I took advantage of the holidays period called “Golden Week” in Japan to get out of Tokyo and go to Hiroshima. There, I made a visit to the Itsukushima shrine, located in Miyajima, in the West of Hiroshima, and registered as a Unesco World Heritage site. It is also one of the “Three most beautiful landscapes of Japan (nihon sankei 日本三景)”.

The torii gate to the shrine (ootorii 大鳥居) is particularly famous for being in the sea, giving the impression it floats over the water. It was edified in 1168, but the actual one dates back from 1875.

The shrine itself is built on pilotis and also gives the impression of floating on the sea, at high tide. To observe this, it is better to go there late in the afternoon. The first picture, above, was taken at around 6:40 pm, but the sea level is not high enough yet. It’s probably better to go there in summer.

The several buildings that compose the shrine are connected to each other by roofed corridors. Apart from the buildings used for religious purposes, there’s also a stage for nô theater.

I hope this will make you feel like going there.

I mentioned the Nezu are previously, well, if you come around, don’t miss the Nezu-jinja sanctuary 根津神社. This shinto sanctuary was created in Sendagi more than 1900 years ago by legendary character Yamato Takeru 日本武尊, prince of the Yamato dynasty. It was relocated to Nezu in 1705 by the 5th shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi 徳川 綱吉, in the Edo period.

Nezu-jinja  has been designated as important national cultural heritage.est désigné patrimoine culturel important national. Around it are other sanctuaries such as the Otome-inari jinja 乙女稲荷神社 or the Komagome-inari jinja 駒込稲荷神社.

Several festivals take place at the Nezu-jinja, but I particularly recommend you the Azalea festival, Tsutsuji-matsuri which is from early april to early may. If you haven’t anything planned this weekend, go there !