronze mirrors, gilt-bronze miniature looms and zithers (Koto), and 8th-century Nara three-color glazed jars.
On Ōshima Island (a 25-minute ferry ride from Kōnominato Port), Nakatsu-miya enshrines the middle sister Tagitsuhime in a 16th-century sanctuary beside the clear spring of Ame-no-Manai (Heavenly True Well), linked to Japan's oldest Tanabata Star Festival traditions. On the northern coast of Ōshima stands the Okitsu-miya Yōhaisho (Distant Worship Hall), facing north across the sea toward Okinoshima.
Tucked inside the primeval subtropical forest on the southwestern slope of Okinoshima (at coordinates 34.2392° N, 130.1050° E), the wooden sanctuary of Okitsu-miya enshrines the eldest sister Tagorihime directly beneath a towering megalithic overhang (Archaeological Sites 17 to 21), surrounded by over 20 massive Iwakura boulders where state rituals were performed from the 4th to the 9th century.
| National Treasure or Heritage Component | Date | Quantity and Historical Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Excavated Votive Artifacts from Okinoshima Ritual Sites | 4th to 9th century CE | National Treasures of Japan (approx. 80,000 items), conserved and displayed at the Shimpōkan Museum at Hetsu-miya |
| Silla Pure Gold Ring and Sassanid Persian Cut-Glass Bowl Fragments | 5th to 6th century | National Treasures of Japan, tangible proof of Maritime Silk Road exchanges linking Persia, China, Korea, and Japan |
| Bronze Mirrors (Sankakubuchi Shinjūkyō), Magatama Beads, and Iron Swords | 4th to 5th century | National Treasures of Japan, matching the three imperial regalia types of the early Yamato court in the Kofun period |
| Gilt-Bronze Ritual Miniatures (Looms, Koto Zithers) and Nara Sansai Pottery | 7th to 9th century | National Treasures of Japan, reflecting Ritsuryō state offerings closely paralleling sacred treasures dedicated at Ise Grand Shrine |
| Main Sanctuary (1557) and Worship Hall (1590) of Hetsu-miya | 1557 and 1590 | Important Cultural Properties of Japan, representative 16th-century cypress-bark-roofed shrine architecture of Kyūshū |
| Kamakura Stone Stele (Ameda-ishi) and Munakata Taisha Archives | Kamakura period | Important Cultural Properties of Japan, including a Ningbo stone stele inscribed with medieval decrees of the Munakata High Priests |
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
First, it must be stated clearly: the alignment of the three sanctuaries of Munakata Taisha did not arise from later Chinese compass geomancy, but from indigenous fourth-century worship of sacred islands (Shintai-jima), primeval boulders (Iwakura), and the practical maritime navigation route across the Genkai Sea. The analysis below offers a comparative reading through the traditional geomantic lens of the Hall of Myriad Paths library, illustrating why Munakata's 60-kilometer sea axis forms one of the grandest mountain-and-sea formations in East Asia.
Viewed on a macro-topographical map of northern Kyūshū and the Korea Strait, the three sanctuaries of Munakata Taisha lie along a remarkably straight north-northwest to south-southeast axis spanning 60 kilometers across the Genkai Sea: at the southern mainland anchor stands Hetsu-miya (at coordinates 33.8312° N, 130.5142° E), 11 kilometers to the north-northwest rises Nakatsu-miya on Ōshima Island (33.8972° N, 130.4325° E), and 49 kilometers further north-northwest in the open sea rises Okitsu-miya on sacred Okinoshima (34.2392° N, 130.1050° E). Extended further north-northwest past Tsushima Island, this straight line points directly toward Busan at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. In classical macro-geomancy, these three stepping-stone sanctuaries from open ocean to mainland form a Triple Sea-Gate Lock (Tam Trùng Quan Tỏa), drawing continental culture and maritime trade into Japan while shielding northern Kyūshū from fierce northern gales.
At Hetsu-miya on the Munakata mainland, the shrine nestles at the northern foot of Mount Munakata (a conical Kannabi hill cloaked in old-growth forest where the open-air Takamiya Saijō altar sits), which serves as a solid rear backing (hậu chẩm) to the south and southwest. Flowing directly past the eastern and northern sides of Hetsu-miya is the Tsurikawa River (Tsuri-kawa, 釣川), which empties into the Genkai Sea at Kōnominato. In ancient and medieval times (before alluvial silt turned the lower valley into rice paddies), the lowland directly in front of Hetsu-miya was a deep tidal inlet called Katahama, allowing oceangoing vessels to sail right up to the shrine's threshold to pray before venturing out to sea. The Main Sanctuary and Worship Hall of Hetsu-miya face northeast, looking out over the Tsurikawa River as their bright hall (minh đường) while flanked on the east by Mount Konomiyama as the protective Azure Dragon ridge.
Out at Sacred Island of Okinoshima, the entire island is a steep mass of quartz porphyry and hornfels rising sheer from the sea floor to an elevation of 243.6 meters (Mount Ichinodake) amid the warm Tsushima Current. Okitsu-miya and its more than twenty megalithic Iwakura boulders sit on the sheltered southwestern slope of the island, shielded by the mountain peak behind them from winter storms blowing down from the north, while facing south-southeast toward Ōshima Island and the Kyūshū mainland in unbroken visual and spiritual resonance across 60 kilometers of ocean.
VThe Miare Matsuri sea procession and annual grand festivals
Rituals at Munakata Taisha follow the Gregorian solar calendar. The grandest celebration of the year is the Autumn Grand Festival (Shūki Reitaisai) held from October 1 to October 3, which opens on the morning of October 1 with the spectacular maritime flotilla known as the Miare Matsuri (みあれ祭).
| Date | Calendar | Festival or Rite | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 1 | Gregorian | Miare Matsuri Maritime Procession | The opening rite of the Autumn Grand Festival: the sacred emblems (Go-shintai) of the eldest sister goddess from Okinoshima (Okitsu-miya) and the middle sister from Ōshima (Nakatsu-miya) board the sacred flagship Gozabune, escorted by a flotilla of 100 to 200 brightlyflagged fishing boats across the sea from Ōshima to Kōnominato Port to reunite with the youngest sister Ichikishimahime at Hetsu-miya. |
| October 1 to 3 | Gregorian | Autumn Grand Festival (Shūki Reitaisai) and Takamiya Candlelight Rite | For three days all three Munakata Goddesses reside together at Hetsu-miya on the mainland to receive prayers for national peace and maritime safety, accompanied by Urayasu no Mai maiden dances, archery, and the lighting of thousands of candles around the ancient Takamiya Saijō forest altar. |
| February 15 | Gregorian | Spring Festival of Origins (Haru no Minamoto Matsuri) | An early spring ceremony praying for abundant catches and safe navigation across the seas. |
| April 2 | Gregorian | Spring Grand Festival (Shunki Reitaisai) | The major spring festival at Hetsu-miya featuring classical Gagaku court music, ritual offerings, and traditional martial arts dedications. |
| August 7 (traditional 7th day of the 7th lunar month) | Gregorian | Tanabata Star Festival at Nakatsu-miya on Ōshima Island | Regarded as one of the oldest Tanabata (Weaver Girl and Cowherd) festivals in Japan, dating back to the Kamakura period and celebrated beside the Ame-no-Manai spring at Nakatsu-miya. |
The most stirring spectacle in the Munakata region unfolds on the morning of October 1 during the Miare Matsuri (the ancient Japanese word Miare, 御生, signifies the miraculous birth and renewal of divine vitality). Once each year prior to October 1, the lone Shinto priest stationed on Okinoshima reverently carries the sacred emblem of the eldest sister Tagorihime from the forbidden island across 49 kilometers of sea to Ōshima Island to join the middle sister Tagitsuhime. On the morning of October 1, both goddesses board the gold-and-vermilion sacred barge Gozabune at Ōshima Port to cross the 11-kilometer strait to Kōnominato Port on the mainland.
Escorting the sacred barge across the waves is a mighty armada of 100 to nearly 200 fishing vessels from the seven fishing ports of the Munakata coast, their masts flying brilliant multicolor big-catch banners (Tairyō-bata) streaming in the sea wind. Upon landing at Kōnominato, sacred palanquins (Mikoshi) bear the two island goddesses inland to Hetsu-miya so that all three sisters dwell side by side for the three-day Autumn Grand Festival. Because the Three Munakata Goddesses are revered as the Supreme Mistresses of all thoroughfares (Michinushi-no-Muchi), in the modern era Munakata Taisha also became the first and most famous shrine in Kyūshū for traffic safety prayers (Kōtsū Anzen), blessing motorists, seafarers, and travelers alike.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Getting there
- From JR Hakata Station (Fukuoka) or Kokura Station (Kitakyūshū), take a rapid train on the JR Kagoshima Main Line for about 30 to 35 minutes to JR Tōgō Station. From the North Exit (Munakata Taisha-guchi) of Tōgō Station, take a Nishitetsu bus for about 12 minutes directly to the Munakata Taisha-mae stop in front of Hetsu-miya. To visit Ōshima Island, ride the bus 10 minutes further to Kōnominato Ferry Terminal and take the 25-minute ferry.
- Coordinates
- 33.8312, 130.5142
When visiting Munakata Taisha, your primary destination is Hetsu-miya on the Munakata mainland, together with Nakatsu-miya and the Distant Worship Hall on Ōshima Island (accessible by a 25-minute ferry ride from Kōnominato Port). Please note that the remote Sacred Island of Okinoshima is strictly closed to all visitors in order to preserve its 1,500-year-old religious taboos and archaeological integrity. At Hetsu-miya, after purifying your hands at the Temizuya pavilion and praying at the 1590 Worship Hall, be sure to walk up the forested hillside path behind the shrine to visit the ancient open-air altar Takamiya Saijō (please maintain silence and do not step inside the stone enclosure) and spend time inside the Shimpōkan Treasure Museum to view the 80,000 National Treasures excavated from Okinoshima.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
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?Quick Questions
Which deities are enshrined at Munakata Taisha and how are its three sanctuaries arranged?
Munakata Taisha enshrines the Three Munakata Goddesses (born from a sword during the heavenly oath between the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and the storm god Susanoo, and commanded to guard the sea route to the Asian continent). The shrine consists of three sanctuaries aligned along a 60-kilometer maritime axis: Okitsu-miya on Okinoshima Island (enshrining the eldest sister Tagorihime), Nakatsu-miya on Ōshima Island (enshrining the middle sister Tagitsuhime), and Hetsu-miya on the Munakata mainland (enshrining the youngest sister Ichikishimahime).
What are the ancient taboos of Okinoshima Island and can tourists visit the island today?
For over 1,500 years, the entire island of Okinoshima has been venerated as a sacred divine body protected by strict taboos: women are forbidden to land, men landing had to strip naked and immerse themselves in the sea for Misogi purification, nothing on the island (not even a blade of grass or a pebble) may be removed, and visitors must not speak of what they saw. Since its UNESCO World Heritage inscription in 2017, the shrine has ended all public landings for both men and women to protect the island, leaving only a single Shinto priest stationed there in rotation.
Why is Okinoshima called the 'Shōsōin of the Seas' (Umi no Shōsōin)?
During three scientific archaeological surveys conducted between 1954 and 1971 across 23 ancient ritual sites among the giant boulders of Okinoshima, researchers discovered roughly 80,000 votive offerings dating from the 4th to the 9th centuries CE that had remained undisturbed thanks to the island's taboos. This extraordinary trove includes Chinese Han-Wei bronze mirrors, pure gold rings from Korean Silla, cut-glass bowl fragments from Sassanid Persia, Magatama beads, and gilt-bronze miniatures (rivaling the imperial Shōsōin treasury in Nara), and all 80,000 items are designated National Treasures of Japan.
Where can visitors see the 80,000 National Treasures of Okinoshima and worship the island from afar?
All 80,000 National Treasures excavated from Okinoshima are conserved and exhibited to the general public of all genders every day at the Shimpōkan Treasure Museum inside the Hetsu-miya precinct on the Munakata mainland. In addition, Hetsu-miya houses the Teini-gū and Teisan-gū sub-shrines enshrining the divided spirits of the two island goddesses, and visitors can take a 25-minute ferry to Ōshima Island to pray toward Okinoshima across the sea from the Okitsu-miya Yōhaisho (Distant Worship Hall).
When does the Miare Matsuri sea procession take place at Munakata Taisha?
The Miare Matsuri takes place annually on the morning of October 1 to open the three-day Autumn Grand Festival (October 1 to 3). In this dramatic maritime ritual, the sacred emblems of the eldest sister goddess from Okinoshima and the middle sister from Ōshima are carried aboard the sacred barge Gozabune, escorted by a flotilla of 100 to 200 flag-decked local fishing boats across the strait from Ōshima to Kōnominato Port to reunite all three sisters at Hetsu-miya on the mainland.