Munakata Taisha Hetsumiya

Munakata Taisha is the headquarters of Munakata Shrine, Itsukushima Shrine, and the three Munakata shrines enshrining the three Munakata deities.
It is the general name for three shrines: Okitsumiya Shrine on Okinoshima Island, Nakatsumiya Shrine on Chikuzen Oshima Island, and Hetsumiya Shrine (the head shrine) on Tajima in Munakata City.

There is also an Okitsumiya Haruhosho (Yeongtsumiya Shrine) on Chikuzen Oshima, and Nakatsumiya Shrine is 11 km away from Henzumiya Shrine on the map, and Okitsumiya Shrine is another 49 km away, all in a straight line.

It is one of the oldest shrines in Japan, with its history recorded in the Chronicles of Japan, and has been a maritime route for politics, economy, and culture between the continent and the peninsula since ancient times.

The entire island of Okinoshima, where Okitsumiya is located, is sacred, and even today women are forbidden to visit the island, and even men must perform misogi before landing.

During the excavation of Okinoshima, a large number of ritual relics (votive offerings), including ancient ritual remains and ornaments from the 4th to 9th centuries, as well as stone and earthenware artifacts from the Jomon and Yayoi periods were discovered.

These artifacts have been collectively designated as a national treasure as part of the excavated artifacts from the Okitsumiya ritual site of Munakata Taisha Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture.

This suggests that Okinoshima Island is commonly referred to as the “Shosoin of the Sea” and has been the object of worship of the sea people since prehistoric times. It is also called “Ura Ise.

Henzumiya Shrine enshrines the deity Ichikishimahime no Kami, one of the three goddesses of Munakata.

The vast shrine garden includes the Honden and Worship Hall, both Important Cultural Properties, the Second (Okitsumiya) and Third (Nakatsumiya) Temples, the Takamiya Festival Hall, and the Jinpoukan, which houses 80,000 national treasures excavated from Okinoshima Island.

The island is a component of the Munakata/ Okinoshima Island and Related Properties group, which was registered as a World Cultural Heritage site.