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Setonaikai NP, Hiroshima
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A sacred fire said to have been lit on Misen in 806 supplied an ember for Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park’s Flame of Peace, first lit in 1964. A mountain ritual became part of the city’s peace symbol.
Reikado Hall burned on May 20, 2026, but Daishoin’s priest told local TV the sacred fire’s reserve embers—kept elsewhere—were safe. On October 20, the temple held a rebuilding prayer at the ruins.
Misen’s main hall houses a Heian-period bell with a 1177 inscription naming Taira no Munemori, son of Taira no Kiyomori. Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs lists it as an Important Cultural Property.
Misen was one of Japan’s 3 major Shingon training grounds, alongside Mount Tairyū in Awa and Cape Muroto in Tosa. Tradition says Kūkai spent 100 days here practicing Gumonji.
In Misen’s primeval forest, the southern-affinity plant Mimizubai grows alongside mountain conifers such as fir and hemlock—a striking mix preserved on this small Seto Inland Sea island.
Because Miyajima itself was revered as sacred, Itsukushima Shrine was built over the sea rather than on the island. Misen remained the object of worship, and its forest was protected largely intact.
In 1906, Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi donated 7,000 yen to improve Misen’s pilgrimage trail after praising the summit view. His support is still recalled at the trailhead and in a stone inscription.
Miyajima’s traditional 13-year ‘wisdom visit’ honors children reaching that age by Japanese counted years: they pray to Misen’s guardian deity for wisdom and good fortune. Daishoin held the pilgrimage on February 8, 2026.
Misen’s guardian, Sanki Daigongen, is a trio, not a single spirit: Daishoin describes each as a manifestation of Dainichi, Kokūzō, or Fudō. The tradition blends mountain worship, Shingon Buddhism, and Shinto ideas.
One local etymology says Kūkai named Misen after Shumisen—Mount Sumeru, Buddhism’s cosmic mountain—because the Miyajima peak reminded him of it. It is a tradition, not a settled explanation of the name.
A huge boulder near Misen Hondo, called Mandara Rock, bears inscriptions traditionally credited to Kūkai. Their text invokes Buddhist figures, Amaterasu, Hachiman, and more than 3,700 kami.
Misen’s Kanman-iwa is a local puzzle: a small hole in the rock, about 500 meters above sea level, is said to fill and drain with the tides. Local accounts describe the water as salty; the phenomenon remains unproved scientifically.
Two of Misen’s traditional Seven Wonders point to vanished trees: the Dragon-light Cedar and Shigure Cherry are gone, leaving only their stumps. The cherry was said to shed dew even on clear days.
Miyajima folklore gives Misen’s midnight clacking a supernatural source: when no one is visible, tengu are blamed for sounding wooden clappers. Older tales warned people to stay indoors until the noise stopped.
