Kodak moment in Japan

  Miyajima, Japan
Sunday, October 29, 2006

We've come to realise that the Japanese love league tables and rating things and so it came as little surprise that the island of Miyajima is home to one of the country's top three most photographed sights. The famous floating Torii gate (Shinto shrine entrance)that makes it into most travel brochures is set about 100 metres off the coast.

01 Floating torii

The island, which is properly known as Itsuku-shima, is supposed to be sacred and so was originally out of bounds for commoners so the only way they could visit the Itsukushima Temple was by boat - they had to steer their boats through the gate and land at the pier in front of the temple. The spiritual authorities on the island have relaxed their strictures on commoners coming to the island, but there are still no maternity hospitals or cemeteries as no one is allowed to give birth or die there. Chopping down trees is also forbidden.

09 Five storied pagoda

We spent a lovely afternoon exploring the island's main temples - the vermilion five story pagoda and the Senjokaku or "pavilion of a thousand Tatami mats" date from 1407 and 1587 respectively.

02 Inside Senjokaku Pavilion

The enormous pavilion remains unfinished with no ceiling or walls, after the man who commissioned it, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, died.

The charming Daisho-in Temple is the nearest we've got to Tibetan style Buddhism since we came to Japan. The grounds are full of an eclectic mix of Buddhist statuary and the monks are dressed in red and saffron robes.

05 Mandala made of sand by visiting Tibetan monks

We were trying to work out why there were quite so many pictures of the Dalai Lama plastered all around, until we saw a Jap-lish (mixture of Japanese and English) poster we could decipher. He's coming to Hiroshima this week for a lecture course.

10 Itsukushima Shrine

Our final destination was the large Itukushima Shrine, founded in 593, it gave the island its other name. It was built on stilts over a cove and its vermilion colour makes it very picturesque. After snapping away happily for a few minutes, we dutifully waited our turn with dozens of Japanese tourists, to capture the Torii on camera from the pier in the glorious evening light.