We had opted for an early start in the hope of catching Miyajima Island’s iconic torii at full tide. We left our rooms at 0730 and got to the boat at the Atomic Bomb Dome by bus in time for the 0815 departure.
Our arrival at Miyajima at 0900 was perfectly timed for the high tide about 10 mins earlier. Not only that, the torii scene was perfectly illuminated by the morning sun!
The waterfront had a few deers on the way and slightly inland, there were plenty of shops selling treats and trinkets.
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- Deers on the way from the ferry to the torii.
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- Miyajima Island’s torii with joy-riders going through it.
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- Miyajima Island’s torii.
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- Miyajima Island’s torii.
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- Itsukushima jinja.
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- Miyajima Island’s torii from Itsukushima jinja.
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- Itsukushima jinja.
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- Sake barrels at Itsukushima jinja.
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- View from near Itsukushima jinja.
With plenty of stops along the waterfront, we slowly made our way to the Itsukushima Jinja. Exiting from there, we found an oyster shop where we stopped for a snack. It was 1100 and time for an early lunch of anago (conger or sea eel) again (we had some last night but from a supermarket).
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- Oysters being shucked before being lightly grilled.
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- Lightly-grilled oysteres.
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- Shopping street on a quiet part of the island.
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- Little shrine.
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- Anago on rice for lunch.
We headed to the other side of the shrine where there was a large wooden pavilion (Hokokujinja Senjokaku) and a five-storey pagoda (Hokokujinja Senjokaku). With some bright yellow ginko trees around, we enjoyed a little sit-down.
A cable car operates on Miyajima. We made our way through the woods uphill to find its starting point, only to be disappointed that pre-bookings were required today. All tickets were sold out.
Surprisingly the woods here didn’t have much yellow or red colours of autumn. This was meant to be the best place for it and our timing was forecast to be spot-on. But we are happy because we had good viewings earlier in the trip.
The shops were buzzing by now with people eating and buying treats and trinkets. We made our way to the ferry for the five-minute ride to the mainland where we hopped on to the 1500 tram back to the city centre.
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- View from the Hokokujinja Senjokaku pavilion.
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- Inside the Hokokujinja Senjokaku pavilion.
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- Five-storeyed pagoda.
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- Busy shopping street.
It was a long multi-stop ride taking over an hour. Alice hopped off for the hotel before me while I continued to the main station to plan the walking route for tomorrow morning’s train ride.
I got back to the hotel around 1700 for a rest before heading out to a nearby multi-storey building for a wagyu yakiniku dinner. Once again, I finished the day with a dip in the hotel onsen.
Wagyu yakiniku dinner.