is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima), best known for its "floating" . It is in the city of Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan, accessible from the mainland by ferry at Miyajimaguchi Station. The shrine complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Japanese government has designated several buildings and possessions as National Treasures. the sacred peaks of Mount Misen, extensive forests, and its ocean view. The shrine complex itself consists of two main buildings: the Honsha shrine and the Sessha Marodo-jinja, as well as 17 other different buildings and structures that help to distinguish it.

This shrine is one of the "Three Great Shrines of Aki Province", along with Take Shrine and Hayatani Shrine.

The first on the site is said to have been erected in 569, supposedly by Saeki Kuramoto during the reign of Empress Suiko (592–628 CE). Another renowned patron of the shrine was Mōri Motonari, lord of Chōshū Domain, The Taira clan are known specifically for their involvement in maritime trade with the Song dynasty (960–1279) and for attempting to monopolize overseas trade along the Inland Sea.

Kiyomori was at the height of his power when he established the Taira dominion over the island. He "ordered construction of the main hall of Itsukushima shrine as a display of reverence for the tutelary god of navigation and to serve as a base for maritime activities". He lavished great wealth upon Itsukushima, and he enjoyed showing the place to his friends and colleagues, or even to royal personages".

It is also said that Kiyomori rebuilt the shrine on account of a dream he had of an old monk who promised him dominion over Japan if he constructed a shrine on the island of Miyajima and paid homage to its kami who are enshrined there for his success in life. To this day, pregnant women are supposed to retreat to the mainland as the day of delivery approaches, as are the terminally ill or the very elderly whose passing has become imminent. Burials on the island are forbidden. To allow pilgrims to approach, the shrine was built like a pier over the water, so that it appeared to float, separate from the land. The red entrance gate, or , was built over the water for much the same reason. Commoners had to steer their boats through the before approaching the shrine.

Architecture

thumb|left|The , accessible from the island during low tide

Japan has gone to great lengths to preserve the twelfth-century-style architecture of the Shrine throughout history. The shrine was designed and built according to the style, equipped with pier-like structures over the Matsushima bay in order to create the illusion of floating on the water, separate from the island, which could be approached by the devout "like a palace on the sea".

<gallery>

File:Kangen (4).jpg|Kangen-sai ritual, Itsukushima jinja, Japan, July 11, 2025

File:Kangen (2).png|Kangen-sai ritual, Itsukushima jinja, Japan, July 11, 2025

File:Kangen (3).jpg|Kangen-sai ritual, Itsukushima jinja, Japan, July 11, 2025

File:Kangen (1).jpg|Kangen-sai ritual, Itsukushima jinja, Japan, July 11, 2025

File:Kangen (1).png|Kangen-sai ritual, Itsukushima jinja, Japan, July 11, 2025

</gallery>

<gallery>

File:Torii and Itsukushima Shrine.jpg|The torii at low tide

File:Miyajima Alex.jpg|The at sunset

File:Itsukushima-jinja torii at sunset.jpg|The at sunset

File:Itsukushima Shrine Torii at night.jpg|The at night

File:Torii low tide.jpg|The at low tide, from the inside of the shrine

File:Itsukushima floating shrine.jpg|The buildings that make up the shrine itself are also built in the water.

File:Sake barrels at Itsukushima Shrine.jpg|Barrels of sake in one of the shrine's "floating" buildings

File:Itsukshima Shrine.JPG|The shrine's halls and pathways on stilts

File:Tori gate (view from the castle).jpg|The gate as seen from the castle at low tide

File:20131012 07 Miyajima - Torii (10491662566).jpg|The with a visitor and view of the Seto Inland Sea

File:Five-Tiered Pagoda (Miyajima).jpg|Five-Tiered Pagoda at Itsukushima

File:Deer near the Tori gate.jpg|Deer near the gate

File:Panorama of the floating torii gate at Itsukushima Shrine.jpg|Panorama of the floating gate at Itsukushima Shrine

File:Secretary Kerry Sits With Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida and His Counterparts at the Miyajima Island (26319154496).jpg|2016 G7 ministerial meetings

File:Inside of Itsukushima main shrine.jpg|Inside of Itsukushima main shrine (Haiden)

File:Bridge in Miyajima.jpg|Bridge in Miyajima

File:Tahoto Pagoda, Miyajim - DSC02449.JPG|Tahōtō Pagoda

File:Tea house in a woodland, Itsuku-Shima, Japan LCCN2001705665.tif| in its garden setting, circa 1900

File:President Joe Biden arrives at the Itsukushima Shrine and greets Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Priest (Guuji) Motoaki Nosaka, Friday, May 19, 2023, on Miyajima Island in Japan (cropped).jpg|President Joe Biden greets Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Priest (Guuji) Motoaki Nosaka on May 19, 2023

</gallery>

Artwork

<gallery>

Image:The Famous Scenes of the Sixty States 50 Aki.jpg|Aki Province: Itsukushima, Depiction of a Festival () from Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces by Hiroshige

Image:Brooklyn Museum - Itsukushima in Aki Province - Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando).jpg|Itsukushima in Aki Province by Hiroshige

Image:Miyajima in de provincie Aki-Rijksmuseum RP-P-2008-214.jpeg|Miyajima in Aki Province by Kunisada

Image:Hiroshige II Aki Miyajima.jpg|Aki Miyajima Shiohigari from 100 Views of the Provinces by Hiroshige II

Image:Itsukushima Shrine LACMA M.71.100.97.jpg|Itsukushima Shrine by Kobayashi Kiyochika

Image:Mori Motonari Attacking Sue Harutaka at Itsukushima LACMA M.84.31.247.jpg|Mori Motonari Attacking Sue Harutaka at Itsukushima by Yoshitoshi

Image:Yoshitoshi - 100 Aspects of the Moon - 21.jpg|Itsukushima moon (Itsukushima no tsuki) by Yoshitoshi

Image:Tabi miyage dai nishū, seiten no yuki (Miyajima) by Kawase Hasui.jpg|Snow on a clear day at Miyajima (Seiten no yuki [Miyajima]), woodblock print, from the series Souvenirs of Travel II (Tabi miyage dai nishū) by Hasui Kawase

Image:HEIKE Lotus Sutra Prologue.JPG|Illumination of Lotus Sutra donated in 1164

Image:Emblem of Itsukushima Shrine.svg|Itsukushima Shrine mon

</gallery>

Replicas

A replica of the is at the Japan Pavilion at Epcot.

See also

  • Munakata Taisha, dedicated to the same goddesses
  • List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: others)
  • List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: swords)
  • List of National Treasures of Japan (paintings)
  • List of National Treasures of Japan (shrines)
  • List of National Treasures of Japan (writings)
  • List of Shinto shrines
  • List of World Heritage Sites in Japan
  • Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines
  • Mont Saint-Michel, a sister city and a similar island-temple UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • Three Views of Japan
  • Tourism in Japan
  • Twenty-Two Shrines
  • Three Great Shrines of Benzaiten
  • Hiroshima to Honolulu Friendship Torii (a half-size replica of the Itsukushima )

References

  • UNESCO World Heritage description
  • Miyajima Guide including Itsukushima Shrine
  • National Archives of Japan: Itsukushima kakei