This being a one-off lifetime experience we took the rather pricey cruiser one-way from Central Hiroshima (near the Peace Dome) to the island. There was an open-air deck at the rear of the boat, but we weren't allowed on it until we had got under way - H&S certainly operates in Japan, too, though casting off and getting under way was hardly dangerous! Then we could go on deck as the boat cruised relatively slowly down the Ota River to its mouth. Once we reached open water we had to go down into the passenger cabin and the boat accelerated fiercely to high speed for the 15 minutes or so it took to get to Miyajima, the principal inhabited area of the island.

From there we walked along the coast of the small town to the shrine - and of course our first views of the Torii Gate. There were as expected lots of tourists, and also quite a few deer .....