Many opt to day trip from Hiroshima to Miyajima but you’re a Citrine Compass insider and insiders know that the true magic of Miyajima is experienced in the quietude after the tourist crowds depart.

Learn more about staying in a ryokan in Miyajima, hiking Mount Misen and seeing the famous torii gates of Itsukushima Shrine.

Miyajima Island is located in Hiroshima Bay less than 30 minutes by train from Hiroshima. If you’re following the 2-Week Japan Itinerary: The Complete Guide, you will be traveling from Kyoto so it will be a fairly extensive travel day. Put on your walking shoes, team. You will take the JR bullet train from Kyoto to Hiroshima for a quick pit stop or to spend an afternoon.

VISITING MIYAJIMA ISLAND

HOW TO GET TO MIYAJIMA

Miyajima can be accessed fairly easily by JR Rail Pass and then by ferry. Take the JR to Hiroshima Station - if you are stopping in Hiroshima, you will hop off here - and from the take the local JR Sanyo line for the 25-minute ride to Miyajimaguchi Station.

From Miyajimaguchi, take a 3-minute walk to the JR Miyajima Ferry station for a 10-minute ride to Miyajima Island (your JR pass covers the ferry ride as well). The ferry runs from morning until night but not all hours of the day so be sure to check out the ferry time table here.

IS IT WORTH GOING TO HIROSHIMA FOR A DAY?

First let’s talk about Hiroshima so you can make the decision on whether or not you want to stop there on your way to Miyajima. If you like history, this may be one of the only times in your life that you will be close enough to Hiroshima to visit but as you might expect, it is a very heavy experience. The museum openly displays atrocity that occurred to the people of Hiroshima and the images, artifacts and stories that you hear will stick with you for a lifetime.

That said, the purpose of the memorial is to honor those who were lost and make sure the world never engages in nuclear warfare again and it is a very real part of Japanese history.

DAY ONE: HIROSHIMA + MIYAJIMA

Whether you choose to visit Hiroshima or not, you will arrive in Hiroshima Station. If you do want to visit Hiroshima and your bags are heavy with trinkets, sake and dumbells (but really, what is in our bags?), you can lock them up at the station for a small fee. Many train stations in Japan will have lockers for short term rental (a couple of hours up to a week) but beware it may be a challenge to find open lockers for large bags.

Most people spend 3-4 hours seeing the main sites in Hiroshima so it can easily be done in an afternoon. To see the museum, park and other main attractions (all located fairly close to each other) you can take a 30-minute walk from the train station or take a bus. If you walk, there is plenty of signage to direct you to the different sites.

WHAT TO DO IN HIROSHIMA: THE MAIN SITES

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Atomic Bomb Dome (A-Bomb Dome)
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Hiroshima Orizuru Tower + Observation Deck
Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine
Hiroshima Museum of Art

When you’re ready to head to Miyajima Island, connect from Hiroshima Station to the local JR Sanyo line for the 25-minute ride to Miyajimaguchi Station. From the station, the ferry is a short walk.

As you approach Miyajima, you will quickly start to feel like you are approaching Jurassic Park as dark green covered mountaintops peak out between grey clouds pass and the mist rises sleepily off the bay. Miyajima is said to be one of Japan’s most beautiful and best kept secrets and you will quickly see why as you approach it.

One of the highlights of your Japan trip will be staying Watanabe Inn, a ryokan that has been run by the same family for over 100 years. Ryokans are Japanese-style inns that offer a peek into traditional Japanese home life. They can be expensive as they charge per person (not per room) but breakfast and dinner are provided and you’re paying for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You must stay at a ryokan at least once while traveling in Japan; it will be a special, memorable and traditional experience that you’ll be glad you did.

Watanabe Inn only has a few rooms so be sure to book on their website as far in advance as possible. They will pick you up from the ferry station, you just have to find the train station attendant who will give the Inn a call and let them know you have arrived.

A quick ride up the mountainside and you will arrive at the inn, where your shoes will be neatly lined up against the wall (shoes are typically not allowed indoors in a Japanese home) and you can see the updated weather and tide forecasts on a chalkboard wall.

Upon climbing the stairs to your bedroom and set eyes on the room, you will know you picked the right spot to stay. The entire room is covered in tatami mats and a table and floor cushions are set up with tea and momiji manju, local Miyajima baked goods filled with sweet adzuki bean jam. Through delicate sliding doors you can relax in a sitting room with a vintage vanity and quaint chairs that overlook a local babbling brook.

PRO TIP // When the tide is high, Itsukushima Shrine looks like it’s floating majestically on the bay. When the tide is low, you can walk out to and under the 1500-year old gate and see it’s amazing construction up close.

At the ryokan, kimonos and socks are provided for guests to wear at meals, while relaxing in their rooms or to don after a leisurely soak in the cedar tub. During dinner, the hosts quietly rearrange your room to allow for the heavily cushioned tatami mats for a night’s rest and during breakfast roll them back up so you have space for tea, reading or maybe a simple meditation.

At Watanabe Inn, dinner is served at a Western table or a Japanese-style seated on floor cushions and kaiseki, Japanese haute cuisine, which is served as a series of small dishes and reflects the local delicacies and culinary style. You will encounter delicious rounds of local hot sake, freshly sliced sashimi, baked or steamed local fish, hot soups, a variety of vegetables and a dessert of gigantic, impossibly sweet, jelly-like Japanese grapes. The night’s rest is accompanied by the sound of the trickling stream, gently lulling you to sleep.

DAY TWO: EXPLORING MIYAJIMA

Wake early to make the fantastic hike up Mount Misen. There are two routes up - have your hosts at Watanabe point out which route to take (one is easier, one a bit tougher). There is an entrance to Mount Misen a few steps from the ryokan that is challenging and takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach the top.

Before you depart, pop in to Daisho-in Buddhist Temple for your daily dose of serenity and then embark on the climb where you’ll see Shiraito Falls and various small temples and icons.

The hike is all on ancient stone steps but the nature around you during the climb is reminiscent of The Jungle Book. It is incredibly lush and wild on Miyajima Island and Mount Misen is filled with hidden statues and shrines along its pathways. It is common for statues to have red bibs and knitted hats made by locals to ward off evil and keep the gods happy.

At the top of the hike, you are rewarded by panoramic views of Hiroshima Bay. Be sure to visit Kiezu-no-Reikado Hall, adoringly called “Lover’s Sanctuary”, which houses a fire that monks have kept burning for 1200 years. This very flame was also used to light the ever-burning torch at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.

From the top you can either hike back down if you’re feeling sprightly and the weather permits (Miyajima is lush because of it’s frequent, often torrential, rain) or you can take the ropeway, also known as Hatsukaichi, back down.

Once back to sea level, head to Omotesando Street, Miyajima Island’s main street for shopping and restaurants. On your way you’ll have a chance to see up close the most famous sight on Miyajima Island, the 50-foot torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine that appears to be floating when the tide is high.

This part of town can be flooded with day-tripping tourists which can create a lively atmosphere during the day. You’ll have an array of boutiques to buy artisanal soy sauce, food stalls to enjoy warm steamed buns, restaurants where you can dine on local Oysters Rockefeller and (refillable) lemon mojitos.

Around town is a wonderful spot to mix and mingle with the local deer as well. Deer are sacred in Nara (deer were one of the four gods of the Kasuga Shrine) so they are allowed to roam and populate freely on Miyajima Island. The deer that hang around town are a bit more aggressive so don’t try to walk home with leftovers, they’ll try to snag anything from a pastry to a plastic cup.

Dinner is served nightly at your ryokan and while you’ll be ready for a good night’s rest after a day of hiking and exploration, make sure to head back out when night falls. You will never hear silence so absolute than you will walking the quiet streets of Miyajima when the daytime visitors have taken the ferry home.

Once back at the ryokan, run a hot bath in the wooden cypress tub to soak and rest your weary bones. The evening can be wrapped up by finding a comfy corner in the sitting room and cracking open Granta 127: Japan, a collection of creative short stories that allow the reader a glimpse into modern Japanese culture. Milk your last night of kimonos, deer and Miyajima magic before you leave the island behind.