Miyajima Island Travel Guide

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Just outside Hiroshima is one of the ‘three jewels’ of Japan, one of the top three places in the country to visit (the Japanese love lists of top threes). It is Miyajima Island, and it is spectacular.

By tram or train, it’s about a 45 minute ride to the ferry port; the boat takes about 15 minutes, and they run often.

The island is filled with wonderful things to see and do. Deer roam the streets begging (sometimes demanding) food. There’s a small mountain in the middle which is a good day hike, or there’s also a tram to the top. Up there, you’ll find plenty of wild monkeys to play around with.

And of course, the true jewel is the temple. It has the floating torii gate, a postcard image if there ever was one. Torii gates signify the movement from the regular world to the spiritual one, and in ancient days all visitors to the island led their boats beneath the gate – in other words, the whole thing is sacred. Make sure you visit at high tide – during low tide the gate is in the middle of a mud flat, but as the water rises it appears to float in the middle of the bay.

The temple itself also appears to float during high tide, as it is a series of boardwalks overtop an inlet of water. Stay for awhile and watch crabs munch on seaweed, or herons munch on crabs. Or just observe the breathing in and out of the sea –ordinary nature takes on a mystic quality in this special place, if only because our attention is drawn to it by design.

Enjoy the pagodas and halls that dot the land elsewhere, or stay the night in a luxurious ryokan and truly experience the torii gate as it’s lit at night, with the crowds having disappeared. During special seasons, there will be fireworks in the evening.

If you can come during the blooming of the cherry blossoms, absolutely do it – Miyajima is filled with cherry trees, and the sight is unforgettable. Avoid typhoon season – the temple has had to be rebuilt multiple times after being torn up by violent storms, although remarkably the torii gate has never needed real repair.

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