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Prelims Related News
Japan’s men-only island gets UNESCO heritage tag: (No-Women’s Land gets Recognition)
- The tiny landmass of Okinoshima, manned by a Shinto priest, gets the recognition of World Heritage site by UNESCO.
Introduction:
- 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.
- UNESCO’s heritage committee considered 33 sites in total for the prestigious status at its annual gathering in Poland.
- Ancient caves in West Germany with art dating back to the Ice Age and disused silver ore mines in southern Poland are also among UNESCO’s listings.
Specifications:
- The yearly festival of the landmass, which is for only two hours, has a strict limitation for its visitors. And specifically, the visitors need to be male.
- Reports say that 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.
- It is to be noted that the ban on women visitors specifically has nothing to do with discrimination against women. It is considered dangerous for women to travel by sea to get to the island and the shrine will not change the centuries-old rule.
