#hiroshima-ken

Obviously, the seaside shrine is the main draw. It has existed since the 6th century, with expansions and fame coming from its associations with powerful figures of Japanese history, Taira no Kiyomori and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and is dedicated to the 宗像三女神 Munakata sanjoshin, three kami of the sea and daughters of Susanoo no Mikoto. Besides the torii, it is famous for its kagura dance stage and long red corridors.

The obvious downside of the main shrine is that it's very busy, and any deviation from the main path between the port and the shrine is an opportunity to escape the crowds. Or so I thought when going up to this pagoda and the Senjôkaku to the left. This large hall, said to measure 1000 tatami mats, built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi is the nearest elevated viewpoint to the shrine, so it was busy, to the point it reminded me of an airport departure hall...

No, you'd have to go even deeper to get some proper space and the impression you're doing something different. On the day I visited, three years ago to the day, it was hot and I had plans to catch the Hello Kitty Shinkansen on its afternoon run to Kyûshû (RIP). So I only got as far as Fujinotana Park, which is definitely not far. Miyajima deserves a second visit in a cooler season, to see more of the less trodden areas.

"Any post, deer?"

One last unmissable part of the Miyajima experience is the deer. Like at Nara, they're everywhere, including on the most touristic paths, and they're not very afraid of humans. Is the one below booking its spot as head of the queue for the restaurant?

This was one such ferry: 第拾貳小浦丸, Dai Jûni Koura Maru, or "Ship Little Beach n°12" (note the complicated kanji spelling of the number 12, which would commonly be written 十二), built in 1971 and owned by the Fukumoto Ferry Company - the company that, after 135 years of service on the route, ended operations at the end of March. So I had seen it, though not the precise ship that did the final runs. The reason given for the end of the service is the "aging of the docks", which sounds like maintenance or upgrading was necessary that the company maybe couldn't afford.

Fukumoto is not the only ferry company in the area though. In fact, I rode into Onomichi on a different route, further East, with the Nyû Shimanami above. Nearer to the Fukumoto route, this other ferry, the Mukaishima II, with an interesting pagoda-style bridge was also running.

The expressway is paralleled by a 70 km cycle path, including dedicated lanes on almost every bridge. The exception is the bridge at Onomichi, hence the official Shimanami Kaidô cycle route includes a ferry crossing to Mukaishima, but from there, it's plain riding all the way to Shikoku.

As stated at the start of the post, I did not cycle this route. I planned to visit Imabari in the morning, and take the bus to Fukuyama, with a walk-around at at least one bridge along the way. I stopped at Tatara suspension bridge, on which the border between Hiroshima and Ehime prefectures is situated. There is a service station (which serves ミカンソフト - mandarin ice cream!) and an observation platform. After that, I decided to terminate at Onomichi instead of Fukuyama, getting off the bus on Mukaishima and taking the ferry. Even as an afternoon bus cruise, it was a very satisfying trip, with lots of spectacular Seto Inland seascapes to take in.

Previously, the Japanese National Railways, the public company which was privatised into the JR Group in the 1980s, had a wide range of ferry routes to complement their rail network. This had been the case in Europe as well, basically any ship with a black hull marked "Sealink" was BR, SNCF, SNCB, DSB (check the funnel)... These companies operated purpose-built train ferries to carry wagons, while passengers would typically leave one train, settle in a lounge on the ship, and board another train on arrival. I have previously talked about two Japanese train ferries from JNR's northernmost route to Hokkaidô.

Japan's train ferries disappeared as rail bridges and tunnels were built between islands. The shortest, the Kanmon tunnel to Kyûshû, was completed as early as 1942, and in the late 1980s, both the Seto Ôhashi connected Okayama to Shikoku and the Seikan tunnel linked Aomori and Hokkaidô - overnight, the need for train ferries between Uno (no, not that Uno) and Takamatsu, and between Aomori and Hakodate was gone. Since then, the hop to Miyajima is the only ferry route operated by a JR company, with a couple of small car and passenger ships, under 40 m long. There were never any train ferries here as there is no railway on Itsukushima.

Not much more to add, really. It's a short trip, so the boats just have sitting lounges and decks to stand around on, and enjoy the views of Itsukushima and the famous torii as we approach. I should review some other ferry trips in Japan one day though, as they were quite different to what I'd known on the English channel.