On December 18th , 2022 , Itsukushima Shrine’s Torii Gate was officially re opened to the public with a traditional ceremony , after almost 3 years and a half of repair works . The repair works involved some repairs on the Torii Gate itself , the roof on top of the Gate and a new coat of paint , and started on June 17th 2019 . The last renovation was made between 1950 and 1951 , during the reign of the late Emperor Showa . The renovation works took longer than expected because of difficulties in the process . Before the repair works started , it was already known that there were parts of the Torii Gate that were eaten by termites , and were “empty” . The Torii Gate was restored using the traditional process of 埋木 ( Umeki ) , a process in which the damaged wooden parts are carved out and replaced with “healthy” wooden parts . When the shrine’s Torii Gate was originally built in 1875 it wasn’t painted , but in the 1909 reform it was painted with it’s actual Vermillion color . Though Vermillion color is actually more red like ( RGB 239,69,74 ) , Japan’s Traditional Vermillion color is actually more orange like ( RGB 235,97,1 ) . Until around the Meiji Restoration , Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples were more or less interconnected . One of the reasons for the choice of the Vermillion color of the gate is about Buddhist beliefs that the color red helps in avoiding misfortunes . Itsukushima Shrine’s Torii Gate stands 16.6 meters high , or about almost 55 ft high . There were also other repair works on the Shrine’s buildings that began on September 2020 and were also finished at the time of the end of the Torii Gate’s renovation works . Itsukushima Shrine is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site .
Koma Inu @ Itsukushima Shrine
Prayor Hall @ Itsukushima Shrine
To visit Itsukusima Shrine you’ll need to embark on a ferry at Hatsukaichi port . The fare is 360 yen per adult and 180 yen per child for the round trip . Children fares are for children aged up to 11 years old , 12 years old and up are billed adult fare .
If you intend on taking pictures of the Torii Gate from the ferry , be aware that the ferry only gets close to the Torii Gate on it’s way to the island , on the return trip it won’t get close to the Torii Gate . When the tide is low it’s possible to walk from the shrine to the Torii Gate and take pictures of the Gate and the shrine afar . Here’s the link to a site that shows the Tide levels at Itskushima .
Itsukushima Shrine Torii Gate as seen @ Low Tide
My advice for your reading this post is to allocate a hole day to visit Itsukushima . Plan ahead and check the tide levels so you can walk to the Gate . There’s more to Itsukushima than the shrine . The Torii Gate is illuminated at night , which gives you a good opportunity for a different picture of the Gate .
Torii Gate Illuminated at night
They say you can’t go to Itsukushima and not visit Mount Misen . It is accessible by Cable Car . There are signs indicating the bus stop for the free bus that takes you to the Cable Car station . The fare is 1840 yen per adult and 920 yen per child for the round trip . Children fares are for children aged up to 11 years old , 12 years old and up are billed adult fare . There are other small shrines on top of Mount Misen , if you don’t mind walking around . The view of Hattsukaichi from Mount Misen is quite a nice one .
View from top of Mount Misen
There are lots of shops and restaurants on the way from Itsukushima port to the shrine . When you get out of Itsukushima port you’ll greeted by the most peculiar island inhabitants , the Japanese Deer . Just be aware that these Deer are used to presence of humans and won’t mind in approaching visitors to possibly grab anything they think it’s edible .
Japanese Deer @ Itsukushima Shrine
Kintaikyo Bridge located in Iwakuni City , Yamaguchi Prefecture and Itsukushima are located very close . It’s possible to visit both on the same day .
※This Blog post was last updated on February 2nd , 2023 .