Hey! Sorry for not writing last week. I was kind of busy with a lot of stuff and too tired to edit the photos. If you remember, few weeks ago I wrote about Amanohashidate, one of 3 best views in Japan. Then this year I went to another place which is also part of 3 best views in Japan, which is Miyajima in Hiroshima.
Miyajima – How to get there
When I reached Hiroshima, I went directly to Iwakuni and then from there I rushed back to Miyajima. Miyajima is located in between Iwakuni and Hiroshima, so either you go to Iwakuni or from Iwakuni, you’ll pass by Miyajima.
We took the JR train from Iwakuni to Miyajimaguchi. It costs around 410yen and from Miyajimaguchi, we took the Ferry to Miyajima. There’re 2 ferry operating in Miyajima, one is JR and one is not. Both companies costs around 180yen and 10 minutes to Miyajima. However, if you have JR pass, you can board the JR Ferry for free. There’s also a ferry going to Miyajima from the Peace Park, but it’s more expensive (around 2000yen one way) and the schedule is not that frequent. I guess the ferri from Miyajimaguchi is the more common and convenient method.
We reached around 3PM in the afternoon, but the weather was not really good. It was cloudy and the sky was a bit dark.
Itsukushima Shrine
Similar to Nara, when you landed in Miyajima, you could see a lot of wild deer.
Be careful if you’re walking while carrying food because they’ll flock around you for sure.
One thing about Miyajima is that it’s really famous, you’ll expect a lot of local and international tourist in the island. The good thing is that you can find directions in English and even some shops has English menu or support.
Our first destination is the famous floating shrine, Itsukushima and the floating torii. The shrine is around 10 minutes walk from the port. Just follow the direction and you’ll find a gate like the picture above. It says “Japan Best View Miyajima).
This centuries-old shrine is what makes Miyajima popular. The shrine and torii was built over the water and they looks like they’re floating. It’s best to visit the shrine when the tide is high.
The shrine is located just next to the torii. You’ll need to pay around 300yen to enter the shrine. It opens until 4:30 daily and after sunset, the entire shrine is illuminated until 11PM. You cannot enter the shrine after sunset, but you could book a cruise and see the illuminated shrine from the cruise.
Miyajima – Walking Path
I chose not to enter the shrine because it was cloudy and a bit dark anyway. I prefer to walk and explore around the island, especially because it was the sakura season and you can also see sakura trees blooming in the island.
The walking trail was so pretty in the spring. We also passed by some places such as Senjokaku and the five-story pagoda.
Senjokaku is located on the hill behind Itsukushima shrine. You’ll need to hike a bit, but it’s not that bad, really. Senjokaku itself is a spacious temple. Toyotomi Hideyoshi built this shrine and the size is approximately around 1000 tatami mats.
If you continue walking along the trail, you’ll reach Mt. Misen and you could see Tahoto Pagoda like the picture above. We did not go to the top, but I think the view will be prettier in Autumn because there’ll be a lot of Momiji and red leaves.
It will take around 2 hours to reach the mountain, so we turned around and head back to the city. There are 3 hiking course and if you decide to hike, Daisho-in course is the easiest course and the view is really good.
By the time we reached the city, it was dark already. We passed the Itsukushima again during the sunset and the view is really pretty.
It’s actually a bit impossible to go closer to the torii when the tide is high. However, there’s an area near the exit of Itsukushima Shrine which is completely dry. You could take a closer look of the torii from the area.
It’s just next to Itsukushima Exit. There’s a spacious sandy area and you can go there.
Miyajima – City area
There’re a lot of shops and restaurants in the city area. You can also spend a night in the island because there’re some ryokan (Japanese traditional inns) in the island. You can also book the night cruise through one of this ryokan.
And while you’re in Hiroshima, you should try their food too. We tried some snack in the island.
(Baked clams and fried momiji manju)
Momiji manju is really famous in Hiroshima. You should try one.
OK, now I’m hungry…
Tl;dr
I totally wanna go back to Miyajima again. Probably in different season when it’s not rainy and cloudy. Probably I want to spend a night in the island too. If you visit Hiroshima, Miyajima is one of the must-visited place in Hiroshima. It’s really easy to get there and the transport is not really expensive. We took the tram from Miyajima to Hiroshima and it costs around 260yen (around 1 hour ride).
Inside the island you can explore a lot of places and beautiful scenery. You can also rest in the restaurants or shop souvenir. It’s totally worth-visiting.
And it’s totally foreigner-friendly.
And that’s conclude my post today. See you on the next post, and as usual, your comments are always loved <3. Have a good day.