If you have JR Pass in your hand and planning to stay in Osaka, maybe it is worth to visit Miyajima Island. Perhaps you never heard this place before but if you know the famous torii gate floating in the sea then you already know this spot. From Osaka it took about 2.5 hours by train and ferry, but everything is covered by JR Pass. So why not?
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| Rainbow over Miyajimaguchi |
As I started the trip from Osaka, I need to take shinkansen from Shin-Osaka Station to Hiroshima Station. Then from Hiroshima Station I took the local train to Miyajimaguchi Station. The station and the ferry port is not connected, you need to walk around 10 minutes to reach the port. Inside the port probably there will be lines for tickets. As I was holding JR Pass I did not need to buy another ferry ticket, I just need to pay the Miyajima Visitor Tax for 100JPY which I paid from the dedicated machine. So be sure to check which line are you queuing for.
The weather around the island can change rapidly and unpredictable. When I arrived to Miyajimaguchi it was a little rainy. But once abroad the ferry, suddenly it was clear sky with a visible rainbow, a beautiful greetings from the island. The ferry ride took about 10 minutes and give a spectacular view for the island. Slowly the red torii gate became visible and the ship docked to Miyajima Island.
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| Arriving the island |
You can feel the true Japanese atmosphere in the island. Walking around was very convenience as there is not much car going around the island. The fresh air and clear sky made the walking journey to the torii gate very relaxing. There were also some deers chilling on the side road.
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| Hokokujinja Senjokaku Pavillion |
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| Five-storied Pagoda |
Since I had the whole day to explore the island, there were some shrines that could be reached by walking distance. First I visited Hokokujinja Senjokaku Pavillion, a large wooden hall dated back to 1587 and commissioned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Senjokaku literally means “pavillion of 1.000 mats”, as a description of size of the place which is approximately the size of 1.000 tatami mats. Behind the pavillion stands a five-storied Pagoda originally built in 1407.
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| Daisho-in Temple Area |
Another beautiful temple that I visited was Daisho-in Temple. It is located in the base of Mount Misen and can be reached within 10 minutes walk from Itsukushima Shrine. The temple area features a variety of buildings like some halls, tea room, and a cave filled with 88 icons representing the temples of Shikoku Pilgrimage.
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| Side path |
On the wayback down I chose another path on the side of the main path. It was a stoned stairs and filled with hundreds of statue of guardian diety of children. It gave a unique view of the stairway.
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| Itsukushima Shrine |
For the last stop I went back to Itsukushima Shrine, hoping the tide low enough so I could walk closer to the gate. Unfortunately it was still quite high and not possible to move closer. And if you want to take photo from the mid point of the gate, you have to pay entrance fee to enter the shrine area. The surrounding area is enough to take a selfie when tide is still high.
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