Excavated Items from the Okitsumiya Ritual Site of Munakata Taisha, Fukuoka Prefecture

Ritual Finds from Okinoshima, National Treasure since 1962

Excavated Items from the Okitsumiya Ritual Site of Munakata Taisha, Fukuoka Prefecture (福岡県宗像大社沖津宮祭祀遺跡出土品) are the finds from the ritual site at the Okitsumiya of Munakata Taisha on Okinoshima, designated a National Treasure in 1962, on 21 June. They had become an Important Cultural Property on 27 June 1959. The quantity is recorded as a single lot, the category archaeological materials, and the designation number 00029.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs writes: these are finds from Okinoshima in the Genkai Sea. Their content is varied, including mirrors, human figures, weapons, Tang three-color ware and gilt bronze dragon heads. They were offered as sacred treasures and offerings in petition, and they convey well the state of ancient ritual from the Kofun period through to the Heian period, standing out remarkably even beside other ritual finds.

That the quantity is a single lot matters. Rather than counting individual pieces, the designation covers the finds as a whole. The Agency's record lists the categories item by item: metalwork, Haji ware, talc objects, three-color ware, iron rings, beads, shell objects, Sue ware, pearls and jasper objects, set out site by site.

A Separate Designation Marked "Attributed"

A second body of material was designated on the same day: Excavated Items Attributed to the Okitsumiya Ritual Site of Munakata Taisha, Fukuoka Prefecture. It too became an Important Cultural Property on 27 June 1959 and a National Treasure on 21 June 1962, the same dates.

The word attributed marks material said to come from the Okitsumiya ritual site but not confirmed as doing so. Finds of certain provenance and finds of reported provenance are designated separately.

This article concerns the first of the two, the material of confirmed provenance. The names are close, so check for the word attributed when consulting sources.

Why They Were Designated

The Agency's reasoning falls in two parts.

First, that these were offered as sacred treasures and offerings in petition. They were placed at a site of ritual, and so differ in character from grave goods or the debris of daily life.

Second, that they convey well the state of ancient ritual from the Kofun period through to the Heian period. Several centuries of ritual can be followed at a single place, and that is what is valued. It is why the Agency gives the period as a span, Kofun to Heian, rather than a single age.

The conclusion is that they stand out remarkably even beside other ritual finds, a judgement made by comparison with material from other ritual sites.

The Range of the Material

The categories the Agency names are mirrors, human figures, weapons, Tang three-color ware and gilt bronze dragon heads.

Tang three-color ware is Chinese pottery of the Tang dynasty in three glaze colors, found only rarely in Japan. The dragon heads are gilt bronze fittings worked in the form of a dragon's head. Material from the continent and ritual objects made in Japan come from the same site.

The human figures and talc objects are small ritual pieces modelled on real things. The weapons and mirrors are actual objects offered as they were. Offering the thing itself and offering a model of it existed side by side.

Okinoshima is the island on which the Okitsumiya of Munakata Taisha stands, and in 2017 it became a component of the World Heritage site Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region. That inscription covers the site and the island, not the finds.

Seeing Them

The finds are kept and displayed at the Shinpokan treasure hall of Munakata Taisha. Hours and charges change from time to time, so check the shrine's information before travelling.

Because the designation covers a single lot, what is displayed is part of the whole. Displays change, and which pieces can be seen differs by season.

Okinoshima itself is the sacred body of Munakata Taisha, and the public cannot land on it. On Oshima there is a distant worship site for the Okitsumiya, from which the island can be seen in clear weather.

From Togo Station on the JR Kagoshima Main Line the bus takes about 12 minutes to the Munakata Taisha-mae stop.