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The Miare Festival is an expression of the living faith of local fishermen. Chapter 3 Justification for Inscription 3.1.a Brief Synthesis 3.1.b Criteria Under Which Inscription is Proposed 3.1.c Statement of Integrity 3.1.d Statement of Authenticity 3.1.e Protection and Management Requirements 3.2 Comparative Analysis 3.3 Proposed Statement of Outstanding Universal Value The Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region Chapter 3 Justification for Inscription Justification for Inscription 3.1.a Brief Synthesis The Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region is located in the western coastal area of Japan. It is a serial cultural property that has eight component parts, all of which are linked to the worship of a sacred island that has continued from the fourth century to the present day. These component parts include Okitsu-miya of Munakata Taisha, which encompasses the entire island of Okinoshima and its three attendant reefs, located in the strait between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula; Okitsu- miya Yohaisho and Nakatsu-miya of Munakata Taisha, located on the island of Oshima; and Hetsu-miya of Munakata Taisha and the Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group, located on the main island of Kyushu. Okinoshima has unique archaeological sites that have survived nearly intact, providing a chronological account of how ancient rituals based on nature worship developed from the fourth to the ninth centuries. It is of outstanding archaeological value also because of the number and quality of offerings discovered there, underscoring the great importance of the rituals and serving as evidence of their evolution over a period of 500 years, in the midst of a process of dynamic overseas exchange in East Asia. Rituals similar to those performed on Okinoshima were conducted on Oshima and the main island of Kyushu from the seventh to the ninth centuries. Okitsu-miya, Nakatsu-miya and Hetsu-miya, together with their ancient ritual sites, continue to serve as places of worship today as the shrines of Munakata Taisha. Okitsu-miya Yohaisho is a place to worship the sacred island from afar that had been established by the eighteenth century. The Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group, which dates to the fifth and sixth centuries, offers evidence concerning the lives of members of the Munakata clan, who performed the Okinoshima rituals and developed the religious tradition that has been passed down to this day. This property is an exceptional example of the cultural tradition of worshipping a sacred island, as it has evolved amidst a process of dynamic overseas exchange in East Asia and as it has been passed down to the present day, directly linked to the living tradition of offering prayers for maritime safety. 98 3.1.a Brief Synthesis The Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region Shimbaru-Nuyama Okitsu-miya, Okitsu-miya Yohaisho, Mounded Tomb Group Munakata Taisha Munakata Taisha Evidence related to the people Place of worship that encompasses the sacred Place of worship on the island of Munakata who performed island of Okinoshima and its three attendant of Oshima dating to the religious rituals on Okinoshima reefs, where rituals were performed during the eighteenth century, linked to and passed down the living period of frequent overseas exchanges that the living tradition of cultural tradition of worshipping lasted from the fourth to the ninth centuries, worshipping Okinoshima from the sacred island. preserved to this day by means of local taboos. afar. Hetsu-miya, Nakatsu-miya, Munakata Taisha Munakata Taisha Place of worship on the main island of Place of worship on the island of Oshima, Kyushu, linked to ancient ritual sites dating linked to ancient ritual sites dating from the from the seventh to the ninth centuries that seventh to the ninth centuries that developed from Okinoshima rituals and still developed from Okinoshima rituals and still survive to this day. survive to this day. Outstanding Universal Value Criterion (ii) This property exhibits the exchange of human cultural values in East Asia from the fourth to the ninth centuries that is evident from the changes in ancient rituals originally performed on Okinoshima. Criterion (iii) This property is an exceptional example of the cultural tradition of worshipping a sacred island, as it has evolved and been passed down from ancient times to the present. Okinoshima has been the object of worship for more than 1,500 years. Criterion (vi) Chronicling the worship of the Three Goddesses of Munakata derived from the ancient worship of Okinoshima, this property is directly linked to the living tradition of prayer for maritime safety. Figure 3-1 Conceptual diagram of the value of the property The Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region 99 Chapter 3 Justification for Inscription Archaeological evidence for ritual development This property includes archaeological sites dating from the fourth to the ninth centuries and ritual sites that continue to serve as places of worship today. It spans the maritime area that includes Okinoshima, Oshima, and the main island of Kyushu. The archaeological sites are tangible evidences for understanding the processes of ritual development by which faith in the Three Goddesses of Munakata took shape and originated in nature worship on the sacred island. Okinoshima is a solitary island located approximately 60 km from the main island of Kyushu, situated in the liminal maritime zone between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula. The local people of the Munakata region, who have long excelled at ocean navigation, played an important role in the overseas exchanges that took place along this key route. They came to regard Okinoshima as a sacred island where the deities who controlled maritime safety resided. From the latter half of the fourth century to the end of the ninth century, East Asia witnessed a period in which overseas exchange between Japan and the continent flourished, and many votive objects were offered in rituals performed on the island. The period from the fourth to the ninth centuries was also a time when unified states were forming in both the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula. Japan’s diplomatic and trade envoys to the continent returned with precious goods and culture and technology from China and Korea, which empowered the nascent Japanese state in the political, social, and spiritual realms. The inhabitants of the Munakata region, a midway point between the center of ancient Japan and the Korean peninsula, supported these missions by helping them overcome the dangers of voyages. The early Japanese governing powers sponsored rituals on Okinoshima to pray for safe passage along this maritime route, which testifies to its extraordinary strategic importance at the time. In parallel to these overseas exchanges, this property offers a body of highly authentic, original evidence that forms a chronological account of how the earliest rituals conducted in the area of a group of huge rocks on Okinoshima changed over a period of 500 years. Archaeological research has led to the discovery of some 80,000 votive offerings there, and ritual sites preserved nearly intact since that period reveal that the rituals on the island based on nature worship underwent various stages of transition. The earliest rituals at these sites were performed upon altars laid out atop huge rocks there. In the next phase, rituals were conducted and votive offerings placed in the shadows of rocks; subsequently, the rituals shifted to being performed first partly in the shadows of rocks, and finally out in the open, in a flat area of land some distance away. Large quantities of precious ritual artifacts have been discovered from each phase of ritual development, and the nature of these items changed as ritual styles evolved, but they include rare objects from abroad that reflect the kinds of overseas exchanges that were taking place during each period. At the same time, by the second half of the seventh century, rituals similar to those performed on Okinoshima were also held on Oshima and on the main island of Kyushu. The three main ritual archaeological sites—Okinoshima, Mt. Mitakesan on Oshima, and Shimotakamiya on the main island of Kyushu—match the descriptions that appears in the oldest extant chronicles of Japanese history, the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and the Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan), 100 3.1.a Brief Synthesis both compiled in the early eighth century; these texts indicate that the Munakata clan worshipped the Three Goddesses of Munakata in these three locations, which the texts refer to as Okitsu-miya, Nakatsu-miya, and Hetsu-miya, respectively. All this evidence suggests that the earliest nature worship on the island underwent a transformation that resulted in the worship of powerful personified deities, the Three Goddesses of Munakata. The archaeological evidence found at this property serves to clarify the history of indigenous Japanese religious beliefs, particularly the process of their formation. In the mythology of the Kojiki and Nihonshoki, the Three Goddesses of Munakata are said to be special deities who serve the emperor guarding key marine routes and should be revered by the emperor. The goddesses have been enshrined at Munakata Taisha as indigenous Japanese deities since that time. Faith in Three Goddesses of Munakata eventually spread throughout Japan, as they came to became associated with maritime safety and water in general. Shinto is the living indigenous belief system of Japan that has evolved over millennia. Many of its beliefs are rooted in the mythological narratives of the Kojiki and Nihonshoki together with the Jingi ritual system, all of which took shape together with the ancient centralized state of Japan from the seventh century onward. No written records about these beliefs survive that date earlier than the eighth century, but the ritual archaeological sites on Okinoshima date back to the latter half of the fourth century.

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