No women allowed

Japanese: 女人禁制 - にょにんきんせい

A sacred place prohibits women from entering any area other than a certain area. This is also called a women's barrier, and it is said that women disturb the minds of the practitioners. Mount Koya and Mount Hiei are well-known examples. There were also a considerable number of sacred mountains throughout the country that had barriers. To give a few examples, Mount Omine in Yamato is famous in the Kinki region, and it is said that men in this region are not considered full-fledged men unless they visit this mountain. There was Mount Ishizuchi in Shikoku, Mount Hiko in Kyushu, Mount Daisen in Chugoku, Mount Hakusan and Mount Tateyama in Hokuriku, Mount Haguro in Tohoku, and Mount Nikko Nantai and Mount Fuji in the Kanto and Chubu regions. The ban on women on sacred mountains like this was gradually relaxed after the Meiji period. After the Meiji period, women were only allowed to climb Mount Fuji in the year of the monkey, which was considered a lucky year. Some places, like Mount Koya, also had a women's hall that allowed female ascetics to go up to that point. Today, most sacred places that were previously barriers to women are now open to the public. However, there are cases where women are barred from entering for a few days each year as training centers. There is a legend at Mount Hakusan in Kaga (Ishikawa Prefecture) that a woman, especially a shrine maiden, broke the barrier and climbed the mountain because she was different from ordinary people and served the gods, and the shrine maiden was turned to stone.

[Oto Tokihiko]

world

Catholic monasteries have areas off-limits to women (men off-limits to women in monasteries) as stipulated by canon law, and other Christian denominations have similar systems. In Islam, there is no need for women off-limits because of the purdah custom that restricts women's behavior, but in other institutional religions, it is common for men to have areas off-limits to women, which are necessary for religious abstinence. Men's houses in Oceania and the seclusion huts for men's coming-of-age ceremonies common among Bantu peoples in Africa are good examples of permanent areas off-limits to women in primitive societies. Customs that prohibit women from participating in men's daily activities based on the custom of division of labor, or that prohibit women from participating in festivals, rites of passage, and religious events (or that have women participate from a distance and make the main parts off-limits to women), are also common in pre-modern societies. Customs that prohibit women from participating in men's meeting houses, except in men's meeting houses, often correspond to customs that prohibit men from participating in areas off-limits to women, such as in monasteries. In many cases, customs that prohibit women (especially during menstruation) have developed in areas that are exclusively male-occupied, such as hunting, sailing, and combat.

[Akira Sasaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

霊場にて一定の地域以外に女人の入るのを禁止していること。女人結界ともいい、女人は修行者の心を乱すからという。高野山(こうやさん)、比叡(ひえい)山などがよく知られている。ほかに結界を設けた全国の霊山は相当の数に上っていた。若干の例をあげると、近畿では大和(やまと)の大峰(おおみね)山が著名であり、この地方での男子は、ここに参らないと一人前の男とされないという。四国では石鎚(いしづち)山、九州では英彦(ひこ)山、中国では大山(だいせん)、北陸では白山(はくさん)・立山(たてやま)、東北では羽黒山、関東・中部では日光男体(なんたい)山・富士山があった。このような霊山の女人禁制も明治以降しだいに緩和された。富士山も明治以後は、庚申(こうしん)の年のみ御縁年(ごえんねん)として女人の登山を許していた。また高野山のように女人堂を設けてそこまでは女子の修行者も行けるようにしたものもある。今日、女人結界となっていた霊場はほとんどが解放されている。ただ修行の道場として1年のうち若干の日数を女人禁制にする例はあるようである。女人とくに巫女(みこ)が、自分は普通の者と違って神に奉仕する者であるからといって、結界を破り登山したところ、その巫女が石と化してしまったという伝説が加賀（石川県）の白山などにある。

［大藤時彦］

世界

カトリックの男子修道院には教会法の定める女人禁制（女子修道院では男子禁制）の禁域があり、他のキリスト教派にも同様の制度がある。イスラムには女性の行動を制限するパルダー慣行があるので女人禁制の必要はないが、他の制度的宗教では男性宗教者の宗教的禁欲維持上必要な女人禁制域を設定するのが一般的である。オセアニア各地の男子集会所（メンズ・ハウス）とアフリカのバントゥー系諸族に多い男子成人式用隔離小屋は未開社会の常設女人禁制域の好例だった。分業慣行に基づく男性の日常的活動の場を女人禁制とする慣習、または祭礼・通過儀礼・宗教行事に女性を参加させない（または離れた所から参加させ主要部分を女人禁制にする）慣習も前近代社会では一般的である。男子集会所を除く女人禁制慣行には女子修道院の禁域などの男子禁制慣行が対応することも多い。もっぱら男子が従事する狩猟、航海、戦闘に関し女人（とくに月経中の）禁制慣行が発達する例が多い。

［佐々木明］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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