Daisho-in

Uphill from Itsukushima Shrine, at the foot of Mount Misen, Daisho-in is where Miyajima's Buddhist side survives. The temple traces its founding to 806, when Kukai (Kobo Daishi) is said to have trained on Misen, and it belongs to the Shingon Omuro school headed by Ninna-ji in Kyoto. Until the Meiji government split Shinto from Buddhism in 1868, Daisho-in ran the rites of Itsukushima Shrine, and its Kannon hall now holds the Eleven-faced Kannon once enshrined at the shrine. A fire in 1887 destroyed almost everything, so the halls you see were built after it. On the way up, metal prayer wheels inscribed with the Heart Sutra are set into the stair handrails; turning one clockwise is said to earn the same merit as reciting the sutra. Rows of small stone rakan, the '500 rakan', line the paths, many of them wearing little hats. The grounds are free and the gates open 8:00 to 17:00. Expect a climb: the temple's own site puts it about 30 minutes on foot from the ferry pier, there is no parking, and the stairs inside the grounds are steep. The Daisho-in trail up Misen starts beside the temple. Higher up, near the summit, the temple's Reikado hall burned on 20 May 2026; Daisho-in is collecting donations to rebuild it.