Miyajima Island, also known as Itsukushima, is a small island near Hiroshima worth a stop. If you time your trip properly, witness a beautiful shrine and torii gate float into the sunset!
How to Get to Miyajima Island
I stopped at Miyajima Island for a night in between the time in Kyoto and Osaka. You can take a Shinkansen to Hiroshima, then change to local JR Rail trains to arrive at Miyajima.
Once there, it takes about 15 minutes to reach Miyajima Island using the JR Rail Pass ferry boat.
The Great Torii Gate & Shrines of Miyajima
The island is filled with the most beautiful shrine, and a massive orange torii gate known as the Great Torii Gate.
During the day, you can walk up close and touch the gate for good luck, or even insert a coin into its cracks!
I came back at sunset to see the change in the tide and watch the gate float.
The shrine itself was absolutely beautiful, and I definitely recommend going for a walk through it to take in the views.
If you have more time, there are plenty of things to walk around and see. You can hike up to some really nice pagodas, or spend time in the gardens and park. There are also loads of tourist-y things to do, like shop, eat and drink.
Everyday Life in Miyajima Island: Deer and Maple
There are two things that you cannot miss on Miyajima Island: wild deer, and maple EVERYTHING.
The area is home to lots of Japanese maple trees, which have leaves that differ in shape from their Canadian friends. You can buy everything from maple cookies to maple-themed Hello Kitty key chains! Tip: most of the maple cookies are not actually maple flavoured, just in the shape of a leaf...
There weren't quite as many deer as in Nara, and these ones knew how to shop! (Read my blog post from Nara here)
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