Founded as far back as the 6th century, the shrine is so sacred that, until the fresh wind of reforms instituted during the Meiji era beginning 1868, pregnant women and the seriously ill were carried to the mainland to ensure that no births or deaths would occur on the island.
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No women are permitted to give birth on the island in order to preserve its sacredness.
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Pregnant women and the seriously ill were transported to the shrine in order to increase the numbers of births and deaths there.