The bunker in the middle of the picture is the Backpackers hostel
Miyajima is a small island which is situated in the Inland Sea off Hiroshima. For the Japanese it is an iconic island and the view of the red torii in tidal waters in front of the Itsukoshima-jinja shrine is ranked among the three best views in Japan. The island can be reached by ferry boat from the train and tram terminal at Miyajimaguchi where we had been staying overnight. The straits are about 1 km across, so the whole journey (free with JR rail passes) takes just ten minutes, and ferries are about just as frequent.
The hostel does not put on a breakfast for its guests, so there was no reason to get up for breakfast. After sinking three mugs of self-made filter coffee (adding an extra scoop for good measure) in the common room and checking out the latest news on the netbook whilst Raph dragged himself out of his bunk, we eventually walked round the corner to the bakery where we indulged in rolls and pastries for breakfast before hitting the ferry at 11 o'clock.
Boarding the ferry to Miyajima
The best time to see the sunken torii is at high tide where the bright-red supports rise majestically out of the sea. We'd seen so many of these red torii by now (remember, these mark the entrances to shrines), one looks very much like the other, but not the Itsukoshima version. This one is 16 metres in height and weighs about 60 tonnes and has four supporting pillars (making six in all), which stand under their own weight on the sea floor.
The view at high-tide
The present shrine - which stands on stilts - dates from 1168. Commoners were not allowed to set foot on the sacred island and had to approach the shrine through the "floating" torii. At low tide however, both the shrine and the torii are surrounded by mud.
Like Nara, deer roam the streets at will, following the tourists, and at one point Raph commented that the entrances to the public toilets all had been fitted with wooden gates, presumably to stop the deer camping there overnight.
Sea-deer
The other big attraction on the island is the view from Mount Misen, the highest peak on the island at 530 metres, which is also home to a number of shrines and temples. From the summit observatory, there are stunning 360 degree views of the Inland Sea. The summit can be reached by foot or by cable car. We decided to take a one-way ride by "ropeway" to the summit and then walk back down. The cable car ride does not actually take you right to the top, but leaves you a 100 m short. The rest has to be done by way of a steep climb on foot. This probably explains why the crowds are so thin on top of the peak: too much hard work for most people.
This was scary
Distant views (which stretch across to the mountains of Shikoku) were impeded today by haze, but some of the nearer islands were clearly within view. And - to be quite honest - we were just glad it wasn't raining: today's remarkable event (after yesterday's delayed Shinkansen) was that we actually caught the sun.
The view from the top
The boulder-strewn summit of Mount Misen
The walk back to the main port village by way of a waymarked and stepped route was knee-jerking and I was exhausted (and dripping in sweat) by the time we reached the Daishoin temple three-quarters of the way down where we stopped to take on copious amounts of water and eat our daily ration of rice cakes.
A breather on the walk back down
Raph standing next to a samurai warrior heavily camouflaged as a stag.
Back in town - after viewing an Akira Kurosawa (film director) exhibition - we rested awhile as a breeze blew through the darkened interior of the Senjokaku Buddhist library (which was never fully completed).
At 5, we backtracked to the torii. Low tide was now approaching and the structure was attracting large numbers of tourists intent on getting close-up pictures (like ourselves). It was our aim to eat on the island and then to catch a later JR ferry back to the hostel, but it would seem that Miyajima is primarily an island for day-trippers and by 5.30 most of the souvenir shops and restaurants had their shutters down. So instead, we just headed back to the pier and were back at the hostel by 6.30.
The torii attracting tourists at low tide
View of the ferry-crossing to Miyajima
As if the day hadn't already had enough highlights, there was - as far as I was concerned - still one more to come. On several occasions we had been recommended Okonomiyaki, which bears a passing resemblance to a pancake, but really only in name. There are many such restaurants in Hiroshima and surroundings selling this fare and there just happened to be one 200 yards from the hostel. Okonomiyaki are served on a griddle that covers most of the table top and the almost-cooked dishes are brought to you on a "shovel" and deposited on the hot-plate by the waitress. Not only was it an interesting experience, the food - noodles with an omelette cover and topped with fried squid and leek - was excellent.
Now for the trek back to Tokyo by way of the mountains.
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