Miyajima, Japan

Miyajima is an island just off the coast of Hiroshima. It is a 30 minute train ride from downtown Hiroshima and then the ferry takes you quickly across to a small island village.

Ferry to Miyajima, Japan

Ferry to Miyajima, Japan

From the ferry you have a lovely view of the island as you come into the dock. The ride is quick but you can see fishing nets and some birds flying over or in the water.

Ferry to Miyajima, Japan

Ferry to Miyajima, Japan

The village is very quaint and the souvenir shops and small restaurants are busy and there are food stands that sell pretty much every type of seafood you can grill. The island is most famous for the floating torii gate.

Miyajima, Japan

Miyajima, Japan

Miyajima, Japan

The Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居) is set in a small shallow cove of the island. With the changing tides it appears floating at high tide and you can walk right out to it at low tide. 

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

For our visit it was high tide when we arrived in the afternoon and low tide after our hike in the evening so we got to see both extremes and walked out to the torii gate when it was lit up at night.

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate (厳島神社 大鳥居)

The Itsukushima Shrine (安藝國一之宮 嚴島神社) is a floating shrine in front of the torii gate. You can pay to enter it and walk around the outside of the shrine buildings and just admire the building from the outside. 

Itsukushima Shrine (安藝國一之宮 嚴島神社)

The Toyokuni Shrine five-story pagoda (豊国神社 五重塔) is right beside the shrine and it is quite a spectacular red pagoda.

Toyokuni Shrine five-story pagoda (豊国神社 五重塔)

You can get up to Mount Misen (弥山) by four different hiking trails or by a cable car that leads partway up the mountain. The view from the top of the cable car is quite spectacular but it is still an hour long walk from there to the highest peak.

Mount Misen (弥山) Cable Car

Mount Misen (弥山)

Mount Misen (弥山)

 There are lots of maps along the trails, which are also quite well signed so it would be difficult to get lost here.

Mount Misen Map

Map of Mount Misen trails

Map of Mount Misen trails

We hiked up from the cable car past  Misenhondo (弥山本堂) and  Dainichido (大日堂) towards the peak. From there we hiked down to Daishoin (大聖院). 
 

Misenhondo (弥山本堂)

Misenhondo (弥山本堂)

Mount Misen (弥山)

Mount Misen (弥山)

 The top of Mount Misen (弥山) you have a clear 360 degree view from the rocky peak. They say that on a clear day you can see all the way to Shikoku island but the say was not clear and I could not see the island I call home off in the distance. Many smaller islands did litter the Japanese Inland Sea making the view quite dramatic from all sides. 

Mount Misen (弥山)

Mount Misen (弥山)

Mount Misen (弥山)

Mount Misen (弥山)

 The trails down to the Daishoin (大聖院) temple are pretty much all stairs. Lots and lots of stairs!

Mount Misen (弥山)

Mount Misen (弥山)

Mount Misen (弥山)

Mount Misen (弥山)

 There are a lot of recent repairs ont eh trail to fix flooding damage but it is hard to imagine the tiny trickle of a river running through being strong enough to erode the large soil and sock banks. The fortifications are extensive and large and the new staircase trail runs beside the river at a safe distance but you can see the old trail fell into the river.

Mount Misen (弥山)

From the trail you lookout towards the small town and the shrine with the floating torii gate. As it grew darker and tide fell we saw people walking out on the wet sand.

Mount Misen (弥山)

  We just made it off the mountain as sun set. Sunset wasn't spectacular since the day was thick with clouds and we saw pretty much no colour in the sky as it grew dark over the temple.

Daishoin (大聖院)

Daishoin (大聖院)

Dinner at Miyajima Brewery was very small (but tasty) and pricey but the beer was really good. They have a nice view of the ocean and if we had been there earlier it would have been a nice view of the sunset.