Itsukushima Shrine stands on stilts over the waters of Hiroshima Bay, its vermilion torii gate seeming to float at high tide. Ranked among the Three Views of Japan since 1643, Miyajima pairs its shrine architecture with the forested slopes of Mount Misen and a resident population of free-roaming deer.
At a glance
Miyajima, also known as Itsukushima, is a small island off Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture. Its name means shrine island, and the shrine at its centre, Itsukushima Shrine, has been treated as sacred since at least 593 CE. Deer wander freely across the island and are regarded locally as messengers of the gods, a tradition shared with Nara.
Much of the island is covered by protected primary forest, centred on Mount Misen, the island’s highest point at 535 metres. The mountain’s slopes have never been logged, and the path up it passes cedars and camphor trees of considerable age.
Key facts
- Shrine founded: 593 CE
- Current structure: commissioned around 1168 CE by Taira no Kiyomori
- O-torii gate: current gate built 1875, around 16 metres high, made of camphor wood, standing unanchored in the sea
- Mount Misen: 535 metres, primeval forest, associated with the monk Kobo Daishi from 806 CE
- Recognition: UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed 1996; also named among the Three Views of Japan by the scholar Hayashi Razan in 1643
History
Itsukushima Shrine was founded in 593 CE, during the reign of Empress Suiko. Its current form dates from around 1168, when it was rebuilt under the patronage of Taira no Kiyomori, the powerful imperial regent whose clan fell at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. The shrine survived the transition to Minamoto rule and continued to be maintained as a national institution.
The shrine’s unusual design, built on stilts over the sea, is linked to the island’s status as forbidden ground for ordinary people: pilgrims approached by boat and worshipped without setting foot on the sacred island itself. Until the Meiji era neither births nor deaths were permitted on Miyajima, and the dead were carried by boat to the mainland. The island still has no cemetery.
What you see
The most recognisable sight is the O-torii gate standing in the bay in front of Itsukushima Shrine. At high tide the gate appears to float on the water; at low tide visitors can walk out to it across the exposed tidal flat. The gate is the eighth version built on the site, each lasting several decades before the sea rots the wood, and the present structure dates from 1875.
The shrine itself includes its main hall and a noh stage built out over the water on stilts, so that performances appear to take place above the sea at high tide. Behind the shrine, the forested slopes of Mount Misen rise up, framing the torii between forest and water.
Practical information
- Access: reached by ferry from Miyajimaguchi; check current timetables and fares with the ferry operator or the shrine’s official channels
- Tides: the appearance of the torii and the shrine changes with the tide, so it is worth checking tide times before visiting
- Wildlife: deer move freely around the island and are known to approach visitors carrying food
Getting there
Miyajima is reached by a short ferry crossing from Miyajimaguchi, on the mainland near Hiroshima. The crossing itself gives an early view of the shrine and torii gate from the water.
Nearby
- Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park — on the mainland, home to the Genbaku Dome, the ruined framework of a building that survived near the atomic bomb hypocentre of 6 August 1945; also inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996
- Amanohashidate — in Kyoto Prefecture, a pine-covered sandbar and one of the other Three Views of Japan named alongside Miyajima
- Matsushima — a bay of pine-covered islands near Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, the third of the Three Views of Japan
Sources
- UNESCO
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See this place and what’s around it →Events here — now on & upcoming
- Battle of Miyajima (1555) — Itsukushima Shrine16 Oct 2026See the event →
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