Itsukushima Shrine and her surrounding, Miyajima Island

Early in the morning after our scrumptious breakfast FEAST, both JS & Monkey dashed to Itsukushima Shrine to "catch the worms". As the saying goes, early bird gets the worm....but in this case we just wanna avoid the worms and throngs of tourist visiting this shrine everyday.

We stayed at the island for 3 days and somehow have already managed to gauge the number of tourists according to time, high and low tide etc.

For photography, u just wished u were the only one there. How selfish~~~ but for you readers, JS worked really hard to capture sceneries minus human beings.


The estimate year of the establishment of this shrine was 776 but could be older. The entire shrine complex was built over the Seto Sea. Restoration works are being done throughout the year to ensure safety of the floorboard, planks and the entire structure.


Rows and rows of Sake Casks on display. These casks are empty bcoz if it's full of sake, it would be so so heavy. It's more of a symbol to signifies Humans and Gods.


Once we were at the main pavilion, our eyes transfixed to one and only thing, the red Otorii. It's so beautiful and majestic....with its reflection on the sea. As we walked, all we could do was to twist our head to the right, eyeballs glued to it.


And then we realised we walked to the other side...AIKSSSS watch where u are goin Monkey.

Despite being so early in the morning, the first wave of tourists consisting of school children and chibi marukos were already there.

My fierce housemate :))))))))))
dun ask me why he looked so grumpy. He's definitely wasn't maybe except for the part he needed to shoooooo away tourists to get the best picture. KAKAKAKKAKA yes can u imagine him shooo-ing ppl outta the view?

the Noh stage dated from 1590, reserved for festivals where there will be performances to pay homage to Gods.

Such well manicured tree :))))
At the exit of the shrine, there's a few other places you could visit such as the Tahoto Pagoda, the treasure hall and history museum.

As we were slowly walking around the shrine complex, the sea water has already begun to reside and the next low tide isn't ON until 3.15pm on that day. Once the tide is low, you could walk to the Red Gate.

The 5 storied Pagoda is a must visit as well. You will not miss it because it's so tall!!!

This huge and REALLY Old Pavilion next to the pagoda is Senjokaku Hall. Senjokaku means Pavilion of 1000 tatami mats, so it was built according to that size. U know floor plans for houses/apartments in Japan is still measured in this measurement?

Huge Pavilion...I could imagine this to be my future home...HAHAHAH yes I love to dream and to Dare to Dream :)))

The afternoon sun hits the leaves and reflected back creating an illusion that there's snow on the trees outside...can u imagine how beautiful this place is during Sakura or Autumn Foliage or the cold white winter??? Must be so beautiful....

Senjokaku Hall was built in 1587 and its construction was halted when the Lord Feudal died...and it was never finished. Hence u could see it's so bare.....and there's nowhere to sit...except on the wooden floor.

Just right next to it is the famous 5 storied pagoda....wat a beautiful place :)))))))

The other end faces the sea and from the right angle you could see the red torii again. I guess too many postings on the red torii and let's take a break from that for now hehehehe.

I can never get tired of Japan, so it's time to plan for the next one at the next place in Japan :)))) As much as I enjoyed sharing and posting of what we have experienced, I hope you readers will too. :))