Miyajima

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Miyajima, officially Itsukushima, is a sacred island in Japan's Inland Sea, 30 minutes from Hiroshima. Its bright orange floating torii — one of Japan's treasures — rises from the water at high tide in front of the Itsukushima Shinto shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island is also home to free-roaming deer, the forest of Mount Misen and a culinary tradition built around oysters and momiji manju, maple-leaf-shaped cakes.

The island where the shrine floats

Miyajima — formally Itsukushima — is a small mountainous island in the Seto Inland Sea, ten minutes by ferry from the Hiroshima suburbs, and it has been sacred for at least 1,400 years. Its shrine, Itsukushima-jinja, is built on piles over the water so that at high tide it appears to float, and its great vermilion torii gate stands in the sea 200 metres offshore; together they form one of the most famous images of Japan and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. Historically no one was allowed to be born or to die on the island, to keep it pure.

The torii is the postcard; the rest of the island rewards the hours after the day-trippers leave. Behind the shrine, the Daisho-in temple climbs the hillside with its hundreds of statues, and the Senjokaku pavilion and five-storeyed pagoda stand above the village. Mount Misen, 535 metres, is reached by ropeway or by three trails through primeval forest, with a view over the Inland Sea from the top and the fire that Kobo Daishi is said to have lit there in 806 still burning in a hall near the summit.

The deer are tame and everywhere, the village street sells momiji manju — maple-leaf cakes — and grilled oysters from the rafts in the bay, and at low tide you can walk out to the base of the torii. Check the tide tables: the shrine and the gate are different places at high and low water, and the best visit sees both.

Spring and autumn, and stay the night

Cherry blossom in early April and the maples of Momijidani in mid-to-late November are the two peaks, and the most crowded moments; the island is beautiful and busy all year, with Japanese school groups and day-trippers from Hiroshima. Summer is hot and humid, winter cool and clear. The decisive advice is to sleep on the island: after the last ferry the village empties, the torii is lit, and the morning belongs to the deer and the monks.

Ten minutes from Miyajimaguchi

EU citizens enter Japan visa-free for up to 90 days. From Hiroshima, take the JR Sanyo line or the tram to Miyajimaguchi (about 30–40 minutes), then the ferry — JR's, covered by the Japan Rail Pass, or Matsudai's — ten minutes across; direct boats also run from the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. A visitor tax of ¥100 is collected with the ferry ticket since 2023. Everything on the island is on foot; luggage can be left in lockers at the pier.

Accommodation is a handful of ryokan and small hotels, booked well ahead for spring and autumn; the Iwaso, in the maple valley, is the historic one. Eat the oysters, the anago-meshi (conger eel on rice) and the momiji manju; the shops close early. Combine with Hiroshima itself — the Peace Memorial and its museum are half a day that should not be skipped.

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