Miyajima: Itsukushima Shrine, the torii and Mt Misen

Miyajima is the island of Itsukushima Shrine, about 10 minutes by ferry from Miyajimaguchi on Hiroshima’s coast. Shrine entry is 300 yen for adults, and the shrine opens at 6:30 every day. The great torii stands in the sea at high tide; at low tide you can walk out to its base. Check the tide table before you go, and plan Mt Misen around the ropeway’s last car down at 16:30.

Itsukushima Shrine was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1996, at the same UNESCO session as the Atomic Bomb Dome, and several day tours combine the two. For trains, trams, ferries and the boat from the Peace Park, see Hiroshima to Miyajima.

Itsukushima Shrine

The shrine was founded in 593. Taira no Kiyomori built the present shrine in 1168. The sea comes in under the corridors at high tide, and the floorboards have small gaps between them to ease the pressure of the water. The shrine asks visitors to wear comfortable shoes, because high heels can catch in the gaps.

Checked October 2026, from Itsukushima Shrine’s own admission page:

Ticket	Adult	High school	Elementary and junior high
Itsukushima Shrine	300 yen	200 yen	100 yen
Treasure Hall	300 yen	200 yen	100 yen
Shrine and Treasure Hall combined	500 yen	300 yen	150 yen
Hokoku Shrine (Senjokaku)	100 yen		50 yen

The combined ticket is sold only at the shrine entrance.

Dates	Shrine hours
1 March to 14 October	6:30 to 18:00
15 October to 30 November	6:30 to 17:30
1 to 31 December	6:30 to 17:00
1 January	0:00 to 18:30
2 and 3 January	6:30 to 18:30
4 January to end of February	6:30 to 17:30

The Treasure Hall opens 8:00 to 17:00 and Hokoku Shrine 8:30 to 16:30, all year.

The Great Torii and the tides

The torii (shrine gate) in the bay is about 16.8 m high. It is made of wood in the four-legged Ryobu style, roofed with cypress bark and lacquered vermilion. According to the Miyajima Tourist Association, it is not fixed to the seabed: it stands by its own weight. The present gate, the ninth, went up in 1875.

What you see depends on the tide.

Tide	What you see	Source
About 250 cm or higher	Shrine and torii appear to float on the sea	Japanese guidebooks (Mapple, Watabi)
About 100 cm or lower	You can walk on the sand out to the torii	Same guidebooks
In between	Neither view at its best

These thresholds come from guidebooks, not from an official page. The Miyajima Tourist Association publishes hourly tide predictions on miyajima.or.jp; open them the day before. If both a high and a low tide fall within your visit, you can see the torii both ways.

The JR ferry runs some sailings that pass close to the torii, from Miyajimaguchi between 9:10 and 16:10. A kayak tour listed below paddles out to the gate and can pass under it when the tide is above about 180 cm.

Mt Misen and the ropeway

Mt Misen is the island’s highest peak; guidebooks give its height as 535 m. Kukai, the monk known as Kobo Daishi, opened it as a mountain for religious practice. In Reikado Hall near the summit, a sacred fire is said to have burned for more than 1,200 years. That fire was used to light the Flame of Peace in the Peace Memorial Park.

The Miyajima Ropeway runs in two stages, from Momijidani Station to Shishiiwa Station. Checked October 2026, from the operator:

Ticket	Round trip	One way
Adult (12 and over)	2,000 yen	1,100 yen
Child (6 to 11)	1,000 yen	550 yen
Group (15+) or aged 65+ with ID, adult	1,800 yen	1,000 yen

	Times
Up	9:00 to 16:00
Last car down	16:30
Free shuttle bus to Momijidani Station	About every 20 minutes from 9:50

Children aged 1 to 5 ride free with a paying adult. On some busy days, such as weekends in November, you must book in advance; the operator lists the dates on its site. Cards, IC cards and PayPay are accepted only at Momijidani Station. Strollers and wheelchairs cannot board, and the ropeway can stop in high wind or thunder.

From Shishiiwa it is still about 30 minutes on foot to the summit on a steep path, according to japan-guide.com. Walking the whole way up from the town takes 1.5 to 2 hours by any of the trails, according to the same guide. You can also ride up and walk down; one of the trails ends at Daisho-in temple, near the town. Leave enough daylight for it.

Deer, momiji manju and oysters

About 500 deer live on the island, according to the Miyajima Tourist Association. Bucks fight during the autumn rut, which lasts until January, so give them space.

Momiji manju, a small maple-leaf-shaped cake, has been made on Miyajima since the early 1900s. The tourist association lists it among the island’s souvenirs and runs a momiji manju making experience.

Oysters are the other local food. Hiroshima Prefecture grows more than half of Japan’s farmed oysters. The Miyajima Oyster Festival is usually held on the second weekend of February in front of the pier, though the 2026 festival was cancelled because of poor oyster growth. More on local food is in our okonomiyaki and oysters guide.

Day trip or overnight

A day trip from Hiroshima works if you start by 9:00. One workable order is the shrine first, then the torii at whichever tide suits, lunch, then Mt Misen before the 16:30 last car down.

Staying on the island lets you see the shrine after the day-trip crowds leave and catch an early low tide. Two ryokan within walking distance of the pier are Iwaso, in Momijidani, and Kinsuikan, on the seafront. Hotels in Hiroshima prefecture now add an accommodation tax of 200 yen per person per night where the room-only rate is 6,000 yen or more. See where to stay in Hiroshima for both.

Guided trips

The half-day tour picked above has a local guide who checks the tide for the torii and visits the shrine and Daisho-in. The cheapest guided option meets at Hiroshima Station and takes the coast train and ferry. If you want to see the Peace Memorial Park and Miyajima together in one day with a guide, the 8-hour coach tour at the end of the list does both.