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After a stroll around the imperial palace gardens in the morning (where I spectacularly failed to take any photos worth showing you) I caught this magnificent machine south to Hiroshima.

After I

A sign in several languages here encourages visitors to ring the bell for world peace. Frequently through the afternoon the quiet park filled with the deep, gentle sound of this bell.

Detail of the Peace Gates. Six metal arches inscribed with the word

My phone really isn

The focal point of the island is the Itsukushima Shrine, the gate for which is tidal. I arrived when the tide was in which made for some spectacular photos.

This probably looks familiar. It

... in fact it

This is the shrine itself. I didn

The views from the summit were spectacular but also hazy, which didn

The island is famed amongst other things for its Maples... so guess what I took lots of photos of?

The light and the leaves on the walk back down the hill were much more co-operative than they

Part way down the hill, the landscape became very manicured. The river was split out into many small trickling channels, small areas of stones seemed to have been arranged into zen like gardens...

... which this sign further down the hill confirmed it had been. Astonishingly it was all landslide defences!

I would love to visit the island again in the autumn and see these trees changing

... not that it wasn

This is another of those shots I had to wait for - Miyajima was busy! Especially lower down the island...

... see what I mean? This was the sight when I arrived back down at sea level where the tide had gone out.

Nestled in the hills above the shrine is this five storied pagoda... it

Worth it when you eventually do though.

This is suspended from the ceiling inside the Senjokaku pavilion, I eventually had to lie on the floor to get a good shot of it, but I

Looking out at the pagoda from Senjokaku pavilion