Visited 24.04.2015 (Fri)
UNESCO World Heritage. Hiroshima Prefecture is home to two UNESCO World Heritage sites - Genbaku Dome 原爆ドーム and Itsukushima Jinja 厳島神社. Genbaku Dome, a preserved ruin to remind mankind of the destructive forces left behind by World War II, is located within Hiroshima city and less than 15 minutes ride away by electric tram and bus from Hiroshima JR Station. On the other hand, Itsukushima Jinja is located on Miyajima, a small island in Hiroshima Bay, and requires an additional 10 minutes ferry ride to cross the water channel separating Miyajima from Honshu island. Itsukushima Jinja was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in December 1996 and it is well renowned for its stunning vermilion giant torii “floating” gracefully offshore - an extremely picturesque sight that has graced the front covers of travel guide books/magazines on numerous occasions. More than three centuries ago, Miyajima was already named as one of the three most scenic spots of Japan, alongside Matsushima 松島 and Amanohashidate 天橋立 by Shunsai Hayashi, a Confucian scholar who has travelled throughout Japan on foot.
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| Advanced closer to otorii by ferry. |
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| Sika deers basking in the sun. |
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| Do not disturb mode. |
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| Managed to capture both the stunning otorii and adorable sika deer within the same frame! |
Deers or shopping? With our JR West passes, we hopped onto the train from Hiroshima JR Station, alighted at Miyajima Guchi JR Station and connected to the next JR West Miyajima Ferry. While on board the ferry, our excitement grew as the iconic giant torii came clearer and closer within sight. After alighting at the ferry terminal, it takes another 12 minutes by foot to finally arriving at Itsukushima Jinja. Having said that, the route leading to the shrine is pleasant and interesting to explore! There are three routes to choose from, the seaside, Omotesando shopping street 表参道 or Machiya-dori 町屋通り. For the seaside route, enjoy the sea breeze while accompanied by adorable and friendly sika deers during the leisure walk. Along Omotesando shopping street, shop houses, comprised of souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants, lined both sides of the street and is filled with tourists all year round. Whereas, Machiya-dori, which is one block away from Omotesando shopping street and lined with centuries old stores and houses, provides a glimpse of life in the olden days and a stroll along this street is a truly a trip down the memory lane. We decided to play with the deers first by embarking on the seaside route to Itsukushima Jinja followed by making the return trip to the ferry terminal via Omotesando shopping street.
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| Reached our destination! |
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| Entrance to Itsukushima Jinja. |
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| Admiring otorii from Higashikairou 東回廊, the east corridor of the shrine. |
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| Witnessed a traditional wedding ceremony held at the main shrine on the day of our visit. |
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| The five storied pagoda in the background is also an iconic landmark in Miyajima. Said to have been built in 1407, this structure is 28 m high and combines the architectural style of both Japanese and Chinese elements. |
Floating shrine. Itsukushima Jinja was first built in 593 and it was remodeled into its present grand structure in 1168. The architecture of this shrine is unique from the rest; its location on the coastline and building extending outwards to the inland sea makes it looks as if the shrine is “floating” on the waters during high tide as the supports below the platforms are submerged under water. Itsukushima Jinja is
composed of the main shrine (Gohonsha 御本社), with a drama stage (Nobutai 能舞台), music rooms, halls and several other shrines arranged around it; and all these structures are connected by wooden corridors spanning a total length of about 300 m. Here,
Munakata goddesses, Ichikishima-home, Tagitsu-hime and Tagori-hime, are worshiped as deities of sea, traffic safety, fourtune and accomplishment. On the day of my visit, we happened to witness an ongoing traditional wedding ceremony held in the main shrine, which also became one of the highlights during our stay here.
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| Tide was low enough for us to step onto the sand bed and come closer to otorii. |
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| Amazingly picturesque sight of otorii and Hiroshima Bay in the background. |
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| Front view of Itsukushima Jinja. |
Majestic otorii. Standing at 16 m tall, weighing an impressive 60 tons, the giant torii (or otorii) is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.
The main pillars are 9.9 m in circumference and are made of natural camphor trees, while the other four supporting pillars are made of natural cedar. The current standing otorri is the eighth since Heian period and was erected in 1875. The ultimate challenge for most visitors who visit Miyajima is how close they can get to otorii, which requires a bit of luck or essentially dictated by the tidal changes that differ with time of the day and seasons. On the day of our visit, the tide was not sufficiently low enough for us to touch the pillars of otorii. Fortunately, the tide has subsided enough to reveal the sand bed below and a few metres around the shrine, which allowed us to walk down to see the shrine from its front and also move a bit closer to otorii - was already quite contented to admire this beautiful structure from a shorter distance. One thing I remember vividly was the tidal transformation was faster than I thought. When we made our way to catch another glimpse of otorii about three hours later, we noticed the waves have reserved its direction of movement and were sweeping towards the shrine, completely submerging the sand bed which we stood on previously.
Hopefully, I will make a return trip soon to fulfill the wish of standing side by side to otorii. One other item in my bucket list, is to take the ropeway to ascend Misen-san, the highest peak on the island. During our visit, the ropeway was down for maintenance and we had to end our expedition of Miyajima earlier than planned.
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Itsukushima Jinja (Itsukushima Shrine) 厳島神社
〒739-0588 広島県廿日市市宮島町1-1
Operating hours:
0630 - 1800 hrs
- Admission fee to Itsukushima Jinja = 300 yen
- Admission fee to Treasure Hall = 300 yen
- Combined ticket to both Itsukushima Jinja and Treasure Hall = 500 yen
http://www.itsukushimajinja.jp/
How to get there?
(1) By foot. 12 mins walk from Miyajima ferry terminal.
Ferries from Miyajimaguchi Pier to Miyajima. There are two ferry operators covering the sea route between the two ferry terminals. If you are holding on to Nationwide JR Pass or JR West Pass (such as Sanyo and San'in Area Pass), please use JR West Miyajima Ferry as the fare is covered by the rail passes. Upon exiting from Miyajima Guchi JR Station 宮島口駅, walk straight and you should see JR West Miyajima Ferry first. The pier for the other ferry operator, Miyajima Matsudai, is located on its left.
- JR West Miyajima Ferry JR西日本宮島フェリー
http://jr-miyajimaferry.co.jp/en/
Fare = 360 yen (for round trip)
- Miyajima Matsudai 宮島松大
http://miyajima-matsudai.co.jp/english/index.html
Fare = 360 yen (for round trip)
For both ferry operators, the time taken to travel between Miyajimaguchi and Miyajima is about 10 minutes. On most part of the day, a ferry sets off every 15 minutes from either pier.
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Commemorative stamps:
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| Itsukushima Jinja entrance ticket. |
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