11 Days in Chūgoku & Kyushu – Day 06 – Itsukushima – Momijidani Park

Posted on    by

In my past trips, I routinely made it a matter of personal discipline to go through, select and process the pictures I take, and write posts commenting on my itinerary experiences each day.  A sort of real time account if you like. It’s been getting harder over the years to do this though; in part because half of the trips I make a year these days are family ones, and parents are usually already pretty much exhausted after the kids turn in each evening. And also because I’ve been taking a lot more pictures than before. My itinerary this Japan trip has been light on the evenings except for a day or two. But processing photos the between 500 to 1,200 pictures and videos I take each day has taken most of each night, that I’ve pretty much fallen badly behind the blog posts. Specifically, I’m at the end of Day 08 and my entries are only up till Day 05.

So, here’s the first in a series of posts that covers activities from two days back, starting first with a visit to Itsukushima, or more commonly known as Miyajima Island. I’d initially dropped out from the excursion organized for my work event attendees, mostly on account that the famed torii gate was undergoing repair works. But after giving it a bit more serious thought after I actually arrived in Japan, I decided to rework my itinerary to squeeze out an additional free day and make the trip to Miyajima Island – and specifically to go up Mt. Misen.

Quick notes: getting to the island from Hiroshima is pretty easy – and you have at least two options by public transportation: a ferry (there’s a picture of the outbound boat in Day 08’s posts), but I opted for the train. This was also the first day of my five day JR pass that covers the JR Okayama-Hiroshima-Yamaguchi Area (cost SGD177 here). I caught the earliest Shinkansen leaving Tokuyama at 6:56AM, and arrived in Hiroshima at 7:17AM. Dropped off my luggage at my 4D3N stay in the city – The Royal Park Hotel Hiroshima Riverside (a fairly short 8 minute walk away) – then scooted back to the Hiroshima Station to catch a local train to Miyajimaguchi Station. The ride took just 30 minutes, and a quick JR ferry next to cross the narrow sea from the mainland, I was in Itsukushima just a few minutes before 9AM.

My itinerary planning placed the ascent up Mt. Misen via Ropeway as the first thing to do, as I was planning to hike my way down after reaching the top and didn’t want to deal with crowds or afternoon humidity. It was an easy walk from the ferry terminal to Momijidani Park, keeping the coast line on your right and follow the numerous signage and for directions to the Ropeway. The walk is shaded once you get to the park though there are quite a few steps and slopes to navigate nonetheless.

Pictures!

The ferry runs up to four times an hour in fifteen minute intervals, and the JR Ferry is also covered by the pass. I thought I was early catching the 8:40AM ferry out, but there were already more than a few visitors heading there too.
According to Wikitravel, Miyajima was noted by Japanese scholar Hayashi Gahō in 1643 as one of the country’s Top 3 scenic sights. Which led me to think: in the 17th century, was there already that much tourism going around for people to compare..?!
I got lucky again with a wonderfully bright and clear morning – though it started raining from noon time onward.
Most shops are just about opening when I arrived at 8:55AM.
It’s a scenic walk to the Ropeway. I was expecting to see a lot more resident deer, since that’s one of the things many visitors have remarked on Tripadvisor. But there were just about a half-dozen lazing around.
Omotesando Shopping Arcade. It got crowded later in the day after my descent.
I’m constantly at a loss trying to figure out each location on the map, as Google Maps and the Data Sim card’s GPS I was on could routinely be off anywhere between 1 meter to 50 meters. So, I’m guessing this is the Treasure Storehouse. Maybe?
A spot to take pictures. Our church friends Ann and Chris have a picture on this bridge while in traditional Japanese wear.
Japanese sense of humor LOL.
Kiddo version of a waterfall. There’s actually a shuttle bus service that’ll bring visitors up to the Ropeway I recommend you walk the distance though – there’s just so much to see and soak in.
Going up the ropeway. Each seems to have space for four but I have no idea how much it can carry safely. But I was allocated my own car, probably because there weren’t many people going up at this time yet in the morning. The price for an adult ticket is ¥1,000/SGD13 – and ¥1,800/SGD23 for a round trip.
About 10 minutes up the Ropeway, you’ll get off and change to a larger car for the last five minutes’ ride to the Ropeway’s terminal station – Shishiiwa Station.
Map of the island. Source and larger version at http://www.miyajima.or.jp/english/map/img/map_kanko01.jpg

Continued in the next post!