Hiroshima Tourism Promoting, which runs Miyajima Ropeway, puts a round trip on the ropeway, sightseeing included, at about one hour, and adds about another hour for the walk to the summit of Mount Misen and back. The cabins climb from 9:00 to 16:00 and the last descent is at 16:30, so a summit walk has to begin in the early afternoon at the latest.
The island sits in Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture. Itsukushima Shrine gives its address as 739-0588, Miyajima-cho 1-1, and the ropeway gives 739-0522, Momijidani Park, Miyajima-cho, so the two sit in different postcodes on the same small island.
The World Heritage listing covers a shrine and a forest, and both were inscribed in 1996
Itsukushima Shrine’s own cultural-property page states that the shrine was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1996. The ropeway operator’s page on the island’s nature states that the evergreen broadleaf area behind the shrine was inscribed in the same year, 1996, as the Misen Primeval Forest. The forest carries two older designations as well: it was made a Natural Monument in 1929 and a Special Protection Zone in 1957. That is 28 years from the first designation to the second and 39 years from the second to the third, by our subtraction.
Because the inscription dates from 1996, 2026 is its thirtieth year, and the ropeway operator marked it by running a night service on five consecutive days, 19 to 23 October 2026.
Six buildings are National Treasures, and the Great Torii is listed one tier below them
The shrine prints its national designations as a count: six buildings as National Treasures, and eleven buildings plus three structures as Important Cultural Properties.
The six National Treasures break down as two buildings of the main shrine, two buildings of the auxiliary shrine beside it, and the East and West Corridors. Two plus two plus two is six, which matches the printed total by our addition.
The eleven Important Cultural Property buildings are three auxiliary-shrine main halls, two subordinate-shrine main halls, and six further buildings: a rest hall, three bridges, the Noh stage and the Treasury. Three plus two plus six is eleven. The three items counted separately as structures are the five-storey pagoda, the two-storey pagoda and the Great Torii.
The Great Torii standing in the water is therefore an Important Cultural Property, not a National Treasure. Every one of the six National Treasures is part of the roofed complex on the shore.
The five-storey pagoda dates from 1407 and the two-storey pagoda from 1523
The five-storey pagoda is an Important Cultural Property built in the seventh month of 1407, with a cypress-bark roof. The shrine gives its total height as a little over 29 metres and its plan as 4.6 metres square, which it describes as a small example of the form.
The two-storey pagoda was built in 1523 by a Zen monk named Shukan. The shrine’s description of it is structural: the lower storey has a square roof, above which sits a rounded section, and the upper storey therefore has its columns set in a circle, with everything from the shaft to the bracketing arranged on a circular plan. The shrine calls a circular plan a rare technique in Japanese architecture. The gap between the two pagodas is 116 years, by our subtraction.
The Treasury is also an Important Cultural Property, a Muromachi-period log-built store with a hipped cypress-bark roof. The Bunko, a tile-roofed storehouse presented to the shrine with its books in 1795, carries no designation at all. The shrine notes for all four of those buildings, the five-storey pagoda, the two-storey pagoda, the Treasury and the Bunko, that visitors cannot go inside.
The Treasure Hall was the first building in Japan to have lacquer applied over concrete
The Treasure Hall is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, finished in April 1934. It is built of concrete, coated in lacquer and white plaster, and roofed in copper sheet. The shrine’s account of why is specific: to keep the building in keeping with the shrine halls, it became the first case in Japan of lacquer being applied to concrete so that the exterior would read as timber. It opens all year, 8:00 to 17:00. Senjokaku, the third ticketed hall in the precinct, opens all year as well, 8:30 to 16:30.
The shrine itself never closes either, but its own gate times run on six seasonal bands rather than one. The page gives 6:30 to 18:00 from 1 March to 14 October, 6:30 to 17:30 from 15 October to 30 November, 6:30 to 17:00 through December, 6:30 to 17:30 from 4 January to the end of February, 6:30 to 18:30 on 2 and 3 January, and, on 1 January alone, midnight to 18:30.
Admission is charged separately for the shrine, the Treasure Hall and Senjokaku, and only the first two have a combined ticket.
| Visitor | Shrine | Treasure Hall | Combined ticket | Senjokaku |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult, individual | 300 yen | 300 yen | 500 yen | 100 yen |
| High school, individual | 200 yen | 200 yen | 300 yen | No high school row |
| Junior high and primary, individual | 100 yen | 100 yen | 150 yen | 50 yen |
| Adult, group of 50 or more | 250 yen | 250 yen | 400 yen | No group rate |
| High school, group of 50 or more | 150 yen | 150 yen | 200 yen | No group rate |
| Junior high and primary, group of 50 or more | 70 yen | 70 yen | 100 yen | No group rate |
The Senjokaku table is shorter than the other two: it prints an adult rate and a junior high and primary rate and nothing between them, so there is no published high school price for that hall at all. The combined ticket takes 100 yen off the two separate individual prices for adults and for high school students, and 50 yen off for junior high and primary pupils, by our subtraction. The shrine sells the combined ticket at the shrine entrance only. The Treasure Hall accepts vouchers from contracted operators but states that it does not take credit cards, and Senjokaku takes neither vouchers nor cards.
The group rate needs 50 people inside each age band, and the shrine prints two worked examples
The group discount applies when adults, high school students, or junior high and primary pupils reach 50 in that band on their own, and the shrine sets out what that means with two cases. Forty-nine adults travelling with two children do not form a group. Fifty adults travelling with ten children form a group for the adults, while the ten children pay individual rates. On school trips, teachers, photographers and nurses pay the student rate. Holders of a disability or rehabilitation certificate are asked to show the booklet at the shrine itself.
The ropeway is two different cableway systems joined end to end
The operator describes the arrangement as an uncommon one in Japan: a detachable circulating line and a reversible line connected and run together. Its daily operating notice gives the first as eight people per cabin at one-minute intervals on a ride of about ten minutes, and the second as thirty-five people at five- to fifteen-minute intervals on a ride of about four minutes.
| Specification | Momijidani Line | Shishiiwa Line |
|---|---|---|
| Section | Momijidani to Kayatani | Kayatani to Shishiiwa |
| System | Double-rope automatic circulating | Double-rope reversible |
| Slope length | 1,102 m | 524 m |
| Maximum height difference | 288 m | 62 m |
| Steepest track-rope gradient | 26 degrees 24 minutes | 15 degrees 21 minutes |
| Running speed | 2.0 m per second | 3.6 m per second |
| Towers | 5, steel four-leg, up to 30 m high | None |
| Longest span | 337 m | No tower span |
| Track rope diameter | 40 mm | 48 mm |
| Haul rope diameter | 20 mm | 20 mm |
| Cabin tare weight | 550 kg | 1,700 kg |
| Cabin capacity | 8 people | 35 people |
| Cabin body | Aluminium | Aluminium |
Adding the two sections gives 1,626 metres of slope length and 350 metres of height difference, and the reversible line runs 1.8 times the speed of the circulating one, all three figures by our own arithmetic. The reversible line has no intermediate towers at all, which is why the table has nothing to put in its span row.
Three of the disability ropeway fares are exactly half the ordinary one, and a child one way is five yen below
The ordinary return fare is 2,000 yen for an adult and 1,000 yen for a child, and the one-way fares are 1,100 and 550. A return therefore costs 200 yen less than two one-way tickets for an adult and 100 yen less for a child, by our subtraction.
The reduced fare for holders of a physical disability, rehabilitation or mental health certificate is 1,000 yen return and 550 one way for an adult, 700 and 450 for junior and senior high school students, and 500 and 270 for a child. The operator accepts the certificate itself or a Mirairo ID linked to the national portal. Halving the ordinary fares gives 1,000 and 550 for an adult and 500 for a child return, which match. Half of the 550-yen child one-way fare is 275, but the printed figure is 270, so that one cell is five yen below half, by our division. The disability tier is also the only one of the three with a band for junior and senior high school students.
The group rate, which needs fifteen people, and the Silver rate for anyone aged 65 or over who can show proof of age, are the same numbers: 1,800 yen return and 1,000 one way for an adult, 900 and 500 for a child. An adult means 12 or over, and a child means 6 to under 12. One preschooler aged 1 to under 6 travels free per accompanying guardian; from the second preschooler, the child fare applies.
The summit station takes no cards, and particular dates have to be booked in advance
Momijidani, the base station, sells tickets by credit card, by transport IC card including ICOCA, Suica and PASMO, and by PayPay QR code. Shishiiwa, the summit station, accepts none of them. A one-way ticket bought downhill at the summit station therefore has to be paid for in cash.
The operator also sets aside dates on which a web reservation has to be made before travelling, bookable from three months ahead. On the day we read the operating notice it listed one such date in October, the 11th, ten in November, on the 1st, 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 28th and 29th, and none at all in December. A free shuttle bus to Momijidani Station runs from 9:50 at intervals of about 20 minutes.
The ropeway has no lifts, and pushchairs and wheelchairs cannot be taken aboard the circulating line; the Momijidani station office holds them instead. Pets are not admitted, with guide and assistance dogs excepted, and the cabins are no-smoking. The list of goods that cannot be carried runs to eleven numbered items and sets thresholds for three of them: fireworks over 100 grams, celluloid over 100 grams and matches over 500 grams, plus batteries other than dry cells.
Between the pier and the shrine, the Omotesando shopping street sets its own opening times shop by shop rather than as one arcade.
Sources Checked
Itsukushima Shrine — official page on cultural properties and buildings
Confirmed that the shrine was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1996; that its national designations are six buildings as National Treasures and eleven buildings plus three structures as Important Cultural Properties; that the six National Treasures are two main-shrine buildings, two auxiliary-shrine buildings and the East and West Corridors; that the eleven Important Cultural Property buildings are three auxiliary-shrine main halls, two subordinate-shrine main halls, a rest hall, three bridges, the Noh stage and the Treasury; that the three structures are the five-storey pagoda, the two-storey pagoda and the Great Torii; that the five-storey pagoda was built in the seventh month of 1407, stands a little over 29 metres and is 4.6 metres square with a cypress-bark roof; that the two-storey pagoda was built in 1523 by the monk Shukan with its upper storey set on a circular plan; that the Treasury is a Muromachi-period log store; that the Bunko of 1795 is undesignated; that all four of those buildings carry a note that visitors cannot enter; and that the Treasure Hall is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property completed in April 1934 in lacquered concrete, the first case in Japan of lacquer applied to concrete, open 8:00 to 17:00 all year.
https://www.itsukushimajinja.jp/jp/culture.html
Itsukushima Shrine — official page on facilities and admission
Confirmed the shrine’s six seasonal gate bands and that it never closes; the Treasure Hall at 8:00 to 17:00 and Senjokaku at 8:30 to 16:30, both all year; the individual and group admission prices for the shrine, the Treasure Hall and the combined ticket; that the Senjokaku table carries only an adult rate of 100 yen and a junior high and primary rate of 50 yen, with no high school row and no combined or group discount; that the combined ticket is sold at the shrine entrance only; that the Treasure Hall takes contracted-operator vouchers but not credit cards and Senjokaku takes neither; that the group rate needs 50 people within each age band; the two worked examples of 49 adults with two children and 50 adults with ten children; the student rate for teachers, photographers and nurses on school trips; the request under the shrine’s own admission heading to show a disability or rehabilitation certificate; and the shrine’s address at 739-0588, Miyajima-cho 1-1.
https://www.itsukushimajinja.jp/jp/admission.html
Miyajima Ropeway, Hiroshima Tourism Promoting — official page on hours, fares and equipment
Confirmed the 9:00 to 16:00 ascent and 16:30 last descent; the about-one-hour round trip and the about-one-hour addition for the Mount Misen summit; the operator’s description of the paired circulating and reversible systems as uncommon in Japan; the full specification table for both lines including slope lengths of 1,102 m and 524 m, height differences of 288 m and 62 m, gradients of 26 degrees 24 minutes and 15 degrees 21 minutes, speeds of 2.0 and 3.6 m per second, five steel four-leg towers up to 30 m with a 337 m maximum interval on one line and no towers on the other, track ropes of 40 mm and 48 mm, haul ropes of 20 mm, cabin tare weights of 550 kg and 1,700 kg, capacities of 8 and 35 people and aluminium bodies; the ordinary, group, Silver and disability fare tables; the fifteen-person group threshold and the 65-and-over Silver condition; the acceptance of the certificate itself or a Mirairo ID linked to the national portal; the 12-and-over adult and 6-to-under-12 child definitions and the one-free-preschooler rule; the eleven-item dangerous goods list with its 100-gram, 100-gram and 500-gram thresholds and the battery clause; the no-smoking rule and the pet rule with guide and assistance dogs excepted; the operator Hiroshima Tourism Promoting; and the address at 739-0522, Momijidani Park.
https://miyajima-ropeway.info/fare/
Miyajima Ropeway, Hiroshima Tourism Promoting — operating notice on the site’s front page
Confirmed the eight-person cabins at one-minute intervals over about ten minutes on the Momijidani line and the thirty-five-person cabins at five- to fifteen-minute intervals over about four minutes on the Shishiiwa line; the reserved dates of 11 October, ten dates in November on the 1st, 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 28th and 29th, and none in December, bookable from three months ahead; the free shuttle to Momijidani Station from 9:50 at about 20-minute intervals; the absence of lifts and the rule that pushchairs and wheelchairs cannot be taken aboard the circulating line and are held at the Momijidani station office; the cashless acceptance of credit cards, IC cards including ICOCA, Suica and PASMO and PayPay QR at Momijidani and its absence at Shishiiwa; and the notice of a night service from 19 to 23 October 2026 marking the thirtieth year of the shrine’s World Heritage inscription.
https://miyajima-ropeway.info/
Miyajima Ropeway, Hiroshima Tourism Promoting — official page on the nature of Mount Misen
Confirmed that the evergreen broadleaf area behind Itsukushima Shrine was inscribed in 1996 as the Misen Primeval Forest, that it was designated a Natural Monument in 1929, and that it became a Special Protection Zone in 1957.
https://miyajima-ropeway.info/nature/
Last updated: October 2026
