There was a special lattern room in the temple complex. You reached it via a series of dark rooms, with illuminated Buddhas, so by the time you enter the lantern room the effect is stunning.

At the entrance of the temple there are prayers written on wooden ‘cards’, but since Miyajima specialises in manufacturing wooden rice scoops, they’ve ingeniusly made use of this.

Buddhists are always offering up food to their ancestors, but canned pineapple?

Many temples and pagodas in Japan are a vivid red/orange colour. This one in Miyajima overlooks the water.

As you may guess, the Floating Torii (Gate) is one of the chief attractions on the island. It leads to a floating temple, that is built on a pier that is underwater at high tide. In olden times, pilgrims used to come by boat through this gate.

It’s hard to believe that’s it’s been 3 years since I made my trip to Japan. The experience is still quite vivid, even if my knowledge of the language has faded.

So time to delve into my archive of photos. This time I want to revisit Miyajima, a little island just a few kilometres from the city of Hiroshima. It’s a lush island, famous for its temples. We board the ferry for the short trip across, and our first glimpse of the island is stunning.