Miyajima

Sunday morning we got up early in order to head to Miyajima in hopes of beating some of the crowds. Thankfully our JR passes got us there for free and after a 30-minute train ride, 5 minute walk, and 10 minute ferry, we arrived on the island of Miyajima. Miyajima is home to a mountain and some spectacular shrines and temples.

Upon arriving we made our way to the Floating Torii. There has been a Torii here since 1168, and the current one dates back to the 1800s. It serves as the entrance to the Itsukushima-jinja. The island used to be a sacred place and commoners were not allowed to set foot on the island. They approached Itsukushima-jinja by boat through the Floating Torii. Itsukushima-jinja is built on a series of piers that are either completely exposed at low tide or partially hidden at high tide. The two structures make a beautiful sight. When we arrived, it was low tide, and there weren’t many other tourists. Because of this, we were able to snap a couple of magnificent photos of the Floating Torii.

From here, we made our way up to the top of Mt. Misen. There was a plethora of stairs and steep inclines to the top. It took us about an hour to get to the 535-meter top, and to say we were sweaty upon arriving would be an understatement. I have now been made aware of how much Mt. Fuji is going to kick my butt in about a week! Despite being difficult, the hike was beautiful! Close to the top of the mountain is a temple where Kobo Daishi meditated for 100 days. Across from the temple is another building that contains a flame that has been burning since Kobo Daishi lit it 1200 years ago. Just above the temple, is a lookout platform that offers some spectacular views of the sea and surrounding islands, including the mainland of Japan.

After taking our time to ooohhh and aaaahhh over the views, we headed back to the bottom via a ropeway. The first tram down was rather crowded and had standing room only as lots of people were let in. The next tram was more of what I expected with seats for only six people. It was a great way to see some of the scenery from above the treetops.

Upon arriving at the bottom of the mountain, we discovered that the rest of the tourists had arrived on the island to see the temples. Itsukushima-jinja was crawling with people and it was hard to get a good photo of the Floating Torii at high tide because there were boats and jet-skis all around it. Rather than waiting in line at Itsukushima-jinja, we climbed up more stairs to go to a different temple. Senjokaku Pavilion was next to the five story pagoda.

We headed back to Hiroshima to spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around Hiroshima Castle. We took the Sightseeing Tour Bus to the castle and began wandering around the grounds before making our way to the replica of the castle. Most of the castle complex was destroyed when the A-bomb was dropped. There are a couple of foundations left and commemorated with plaques for where different buildings were located. In the 1950s the decision was made to rebuild Hiroshima Castle and turn it into a museum. There are five floors. The first floor gave information on how Hiroshima because Hiroshima and how the castle was built. The second floor also contained more history on the castle. The third floor had samurai weapons and outfits. The fourth floor was an exhibition, and the fifth floor was a viewing platform out onto Hiroshima. 

The castle itself was absolutely breathtaking and impressive to think that the original was built in a time where no modern machinery was available. Just like the temples in Myanmar and Angkor Wat, it is hard to believe that such engineering was achievable.

For dinner, we meandered our way back to Okonimi-mura for more Okonimiyaki. We tried out a different stall but essentially got the exact same thing as the majority of the options had some type of seafood on them.