Miyajima Island, the Shrine of Itsukushima-Jinja and the floating Torrii Gate

Miyajima Island is the most beautiful place I've seen thus far in Japan. (Though it seems I say that each day here...)

The entire shrine is built up on piers over the bay. (Or over the mud if you are there at low tide.) Fortuitously, I was there on a full moon high tide, and the water lapped gently just below the decking. Even more fortuitously, and completely by accident, the Dalai Lama was doing a blessing at the Buddhist temple just up the hill. The monks at the shrine were all engaged in building offertory alters of evergreen boughs and performing ritual purifications as I wandered about.

Miyajima island was considered so sacred that commoners were not allowed to touch its shores. The entire temple is suspended on piers, floating over the bay. The shrine was built in the 6th century, and remodeled in 1168. Pilgrims enter the shrine through the famous “floating” torrii gate. (A torrii is the characteristic gate that always fronts a Shinto shrine. The act of entering through the gate purifies the visitor so that they may proceed to the alter(s) to make their prayers. Nowadays most visitors arrive by commercial ferry, so they have built another torrii gate over the road from the ferry terminal.

This gate is listed by the Japanese government as one if the three best views in Japan.

This is the most Pisces friendly place I’ve ever been. A Shinto shrine dedicated to purification suspended over a beautiful half moon shaped bay. (Did I mention that the roads surrounding the shrine are all jammed with vendors selling grilled oysters?) I was in fish heaven. (The foremost aquarium in southern Japan is right next door to boot, but alas I didn’t have time.)

The shrine itself is a gently meandering series of piers with various alters spread throughout. There are washing stations where you ritually wash before making a prayer or buying a fortune. (Shinto practitioners buy fortunes after making a prayer to see if the prayer will be answered.)

The Shrine’s sightlines are all oriented toward the famous “floating” Torrii gate (pictured) through which latter day pilgrims arrived. The main alter is aligned perfectly to the gate and offers a spectacular view out over the bay.

On your way back to the ferry don’t forget to have some grilled oysters!