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Setonaikai NP, Hiroshima
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The 16.6-m Ōtorii isn’t sunk into the seabed: its roughly 60-ton frame stands on pine piles, while about 4 tons of stones hide inside its hollow crossbeam. The present gate dates to 1875.
Miyajima’s anago-meshi began as a station bento near Miyajimaguchi in 1901. Its eel was already prized locally: an Edo-period gazetteer praised anago from around the island.
Shrine tradition says a sacred crow guided founder Saeki no Kuramoto around Miyajima until the deities chose a tidal shore for their sanctuary. The shrine dates this founding to 593.
At low tide, 3 round Mirror Ponds appear within the shrine precinct—one in the east corridor. That pool was named among Miyajima’s eight scenic views, selected in 1715.
Itsukushima’s Noh stage is the only one in Japan built over the sea—and the tide changes its sound. Without the usual resonance pot beneath it, flexible floorboards help amplify performers’ footfalls.
In 1164, Taira no Kiyomori and the Heike clan dedicated 33 lavish Buddhist sutra scrolls to this Shinto shrine, decorated with gold, silver and imported colors. The set is a National Treasure.
During Kangen-sai, a ceremonial boat carrying the shrine’s deity and court musicians sails across the bay to Jigozen Shrine. It waits offshore for the tide, then makes 3 turns in the shrine’s narrow basin.
Kiyomori brought bugaku—court music and dance—from Osaka’s Shitennōji in the 12th century. More than 20 pieces, including the dramatic Ranryōō, are still passed down at Itsukushima Shrine.
Kiyomori rebuilt Itsukushima in 1168 in shinden-zukuri, the style of Heian nobles’ residences. After a 1223 fire, the prayer and purification halls were rebuilt in 1241; the main sanctuary followed in 1571.
Records show the arched Soribashi was not part of Kiyomori’s original shrine: it first appears in a document from 1240–1243. Later called the Imperial Messengers’ Bridge, today’s bridge dates to 1557.
A Mirror Pond beneath Agemizu Bridge holds the Sotoba Stone, tied to a Heike tale: exile Taira no Yasuyori floated 1,000 wooden tablets bearing poems to his mother; one reportedly washed ashore here.
Miyajima’s shamoji began as a livelihood idea: monk Seishin saw pilgrims arriving but little local industry. Inspired by Benzaiten’s biwa, he designed the rice paddle and taught islanders to make it.
Until 1868, Benzaiten was also worshipped at Itsukushima Shrine. The government’s order separating Shinto and Buddhism ended that shared arrangement; the goddess is now enshrined at nearby Daiganji.
Look at the Ōtorii’s crossbeam: a crescent moon marks its west side, while a sun marks the east. Miyajima’s guide identifies this unusual pair as a trace of yin-yang thought.
