I woke up at 7am and had a bath in the onsen . The onsen was fairly full. There were cupboards to put stuff, but no locks or doors. I deposited my stuff and went in to wash. There were so many bathing stations. The big main indoor bath had jets, which is the first time I have ever seen this. I got in the bath. It was so hot and lovely. I briefly sat in the outdoor bath, but it wasn’t that warm. I then headed down to the Lawson attached to our hotel and got Jives a coffee. I then went down to the water front and had a rice ball and coffee myself as the boys woke up. At around 9am we met Harith in the lobby to take the Sanyo-line 9:29am train to Miyajimaguchi station. The entire trip took about 26 minutes. This was a local train. On arrival in Miyajima station, we got the Miyajima stamp in our books and walked to the ferry terminal, maybe 6 minutes away. 

You used to be able to take the JR train to the Miyajima JR ferry and both would be included in your JR pass, this is still the case, but you have to pay a 100Yen tourist tax before you can board the JR ferry to Mijayima. This is totally fair. We used the machine to buy our tickets and paid in cash (you can also use suica card). We then got in line to board and handed the 100 Yen ticket to the man at the gate, showing out JR passes as well.

 I stood at the front of the ferry on the bottom level on the right side, for a view of the floating torii gate on arrival. The tide was pretty far out, just beyond the torii gate, and we had a spectacular view as we approached the island. We disembarked ten minutes later and walked towards the torii gate, along the beach as the tide was out. It was really cool being able to get close enough to the torii gate to touch it! When we came here in 2014 the tide had been in the entire time we visited, but also there were very few visitors in 2014. Other than crowd size though, not much had changed. We took so many photos on the beach and at the torii gate and then sat along the edge of the water line on little stone seats. 

We then decided to climb a mystery staircase , which proved to be a great idea! At the top of the steps was a gorgeous shrine called “Itsukushima Jinja Gojunoto”. This shrine had an orange stepped five story pagoda and a huge wooden hall. We took off our shoes and paid 200 Yen to enter the vast wooden hall. The ceiling was cavernous, held together with huge wooden beams of various widths, very clearly untreated tree trunks. There were artworks in the rafters and so many drawings of horses, creatures and scenery, all in large wooden frames, no two alike. 

The view from the temple was stunning, it overlooked the orange halls of the Itsukushima temple, as well as a yellow gingko tree and the five story orange pagoda. We wandered around for quite a long time and took a lot of photos. There was also a giant metal dial suspended from the ceiling. I assumed it had to do with the zodiac and lunar new year, but I cannot find any information about it. There was a large turtle shell also hanging from the ceiling, what a lovely eclectic place! This mystery temple shares most of its name with the orange floating temple, but it is much older, dating back to 593AD. It is the oldest five story pagoda in Japan (Miyajima Island is actually called Itsukushima so the name these two temples have in common is the island’s name). 

We climbed the stairs back down from the temple, but exited to the south where we found a little shop selling homemade onigiri. We both ordered the eel onigiri and were given a sheet of delicious seaweed with instructions on how to wrap the onigiri ourselves. We sat at a little wooden table with chairs made of tree stumps and enjoyed our delicious lunch. Jives then went to a nearby shop to purchase a hat for his dad. We then walked towards the Miyajima ropeway in search of the pathway to climb Mount Misen. 

There were deer dotted along the walk, but the deer in Miyajima are so chill compared to the Nara fellas! 

We crossed two red arched bridges and arrived at the ropeway where we took the western (right) path to begin our ascent up mount Misen. We stopped at a small local cafe along the way and Harith got some tofu udon, while Jives and I had a beverage. There was a lady serenading a pond full of koi like she was a Disney princess….

From the beginning of the hike it was a 2.2km uphill climb with MANY steps. The further you went up, the steeper the steps got. It was quite the undertaking. We stopped for a few breaks. Overall the hike to where the ropeway would take you is probably two hours, depending on your fitness levels. It was quite a struggle, and we arrived at the false top at 2:30pm. At the top of the trail you can go left or right. Left takes you to the ropeway and back down the hill and right takes you on another 30 minute hike to the best views on the whole island. 

We were contemplating heading down instead of completing the climb when we were pep talked by a guy who had also hiked up like us. He insisted the extra hike was totally worth it, despite how exhausted we might feel at that moment. Quite a few people along the hike commented on how Jives had decided to  hike the hill in a dress shirt, vest and tie… what a fancy hiker he is!

The extra little 30 minutes hike was soooo worth it, and the highlight of the entire day. The views down to the bay and out to the other islands was just breathtaking (not that we had much more breath to be taken). Most of the way up there is a resting point and a lovely shrine called “Misen Main Hall”. The little pagoda here is blackened by the flame that has been burning here since 806 when the Kobo Daishi spent 100 days on the hill in penance. The eternal flame here in the eternal flame hall was used to light the flame in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. There were little buddha statues all around the temple, many wearing sunglasses or hats. 

From this point it was a very short rocky climb to the summit. I bought a tiny wooden daruma ema (prayer tile) at the shrine for 500 Yen and wrote a wish on it. We then climbed the last little way to the summit. 

There is an observation platform and a shop where you can get a stamp saying the day you climbed mount misen. The nice shop attendant also gave us a bookmark to commemorate the achievement. 

After a much needed break and lots of victory photos (for having not died on the climb up), we started the 30 minute hike back to the ropeway. Along the way there were two older women with walking sticks, struggling to make the climb to the top of the mountain. I said to them “Ganbaru” (try your best) and they said “fight-o, fight-o” (accepting the challenge). 

The last cable car down the mountain was at 4:30pm so we had about one hour before the last car left, but the line was pretty long… We probably waited a total of 30-40 minutes to board the first cable car. There are actually two cable cars you need to take. The one way trip cost us 1100 Yen each!!! First you get on a bigger cable car where 20-30 people can “fit”…actually I say that comfortably 10 people can fit before being smushed against the glass. Then you queue for a second cable car that can only fit 8 people VERY closely packed together. We paid our fare at the bottom and exited.

We then walked to the entrance of the orange floating Itsukushima Shrine. The entrance cost us 300Yen each. It was the exact same ticket as when we had visited 10 years ago, but there were so many more tourists. It was still really enjoyable to visit and you do get some lovely views of the floating torii (which was now submerged and truly floating). Although you will have to queue if you want “the shot” … but slightly to the left or right you can get arguably just as good a shot of the floating torii and no line. 

After the shrine we visited the now very small beach on the western side of the shrine to take some photos before heading to the ferry terminal to take the ferry back to the mainland. The departures at this time were almost every 5 minutes, but ended at 6:25pm. We took the 5:25pm ferry back to the mainland, just as the sun was setting gorgeously over the floating torii and the island. We got some pretty spectacular photos of the sunset while waiting for the (very full) train back to Hiroshima station. 

After resting in our room for quite awhile, Jives and I headed out to sit by the water at the A-bomb dome. Something about this monument at night makes it feel even more powerful somehow. The way it lit up was eerie and had a profound impact on me. I would recommend seeing the dome at night as well as during the day. We sat in awe of the monument with the water rushing at our backs. 

We then made our way to Okinomimura to try and find a place to eat. It was much later now, closer to 9pm so we found a booth to eat at that offered vegetarian options. The place was called “Syo-chan”, probably named for a wife or daughter. We were welcomed warmly and offered two seats at the small counter. We sat facing the cook (three staff members that looked like family). We ordered two namabiiru (draft beer) and the gentleman placed them on a board over the hot plate table. An older man at the end of the counter with his family “kampai-ed” (cheers) us! 

We then watched the cook as they made our two okinomiyakis on the hot counter in front of us. So many layers! Batter, egg, cabbage, more batter, green onion, seaweed, beansprouts then sauce and garnish. It is so impressive to watch them flip the whole thing on to the soba noodles. It doesn’t fall apart at all, despite looking so precarious. 

He served the two okinomiyakis up to us and pointed out the hot/ not hot sauce to add, as well as the toothpicks, with an adorable flourish! Itadakimasu! 

We devoured the delicious masterpieces. The stop was covered in photos of cats and a collection of owl themed trinkets. There was a TV playing baseball, but mostly the guests were conversing with one another and the owner. We ate quickly while absorbing our surroundings. The total came to 3500Yen. We paid and thanked the lovely owner. We then slowly made our way back to the room. 

I decided to have an onsen soak before bed.