Miyajima - West Japan Tour Part II

With heavy hearts, we left Hiroshima, and headed to the delightful Miyajima Island by a 10-minute ferry ride from the pier of Miyajimaguchi Station. Miyajima literally means shrine island. The sacred island is listed as one of the top 3 most scenic places of Japan. In addition, the government of Japan has named the place as one of it's National Treasures. Miyajima is a recommended visit when you're in the Hiroshima area.

Above: The view from the ferry as we approached the island

Moments after stepping off the ferry platform, we were greeted by couple of young deer, also known to be sacred wanderers of the island. The tame animals scampered around flocking toward people willing to feed them special deer rice crackers, or any kind of food for that matter. Some deer lounged about in shaded spaces sheltering themselves from the heat of the sun.

Unfortunately, Markus didn't seem too keen of the animals at first. It took him a while to get comfortable walking close enough as we ventured toward the signature red gate.

Walking on the wet sandy banks toward the torii. During the low tide, it's a famous site for the locals to dig for clams.

The symbol of Miyajima Island is the Floating Torii, at high tide.

The torii stands 16 metres tall and the roof measures 24 metres long.

Our happy family!

Here, a photo of coins shoved in the crevices of the wood, near the base of the torii.

Our "genki" (happy and healthy) child in the foreground of Itsukushima Shrine. Mount Misen in the background creates a very picturesque view.

The five-storied pagoda at the nearby Hokoku Shrine

Itsukushima Jinja was first constructed in 598 A.D., than later enlarged to its present state
in 1168.

Most of our time spent on the island was touring Itsukushima Jinja (shrine) including the enormous, red torii (gate). With the low-tide during our afternoon visit, we were able to walk right up to the torii for a look up close. I thought this was definitely cool to see. For extra stability, the gate was built in a four-legged style made of camphor wood.

After a green tea ice-cream break, we set off on the next ferry back to the main land and headed for the Hiroshima Station to catch a shinkansen to Himeji. You can bet we all took a nice nap on the hour long train ride.

In my opinion, Itsukushima Jinja would probably appear more favourable at high tide stilted in the water. Miyajima is a place worthy of visiting and definitely something to marvel, however I know I've seen several other beautiful places in Japan I would probably classify more picturesque, but that's just me.