Miyajima

The island has been treated as a god's dwelling for as long as records exist, and the shrine's own tradition dates its founding to 593. Because the whole island was sacred, ordinary people were long discouraged from living on it, and the halls of Itsukushima Shrine were built out over the water on piles so that worshippers approached without setting foot on holy ground. Its present layout dates from 1168, when Taira no Kiyomori, the most powerful man in Japan, rebuilt the shrine on a grand scale in the aristocratic style of the Heian court and made it his clan's tutelary place of worship.

The Taira were destroyed in 1185, but the shrine kept its prestige under later warrior houses. In 1555 the island was the site of the battle of Miyajima, in which Mori Motonari surprised and defeated a much larger force under Sue Harukata; the Mori then became the dominant power in western Japan and rebuilt parts of the shrine. Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the huge open hall now called Senjokaku in the late 16th century, and work stopped, unfinished, when he died in 1598.

A merchants' and pilgrims' village grew along the shore in the Edo period, trading on visitors to the shrine, and its craftsmen developed the wooden rice scoop that is still the island's souvenir. The current great torii dates from 1875. Itsukushima Shrine and its surrounding forest were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in 2005 the town of Miyajima was merged into the mainland city of Hatsukaichi.

Shinto and Buddhism sit side by side here. The shrine's calendar of rites runs through the year, from the boat festival of Kangensai, when court music is played from vessels moving across the bay at night, to fire rites and archery ceremonies in winter. A Noh stage stands over the water within the shrine precinct, and performances are given on it at festival times. On Mount Misen, Daisho-in and its associated halls belong to the Shingon school. A flame said to have been lit there by the monk Kukai, and used to light the peace flame in Hiroshima, burned in the temple's Reikado Hall until the hall was destroyed by fire in May 2026; the temple says the flame itself was saved and the hall will be rebuilt.

The deer that wander the village are sika deer, traditionally regarded as messengers of the gods and left unharmed. Feeding them has been prohibited for years as the population grew too dependent on visitors, and residents keep paper and food out of their reach.

Crafts are the other strand. Miyajima woodwork is known for rice scoops, long made on the island, and for turned bowls and trays, and an outsized scoop is displayed on the main shopping street. The island has also kept old taboos in living memory: burials were not held on the island, and in earlier centuries births were moved to the mainland so that the sacred ground would not be polluted.

About 2,000 people live on the island, and several thousand visitors can arrive on a single fine day. Almost the entire resident population lives in the village on the north-western shore; the rest of the island is forest, most of it protected, with no through roads. Administratively it is part of Hatsukaichi, and islanders cross to the mainland for schools beyond the early years, hospitals and large shops.

The economy is tourism, more or less entirely: inns, restaurants, souvenir shops, the ferries and the ropeway, supported by oyster farming in the bay and a little fishing. Work follows the boats, with the streets busy from mid-morning to late afternoon and much of the village closing soon after the day trippers leave — which is why staying overnight feels like a different place.

Pressures are those of a small, famous island: an ageing population, young people moving away, the cost of maintaining historic buildings against salt and typhoons, and the sheer weight of visitors. Deer management, waste and the risk of fire in the wooden village are recurring local concerns, as is the state of the forest on the slopes after heavy rain.

Anago-meshi is the dish to know: saltwater conger eel, grilled over charcoal with a sweet-savoury glaze and laid in strips over rice cooked in eel stock. It is sold in restaurants on the island and as a boxed lunch at the mainland ferry station. Oysters are the other staple, farmed on rafts in the surrounding bay and eaten grilled in the half shell at stalls along the shopping street, deep-fried as kaki-furai, or served in rice and hotpots in winter.

Momiji manju, small cakes shaped like maple leaves, are a speciality of the island and are baked in front of customers by machines in the arcade. The traditional filling is sweet red bean paste, but custard, chocolate, cheese and matcha versions are common, and age-momiji, the cake battered and deep-fried on a stick, is eaten warm. Other snacks along the street include grilled squid, savoury rice crackers and soft-serve ice cream flavoured with local citrus.

Beyond the stalls, the village restaurants serve the fish of the Inland Sea — sea bream, small whitefish and octopus — often as simple set meals at lunch. Ryokan dinners are more elaborate, built around oysters and seasonal seafood. Sake from the Saijo breweries east of Hiroshima is widely poured, and tea houses along the approach to the shrine serve matcha with island sweets.