Itsukushima Shrine stands on Miyajima, an island in Hiroshima Prefecture’s Seto Inland Sea, where its red buildings appear to rise from the water at high tide. The familiar view is not a trick of photography: the shrine’s position, the sea and the forested slopes of Mount Misen form a carefully protected landscape. The island has long been sacred in Shinto tradition, and UNESCO inscribed the shrine and its setting in 1996. A visit is more rewarding when planned around two changing realities: tide conditions, which alter the view, and seasonal opening hours, which differ among the shrine, Treasure Hall and Senjokaku pavilion.
The shrine’s official history traces its foundation to 593, based on an ancient record associated with the reign of Empress Suiko. UNESCO phrases the early history more cautiously, saying the first shrine buildings were probably erected in the sixth century. Both accounts place Itsukushima among Japan’s very early sacred sites. The shrine honors three deities associated in its own account with protection of the imperial family, the nation and seafarers. Its location at the boundary between land and sea gives that maritime role a visible presence, while the island itself remains central to the site’s religious meaning.