Like most others, I visited the Munakata Taisha a.k.a. Hetsu shrine. I hadn’t planned on writing a review, but I think I have an important tip for future visitors: make sure you see “everything”. The layout of the site is confusing and signage is in Japanese only, so it is easy to overlook something or not do it justice because you don’t know the meaning of what you see. 

Right at the entrance you can pick up a flyer (in Japanese of course) with a map that shows the main parts:

1. Main wooden worship hall from the 16th century (rebuilt after it burned down). This is the main focus when you enter via the torii and cross the garden with the two ponds.
2. Sacred open-air ritual site, one of the few remaining outside of Okinoshima. It is reached via a forest path and several steep flights of stairs from the northeast behind #1. See photos with this review.
3. Okitsu and Nakatsu shrines, also known as Shrine Number Two (Teinigu) and Shrine Number Three (Teisangu). They're the newish-looking buildings on a path to the left when you’re on your way to #2. They represent the two eponymous shrines on Okinoshima and Oshima Islands.
4. Shinpokan: modern building on the west side of the main complex and near the smaller parking lot. It houses many votive objects found on Okinoshima.

There’s also a “Sea Road City Museum” at the other end of the big parking lot. It has some votive objects too, but the collection is very limited. However, it does have the WH inscription certificate and a copy of the nomination dossier. I accidentally confused it with #4, so I may have missed the best objects. Many of the votive objects were ‘just’ pottery, by the way, mass-produced only to be used in offerings. 

Furthermore, I can confirm that the shrine is easily accessible by bus also on Sundays. Although timings differ, there’s a bus going there about once an hour from Togo railway station every day of the week. A visit takes 1-1.5 hours.