Roaming deers. Floating shrine and temple with an eternal flame. Sacred mountains with spectacular sea views… and nowadays the comfort of Starbux coffee.
Miyajima Island in Hiroshima, Japan has a lot to offer and deserves more than a one-day visit.
The famous floating shrine
This floating torii gate is a part of possibly the most iconic shrine in Japan. Itsukushima Shrine is built on wooden pillars that are partially submerged in the tidal flats of the Seto Inland Sea, and appears to be floating during high tide.
What’s cool about this shrine is that, while you can see it ‘floating’ in water when the tide is high, you can also walk right up to it when the tide is low.
High/Low tides are several hours apart and changes everyday. View the tide timetable on the official website, and pick a day when you’ll be able to visit the shrine at both high and low tides.
This is the most famous part of Miyajima (official name: Itsukushima), as it is the Shrine of Itsukushima. But it’s not my favourite part of the island as Miyajima has so much more to offer!
Iconic five-story pagoda
Less than 200m away from the famous floating torii gate of Itsukushima is the stunning 5 story pagoda of Toyokuni Shrine. It was built in the late 16th century by the famous warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Next to it stands the “Hall of a thousand tatami mats” which, although not covered in tatami mats, is the largest building on the island. Cute deer will lead you up the stair way to it.
Did you know the plural for deer is deer? I didn’t until I typed it now.
Toyokuni Shrine is located on a little hill away from the floating shrine and shops – which means less people – and it’s my personal favourite icon of Miyajima… Unless I climb up Mt. Misen, below.
Ropeway to spectacular views
The ropeway (aka. cable car) from Momijidani Park area takes you up to the Shishi-iwa Observatory which offers panoramic views of the Seto Inland Sea and the surrounding islands. You start to see the view while on the ropeway, and it’s absolutely stunning. Continuing on foot for ~40mins takes you to the top of Mt. Misen with equally beautiful views.
Along the way, you’ll walk past the eternal flame at Mt. Misen’s Reikado Hall, which has been burning for 1200 years. It’s believed to have been first lit by Kobo Daishi, a Buddhist monk who founded the Shingon sect of Buddhism.
Less famous than the floating shrine, but more beautiful in my opinion, is the Daisho-in Temple located at the base of Mt. Misen near the hiking trail.
I actually missed this temple the first two times I visited the island. (Didn’t even know about it.)
You were probably too busy with the deer and shops on the main street, the first couple of visits! (There’s an aquarium too, by the way.)
Autumn leaves or Cherry blossoms?
The park at the base of Mt. Misen that the ropeway starts is called Momijidani, which translates to “autumn leaves valley”. And a popular souvenir snack on the island is the tasty Momiji Manjyu (autumn leave sweet).
As such, Miyajima is often visited by the locals in autumn for the beautiful orange and red leaves, but I am a fan of visiting in spring time for the cherry blossoms.
All those Momijis turn into Sakuras 🌸
Even if you don’t hike up the mountain, there’s a lot of pleasant walking you can do around the island to enjoy the cherry blossoms or autumn leaves.
Getting and staying there
Itsukushima Shrine is a 10 min walk from the Miyajima ferry pier – which is about a 45 min trip from Hiroshima Station. From Hiroshima Station, catch a train to Miyajima-Guchi Station, walk over to the Miyajima-Guchi ferry pier, then enjoy your 10 min ferry ride which gives you the best view of the floating shrine complex.
Roughly, the route to the island from major cities backwards is:
- 10m Ferry from Miyajima-guchi; plus
- 30m Train from Hiroshima; plus
- 1.5h Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka or 4h from Tokyo.
There’s a tonne of stuff to do on Miyajima Island so you’d want to spend a night over. Accommodation is however slightly difficult to find on the island, as you either need to splurge for a ryokan or sleep in a guesthouse. (It used to be difficult to eat in the evening if you don’t stay in an accommodation that provides dinner, but nowadays there’s even a Starbux on the island serving coffee and food until 8pm.)
That said, the ferry runs past 10pm, costs only a couple of dollars to board (covered by JR railway pass), and you’ll be on the other side of the water in just 10 minutes – so spread your hotel antennas out to the main island if you decide to stay over. (See ferry timetable)
With iconic shrines, wild deer to pat, sacred mountains to hike (or ropeway), spectacular inlet sea views, Miyajima Island is a “🥇=worth planning around it” on my #revisitlist.
I’ve revisited twice already, and I’m still keen to revisit again!
[Photos taken Oct 2012, Apr 2014 & Mar 2019]
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