While every day has been amazing so far on this trip, today has probably been my favorite yet. Specifically, Miyajima Island was truly a sight to see. It was one of those places that you could spend days at and always be entertained; from the sights at the top of the mountain, the view of the Torii gate from the Itsukushima Shrine, and to the deer roaming the area and getting up close and personal, there’s no end to how amazing this island is.

Our tour guide, Naomi, gave the group a little bit of background information about the island during the bus ride to the pier. She informed us that there are about 1,700 inhabitants on the island and a lot of deer. The deer on the island are wild, but they are very comfortable around humans. Naomi told us that somebody in a previous tour lost their ferry ticket because a deer snatched it from their pocket and ate it. This seemed bizarre to me until we arrived at the island and I witnessed multiple occasions of deer snatching papers, food, or other items from people!

Some more background on the deer: deer are considered to be messengers from the gods in Shinto. The deer on Miyajima island are considered sacred for their connection to the Shinto religion and the way they behave the same both in nature and on the street. According to a legend from Naomi, it is considered bad luck to find a deer in front of your door. In the legend, people would wake up early to see if they had a deer at their front door and would move the dead deer to their neighbors front door to pass the bad luck onto them. She said this is where the term “passing the buck” comes from.

This curved bridge holds special meaning. According to Naomi, walking through the Itsukushima Shrine before the bridge represents the past. Walking on the bridge represents the present and the other side of the bridge represents heaven. After a short walk up the mountain past this bridge is the ropeway that took us on two gondola rides to the highest peak on the entire island. It was an incredible sight at the top!

The Itsukushima shrine was built upon the idea by a samurai who, according to Naomi, felt bad about all of the battles he had and the bloodshed he caused. One of the main features of the shrine is the Torii gate that appears to be floating at high tide. When we arrived on the island, the tide was so low that people were able to walk up to the gate. The gate is 7 tons and the stones are standing on their own; they are not buried. The entire complex is a UNESCO heritage site and there are 6 buildings/items that have been named national treasures by the Japanese government. I am so glad we had the opportunity to see this amazing site!