Author: eshima

TOTO-Omotenashi toilet was made for everyone, disabled people and/or parents with small children, who visit Miyajima to enjoy the stay. The goal is to make comfortable atmosphere for everyone. The appearance is made to fit the other building in the island, wooden building. Let me show you where it is. This toilet is just 5 minutes walk from Miyajima Ferry Terminal. Go through Omotesandou Syoutengai and pass the post office. Then you will see it on your right. Where we used to have “The biggest Shamoji” of the world.

The entrance of the women’s bathroom. Beautiful Momiji( maple ) leaf lighting.

Inside, there are powder room and washroom.

This is very wide Toilet with baby chair. They even have the monitor on the wall so that you can see how to use the toilet and how you go around the island. It has five languages such as English, Chinese, Korean, French, Japanese.

Look at this plate. There are toile to wheelchair, women, men and for kids, and multi purpose toilet. Baby room is available too. On the 1st floor, there is tourist information, trash can. On the 2nd floor, there is rest area and vending machine. This trash can is the only one we have in Miyajima. So ,don’t tell anyone.

There is a trash can next to the vending machine. In　Miyajima　they have only two spaces for trash cans at the ferry terminal and this restroom. You can put some trash you ate at second floor in the trash can soon.

This is a Tourist Information. The staff will answer all your question and help you enjoy the trip

On the upstairs, wide space to relax. There is a miniacute Torii gate and you can relax with your family.

You can eat and drink at the rest area, and this is only place you can do. You can also Charge your phone,P.C. and so on.

These outlets can deal with almost all of the phones and P.C.

On the second floor There is a staff at tha corner. If you have some questions, you can ask him something you don’t know. There are some restrooms here.

You will see the big Shamoji (rice Scoop) enshrined on your right when you go up the stairs.

★Good　Point

Miyajima Omotenashi Toilet is more than just toilet. It has tourist information and rest area. It will support your comfortable Miyajima walk. You can include the Bento time in your plan where you can have then inside the building.

Toilet: 9 AM to 9 PM
Tourist Information: 10 AM to & PM
Rest Area: 10 AM to 6 PM
Open Everyday

5 minutes walk from ferry port

Miyajima-cho 536-1 Hatukaichi-shi

TOTO Miyajima Omotenashi Toilet
Tel: 0829-51-1122　　

Everybody knows that Momijimanju is one of Miyajima’s popular souvenirs. Momijimanju is maple leaf shaped cake with sweet fillings. Original one is sweet bean paste, and there are also variety of flavors like chocolate, custard cream, maccha and fruits. Some shops have their original flavors or seasonal flavors as well.

They are very popular as souvenirs, but there is special Momijimanju that you can walk and eat on the island. That is called “Agemomiji”. “Agemomiji” is deep fried Momojimanju.

An idea of Agemomiji emerged from baking procedure. How to make Agemomiji is very simple. Shop staff fry Agemomiji in front of you, and you can enjoy fresh one right away.

Fresh Agemomiji is so delicious its outside is crispy and cake is fluffy with variety of fillings.They sell sweet bean paste, custard cream, cheese, lemon and unbaked cheese.

Agemomiji is perfect for walk and eat because of its shape. You can enjoy shopping with delicious Agemomiji.

The shop you can buy Agemomiji is “Momijido” where is located in Omotesando-shopping street.

Even if you want to bring Agemomiji back to your home, they are selling homemade kit of Agemomiji. Please check the website of Momijido for detail.

https://momijido.com/agemomi/

How to get to the cable car station from Miyajima ferry port

Miyajima Ropeway(cable car) connect near peak of the Mt. Misen and Momijidani park. The station is about 30 minutes walk from the ferry port. You can take free bus departing from the back of Itukushima shrine, running about every 20 minutes. From the Momijidani station to Shishi-iwa station (near the peak), is about 20 minutes. Both Momijidani station and Shishi-iwa station are equipped with washlet toilets and vending machines.

1.Start from Miyajima Ferry Port

Go to right from the port.

2.Coast street to Omote Sando Shotengai (shopping street)

Just follow the street.

You can go to shopping area if you turn left.

3 Go through the stone Torii following the street.

You can see Otorii in the sea (under repair right now) then Itukushima shrine.

You can see otorii in the sea （under repair）

Itukushima shrine in the sea direction

4.Do not go to shrine gate but follow the road. You will see the sign to the station.

※If you get lost, better to follow the sign.

Entrance of Itukushima shrine

The guide board to the cable car station.

Miyajima ropeway(cable car) entrance gate.

5.When you go in the shrine, go left after the exit. You will see the gate saying Mimiji-dani and ropeway

The exit of Itukushima shine

Turn left as the sign said.

Momiji-dani and cable car entrance

6.Turn right at the fire station and turn again to left. You will be at the entrance of Momijidani park

You can buy the ticket at the souvenir shops

Turn right at fire station

Follow the arrow of the sign board

Cable car ticket stand in souvenir shop

Cable car ticket stand in souvenir shop

7. Go in to Momijidani park and you will find rope way station (momijidani -eki)

10 minutes walk from the entrance of Momijidani park

Momijidani station (Cable car ride)

Take free bus

There is free bus from the entrance of Momijidani park to the cable car station, Momijidani- eki running every 20 minutes. It will take about 10~15 minutes on foot, about 3 minutes by bus. The bus is not running all the time. So check the time schedule.

Just 3 minutes bus ride from the Entrance of Momijidani station.

Where to buy the ticket

Miyajima cable car　has 3 major ticket spots.
1.Miyajimaguchi: Matsudai Kisen ticket booth.
2. On Miyajima island: The souvenir shop close to [Momijidani park entrance]bus stop
3.On Miyajima island: Miyajima Cable car station [momijidani station] ticket counter.

Ticket booth of Matsudai Kisen in Miyajimaguchi. img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1108″ src=”https://japanfan-guide.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/138-21.jpg” alt=”” width=”619″ height=”825″ />

Cable car ticket booth in souvenir shop.

Cable car ticket booth in souvenir shop

Cable car ticket booth in Momijidani station

The cheapest way to come to Miyajima and get on the cable car is to buy 1-day pass of Hiroden tram. Just show the pass and you can get on the ferry.（75 minutes from JR Hiroshima station to the island ）
Hiroshima Dentetu offer one day pass for tram and ferry together. Just show the pass and they will let you ride on the Matsudai ferry to Miyajima .(price 840JPY/day/adult)
still need to by cable car ticket, but it will deduct to 1350JPY from 1800JPY. (450JPY cheap)

●Where to buy Hiroden 1 day tram and ferry ticket
Tram staff (Driver and conductor), tram information booth in Hiroshima station, major hotel in Hiroshima city.
●Cable car ticket booth where you can get discount
Matudai Ferry [Miyajima-guchi Counter] 、Momijidani station ticket counter

Matsudai Ferry ticket counter in Miyajimag-guchi

Cable car ticket counter in Momijidani stattion

Recommended to the people who want to go to Miyajima-guchi fast with JR, but want Cable car discounts as well. (From Hiroshima station to Miyajima-guchi takes about 35 mimutes)
1.Miyajima-Misen enjoy ticket 1880 yen/adult (360 yen discount)
→include round ticket for ferry and round ticket for cable car
2.Miyajima-Misen Active ticket　1000 yen/adult（360 yen discount）
→include round ticket for ferry and one way ticket for cable car
3.Pair Toku ticket　3600 yen/2 adult（720 yen discount）
→include round ticket for ferry and round ticket for cable car for 2 adults

●The ticket counter for the tickets of ferry and cable car

Matudai Kisen “Miyajima-guchi counter” open hours 8:30 am to 3 pm. valid for 2 days including purchased date
Matudai Kisen ticket counter in Miyajima-guchi

Ticket booth within Miyajima island
●ticket booth of souvenir shops close to free bus stop to “Momiji Dani Park Entrance”
●ticket booth of the cable car station “Momiji-dani “station

Cable car ticket booth of souvenir shop

Cable car ticket booth of souvenir shop

Cable car ticket booth of “Momiji-dani station”

※混雑時には宮島ロープウェイ乗り場「紅葉谷駅」へ上がる階段の手前で係員の方から、チケットを持ってる人を優先的に整理券を渡す場合がありますので、先にチケットを買っていった方がお得です。ゴールデンウィークと紅葉シーズンの休日は特に混雑します。宮島・紅葉谷の紅葉は、11月10日頃から色づき始め、11月20日頃が見頃のピークです。
During high seasson, in front of “Momiji-dani station” staff might handing out the numbered ticket to whom already got the ticket, so it might be better for you to buy the ticket in advanced. During holidays in Golden Week (April 29 to May 5th) and fall leaves season will be the highest peak. In Miyajima/ Momiji-dani, leaves started to color around November 10th and 20th will be the best time.

Reservation online

Only the high season, they will take reservation 3 month before the season. And you can book through website. It doesn’t mean that you cannot ride without reservation, but in order to reduce your waiting time, they are recommending to make reservation.

Register the date and number of the passenger and just buy the tickets. You will get notice 1 hour prior to the booking time. Check the website of “Miyajima Cable Car” about when is clouded.
http://miyajima-ropeway.info/

Guide to how to get the ticket online

Open Hours

March to October 9 am to 5 pm →The last down line is 5:30 pm.
November 8 am to 5 pm →帰りの最終便は17:30です。The last down line is 5:30 pm.
December to February 9:00 am to 4:30 pm→The last down line is 5 pm.
During Golden week and Obon(August 13th to 15th )　8:30 am to 5:30 pm→The last down line is 6 pm
New year day 5:00 am to 4:30 pm→ The last down line is 5 pm

If you miss the last cable car, you have to walk down with your foot, so be aware of it.

There is no regular holiday, but it could be cancelled due to bad weather, wind, thunder, maintenance and inspection. Check it at the ticket counter.

At the huge building “Senjoukaku” you can feel it’s size and view.

There is a big building with very wide floor in Miyajima island. The name is “Senjoukaku”. It’s on the way to “Itsukusima shurine. If you walk to the five-storied pagoda, you can find that big building. There are flight of steps in all directions, go up stairs.

As soon as you go up stairs, you will see a huge wooden architecture. Big columns and innumerable floor boards! Let’s enter the building. (take your shoes off)

The great shogun “Toyotomi Hideyoshi” ordered to build this architecture in 1587. But he died, the construction was stopped. For that reason there are no doors, no walls nor windows. So you can look out view of all directions.

You can look down at the roofs of “Itsukusima shrine”

And you can look up the Mt. “Misen”. The tree on the right is ginkgo. The leaves turn in auturm and the floor projects yellow leaves.

Would you like to hold the parapets and look out the view feeling the wind? I recommend lying down on the floor spread yourself.

Notice: This facility opens 8:30~16:30. If you were late, the gates were shut like this. You have to peek from the gate.

There are lots of cozy café in Miyajima island these days. I visited “Rirakkuma Sabo” which was just opened from this year. Rirakkuma is one of a popular character who is a little bear.

Storefront is modern Japanese style.

Interior of the café is wooden taste, and clean.

There are 2 “Rirakkuma Sabo” in Japan. One in Arashiyama where the part of Kyoto, and one in Miyajima. Each café has their original menu and you can enjoy different interior. You can also buy some Rirakkuma products as well.

I promise that you will surprise about the menu. There are variety of lunch menu. You can enjoy not only cute decorations but also Miyajima’s specialties like conger eel or oysters.

We went to this café in the afternoon, so we enjoyed cute Rirakkuma sweets there. It was really hard to choose one because there are so many cuties and yummies on the menu. After thinking for a while, I picked this one!

Rirakkuma’s fluffy Dorayaki! (Dorayaki is Japanese pancake.)

It was much bigger than I thought, and was so delicious. There are more than 10 kinds of sweets on the menu, and all the sweets are way cute. I will try the lunch dishes next time!

Flowers and Trees in all Seasons

You can see lots of beautiful plants in all seasons at Tokujuji temple in Miyajima. It an old temple of the Soto Sect of Buddhism. As people enter through a small gate, they will be surprised to see the garden. I introduce some of those plants.

Spring to Summer

Rhododendron

A rhododendron blooms by the small house for some stone statues. It a short tree, but it’s in bud on April and blooms for 2weeks. Flower of Rhododendron has variation from white to red, but this tree has pink flowers.

Moss

One of the most beautiful plant in this garden is the moss. Especially during the rainy June, moss is fresh and lively. There are several kinds of moss. The one in the picture is “Sugigoke”.

Maple Tree

Miyajima is famous for the maple trees. There are some tall trees in this garden. You can see lot’s of beautiful leaves from May to August. The play of sunlight through the trees are amazing!

Summer to Autumn

Crepe Myrtle

It’s very tall tree. You almost miss this tree. But you might notice many pink petals on the ground and look up, then you will see them. This tree blooms for a long time, about 100days.

Bush Orchid

In autumn this flower begins to bloom. Our gardener planted some small plants here and there. Spotted leaves are wonderful too. Why don’t you look for it.

Winter to Spring

Camellia

The garden is getting lonelier during winter. But camellias make it bright. There are a lot of different kind of Camellias these days, but everyone agreed of the most simple style of Camellias are buatiful.

Tokujuji temple’s garden is not wide. But it’s a great one that we can enjoy all year around. I recommend you to visit here!

You will see two streets on right side and left side to the pier. Which side should you choose?

If you have decided to get on JR ferry, you have to take the right side. But if you have not decided yet, you must the thinking “Which side should I go?”. Let me introduce some shops on the both side for you.

On the right street

First you can see 7-ELEVEN. If you want some drink, please go ahead. They have souvenir too. You might want to drop by when you leave.

After going through the underpass you see “Ueno”. This shop is very famous for “Anago rice Bento”. Anago is an eel.
You may notice that by good smell. On the holidays, you will notice the huge line of people. You can take out a lunch box.
A regular size Bento is 2160yen. It’s a little expensive. But you must be satisfied with that!

Next shop sells potteries named “Osunayaki”. Lots of them have maple leaf pattern. You don’t want to carry them while you do the sight seeing, so I will recommend to buy them on the way home.

On the left street

After going through the underpass, you will find people having ‘Okonomiyaki’. This restaurant is “Hanako”. If you are hungry, how about some “Okonomiyaki”?

Backside of the beautiful garden there is an elegant cafe. You can have some special sweets while looking outside from the second floor.

There is 7-ELEVEN on the left street, too. This shop is bigger than the other one. So they have more goods, “Onigiri” raincoat and so on.

You can arrive at the pier for the same time. But the shops are different. So choose one street depending on your purpose. We recommend to change the street on your way to and from the Miyajima Island.

“Kinnseki jizo bosatsu” is a golden guardian deity of children. It has a story.

There is Tokujuji temple, about 5minutes walk from Miyajima island pier.
It’s the Soto Sect temple.
It has a beautiful parapet and maples.
This temple is famous for the Jizo which blessed with children.

On the holidays, we will see the couples visiting this god and pray for the child.
Also one who got child come to thank to the god.
This Jizo is a small Bodhisattva with gentle smile.

Here is a story about Jizo.
There was a couple having no child in the Miyajima island about 300years ago.
They had been praying to god for a child.
They had the same dream at the same time.
When they found shining light and prayed to it, a Bodhisattva appeared and said “I give you a child”
They found a Jizo in this bamboo forest.
This couple were given a boy baby.
He grew up healthy and became a Sumo wrestler.
They set up that Jizo in the small house.
More and more people come to worship this Jizo.
More he was worshipped, more it shined.

For these 300 years Jizo Bosatu has been the help for those pray for a baby.
The kinseki jizo bosatsu is still smiling gently.