Okinoshima

Small sacred island about 60 kilometers off Fukuoka in the Genkai Sea, where rituals for safe passage between Japan and the Korean Peninsula were performed from the 4th through 9th centuries. The roughly 80,000 votive offerings recovered here span that entire period and earned the island the nickname the Shosoin of the Sea. Access is effectively closed to the public: only a resident Shinto priest lives there year-round, and a limited number of men may participate in the annual May ritual. Women are excluded by religious tradition. The island's artifacts, many designated National Treasures, are displayed at the Munakata Taisha Shinpokan museum on the mainland.