We recommend the meeting point of Miyajimaguchi Passenger Terminal Ticket Office(Ferry Boarding Area for Miyajima). If you meet in Hiroshima or at Hiroshima station or port, It may take up to an hour to travel to Miyajima. In this case, you may need to request a tour extension.
Miyajima is one of Japan’s most scenic destinations, famous for the iconic floating torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine. Walk through charming streets, meet the island’s friendly deer, and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of this historic island. With a local guide, you’ll learn about the island’s culture, history, and hidden spots beyond the main tourist areas.
Daishō-in or Daisyō-in is a historic Japanese temple complex with many temples and statues on Mount Misen, the holy mountain on the island of Itsukushima, off the coast of Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan. It is the 14th temple in the Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage and famous for the maple trees and their autumn colors.
A lively hub of souvenir shops and bite-sized snack stalls lead the way to the iconic Itsukushima Shrine.
Miyajima (宮島) is a small island less than an hour outside the city of Hiroshima. It is most famous for its giant torii gate, which at high tide seems to float on the water. The sight is ranked as one of Japan's three best views. While officially named Itsukushima, the island is more commonly referred to as Miyajima, Japanese for "shrine island". This is because the island is so closely related to its key shrine, Itsukushima Shrine, in the public's mind. Like the torii gate, the shrine's main buildings are built over water. Miyajima is a romantic place, best enjoyed by staying overnight at one of the island's ryokan. While there are usually many day tourists, in the evening the area becomes much quieter and more peaceful. There are also wild deer on the island that have become accustomed to people. In the day the deer wander around the same sites as the tourists, and in the evening they sleep along the walking paths.
Tenshinkaku(天心閣) is a Japanese old house looked single-story house cafe in Miyajima which is located on a hill. You can enjoy beautiful view of Toyokuni shrine, five-story pagoda and Seto island sea at once.
Lisa was a super guide with great English. She was a local and had family on Miyajima Island so could show us cool backroads and had great information. She recommended a fantastic coffee too!
Hiroshi was a wonderful tour guide. He actually offered to meet us at the Hiroshima Station and he guided us to the Miyajima ferry. He made sure we were in the perfect spot for pictures. He was very knowledgeable about Miyajima, at times taking us through shortcuts to avoid the huge crowds. It was an amazing day. We would highly recommend Hiroshi as the perfect guide for Miyajima.
The tour provided by Hiroshi was absolutely perfect. He tailored the pace and spots to visit to our abilities and interests. His local knowledge and roots in the area also allowed us to avoid the tour crowds and really enjoyed the deep knowledge of the area's history and culture. If you want a stress-free daytrip to experience the best the island has to offer, you can't beat this tour. Avoid the tour groups that herd you around like cattle!
We spent a wonderful day in Miyajima Island with our guide Hiroshi. From the day we booked the tour (about a month in advance), Hiroshi was in communication asking about our preferences for the day. He confirmed our tour the day before and met us at the ferry terminal in Miyajima. Hiroshi lives on Miyajima, so he is very knowledgeable about the island and its history and culture, as well as the history of Japan in general. He is both a caring and authentic guide. We felt lucky to be with him. His tour was personal and tailored to our desires and concerns. Specifically, because of our mobility issues, he found the quickest and easiest ways to get around the Island. Our visit included taking the ropeway to the top of Mt. Misen, walking along Omotesando Arcade, Miyajima's lively shopping street (where, with Hiroshi's help, we found some excellent locally-made souvenirs), and, of course, the Itsukushima Shrine. Our day with Hiroshi was one of the highlights of our two-week stay in Japan. And as an extra bonus, Hiroshi takes great pictures!
We spent a wonderful day in Miyajima Island with our guide Hiroshi. From the day we booked the tour (about a month in advance), Hiroshi was in communication asking about our preferences for the day. He confirmed our tour the day before and met us at the ferry terminal in Miyajima. Hiroshi lives on Miyajima, so he is very knowledgeable about the island and its history and culture, as well as the history of Japan in general. He is both a caring and authentic guide. We felt lucky to be with him. His tour was personal and tailored to our desires and concerns. Specifically, because of our mobility issues, he found the quickest and easiest ways to get around the Island. Our visit included taking the ropeway to the top of Mt. Misen, walking along Omotesando Arcade, Miyajima's lively shopping street (where, with Hiroshi's help, we found some excellent locally-made souvenirs), and, of course, the Itsukushima Shrine. Our day with Hiroshi was one of the highlights of our two-week stay in Japan. And as an extra bonus, Hiroshi takes great pictures!
Mari was a perfect guide, so very knowledgeable about Hiroshima and Miyajima and so very thoughtful about accommodating me (looking for elevators so we could avoid stairs, and even carrying my unopened umbrella for most of our day together.) She was everything I had hoped for on my brief visit here to Hiroshima, and more!
This is truly what I call the ultimate Miyajima half-day tour! Having traveled to numerous destinations across six continents, I can honestly say that I have rarely encountered a tour guide who makes you feel as though you have known each other for years. Hiroshi, our local tour guide, has an incredible depth of historical knowledge, sharing stories and insights that stay with you long after the tour ends. His passion, punctuality, professionalism, and strong personal values shine through in everything he does. I highly recommend taking this tour with Hiroshi. If you’re visiting Miyajima, this is an experience you won’t regret. Hiroshi was an exceptional guide, a memorable experience, and a tour worth every moment!
Kazuhisa To was a great guide. We had toured Hiroshima with him a few days earlier, so we were not surprised. His knowledge of Japanese history was particularly valuable as many of Miyajima's key sites were very old and historically significant. Kazuhisa brought the history to life and made the day fun.
This is truly what I call the ultimate Miyajima half-day tour! Having traveled to numerous destinations across six continents, I can honestly say that I have rarely encountered a tour guide who makes you feel as though you have known each other for years. Hiroshi, our local tour guide, has an incredible depth of historical knowledge, sharing stories and insights that stay with you long after the tour ends. His passion, punctuality, professionalism, and strong personal values shine through in everything he does. I highly recommend taking this tour with Hiroshi. If you’re visiting Miyajima, this is an experience you won’t regret. An exceptional guide, a memorable experience, and a tour worth every moment!
This tour is a perfect way to experience Miyajima and all its sacred areas. Our guide Sachiyo Oki (Sachi) was wonderful, friendly and so knowledgeable about the island and Japan. She made sure we experienced everything and answered all our questions. We enjoyed every minute and took so many pictures! The wild deer were an added bonus we knew nothing about and we can now say we pet a "wild" deer. We highly recommend this tour and definitely ask for Sachi!
We were a group of 3 and had a wonderful tour to Miyajima Island with our guide Menori. Menori picked us up from our hotel and helped us with trains and ferries, making travel seamless. She had a bubbly personality, was easy to talk to and very informative, on aspects of the island and Japanese life. I highly recommend this tour and Menori as a guide.
We had the most amazing tour to Miyajima Island, all thanks to Hiroshi! He is such a lovely, kind, and genuinely thoughtful guide. From start to finish, he made us feel so welcome and went out of his way to ensure we enjoyed every moment of our trip. His warmth made the experience unforgettable. If you are planning a visit, definitely book a tour with Hiroshi—he is the best!
Yuki was a wonderful, kind, and knowledgeable guide for our tour from Hiroshima to Miyajima. The island tour was a 10 out of 10, plus Yuki went above and beyond to help us navigate the trains, ferry rides, and even the luggage service between our hotels. She was delightful and we would definitely book with her again.
Minori was an excellent guide of Miyajima, even before the trip began. She communicated in advance to understand our expectations. Then on the tour day, she made it easy to find meeting point (which she provided a picture of), all the way to making sure we knew how to get back to the hotel. All afternoon, she made sure we were getting out of the tour what we wanted. And her enthusiasm was contagious. Thanks again Minori. We highly recommend her.
We had such a fantastic day with Hiroshi, who was very friendly, knowledgeable and helped us have a remarkable experience. Our highlight was our local lunch, where we created meaningful origami cranes and enjoyed local specialties. Tour and guide were beyond our expectations and we are very grateful for our experience.
What a perfect way to spend a half day visiting Miyajima with our guide Lisa. Personalised tour at our pace, Lisa was attentive, interesting and informative on everything we needed to know. I would not hesitate in recommending Lisa and this tour to everyone.
There was so much to see and experience on the island, from the shrine to the fascinating temple, the excellent restaurants and shopping. Minori, our guide, was very knowledgeable and enthused about sharing so much interesting information. My favorite part was probably the dark tunnel under the temple featuring the patrons
If the perfect tour guide had a name, this would be Hiroshi. He is a perfect host, a warm and caring person. Well before our meeting he provided lots of details and customized the itinerary for us and with us. During the private tour for me and my daughter he shared a lot of information, took us to a typical Japanese restaurant, made sure we had beautiful memories taking a lot of pictures, explained the traditions and the culture while visiting both the touristy spots and the hidden gems of Miyajima island which is his home. Pick up and drop off were smooth. We also had the chance to get to know each other as he is really interested in the human side of the relationship with his guests so that we had an amazing cultural exchange. I am definitely recommending Hiroshi as the best guide you could have
My uncle booked the tour, normally i wouldn't think of booking a guide as you can read in museums what happened. But once the tour started it was quite clear that she tells things that are not displayed. I really like how we got more deep knowledge. The museum and tour were very impressive. For lunch Minori took us for okonomiyaki this was so tasty and fun to have a local experience. After lunch we went to miyajima where we could see friendly deer and a majestic shrine. During the whole day it felt as if she was part of our family and we had an amazing day, minori really know a so much. Would do it again 100%
The tour was impressive and very nice. Minori is a great guide. She was good prepared and showed us all important things! It’s is also good first to go to the museum and the monuments and later to the island. The museum is impressive and also the monuments and it really and again makes you think……… We humans can develop so many great and good things, but out of some reason do so stupid things 😞 The island was a pleasure to walk around and see the dear in the streets. Minori to us to the best lunch with best local food ever!!!
We went on a half-day tour with Hiroshi to Miyajima which was simply the best tour guide experience we have had! He went above and beyond what could be expected - in terms of time (much longer), places we went, knowledge and kindness. Hiroshi truly deserves our warmest recommendations!
Yoko Shimida was our guide on July 5, 2026 to Miyajima. Yoko is a very friendly, positive and knowledgeable guide who contributed to us having a fantastic experience, and got a good introduction to the history of the place. Yoko had prepared material for the children, which they were very interested in. We can highly recommend Yoko 😀
Super Nice with Yoko Shimada she was very sweet and had prepared a little game for the children. Super friendly, we would definitely reccomend especially if you have kids and need something that is also fun for them😊 5/5 ⭐️
Wonderful experience! Our guide, Hiroshi was so knowledgeable and kind. He told us about Hiroshima and Miyajima history that we wouldn’t have found out otherwise. He taught us how to enter the shrines respectfully and how to pray. We also got to meet his lovely sister and hear about his family and his own personal history in Hiroshima. Such a lovely experience. I would recommend a tour with Hiroshi to anyone.
This tour experience was truely the best part of my entire trip to Japan, all thanks to Hiroshi. His communication and organisation leading up to our tour was extremely helpful and punctual, but when it came to the tour itself it was then that I was truely blown away by his passion, guidance and care. Our experience with Miyajima Island felt so much more intimate and personalised solely because of him. He was regularly giving us amazing options and recommendations on things to do and places to see - it felt more like we were travelling with him than him being our guide. He was extremely knowledgeable when it came to the history and significance of Japanese culture and answered all our questions with great articulation. Hiroshi truely went above and beyond - he even took us out for lunch, communicated with our hotel to organise luggage transport for us, took the most amazing photos of us, and he even helped me with my train ticket home.
Had a tour today with hiroshi, me and my girlfriend are very happy with the experience he took us to many beautiful places and gave a great detailed explanation of history and cultural significance of everything, answered all questions thoughtfully and it was obvious he cares so much about what he does and that made the experience so special.
Fantastic tour and guide. Woody was enthusiastic about his culture and the tour. The island was super amazing, kids loved the deer, and the shrines were some of the most beautiful we’ve seen in Japan.
We thoroughly enjoyed Hiroshi and his insights on Miyajima, where his family has deep roots. He thoughtfully designed our itinerary, contacting us on advance, to take advantage of the island's beauty and special sights while avoiding unnecessary crowds. We loved visiting the legendary potter/artist and the coffee shop where he guided us in creating origami paper cranes, a symbol of peace. He even took photos of us and sent them after the tour! We invited him to join us for lunch at a local spot where he reserved our seats. Finally, he assisted us in returning to Hiroshima, as we did not think about transportation from the ferry pier to our hotel.
Our guide was patient, knowledge and a pleasure to spend time with.
Mari was the best tour guide ever! She was super knowledgable and we covered so much ground. Mari kept things factual, fun and interesting. We highly recommend booking this tour!
Hi Kyoko We are very sad to hear about the fire but grateful to share the longevity drink with you. We Thankyou for a wonderful experience on Miyajima Island and for all your planning and emails before our tour. We could not ask for a better tour guide. It made our day very enjoyable and we hope you will come to see us in Australia. We wish you and family all the very best Kyoko and that you continue to share your knowledge and passion of your beautiful country with many more visitors to the island. Kindest regards Renie,Snow,Jan,Chris,Morelle and Dave
We went on a half day trip to Miyajima with Hiroshi-San. We agreed on a meeting point the day before and we met up and started our tour. Mr. Hiroshi was extremely kind and talkative during the whole tour. He was honest and kind. We got the tour we never knew we wanted, including everything we knew we did want, all because of his kindness and knowledge. We did not pay any fee as this was already taken care of through our agent. We had to pay transportation but this we knew from the time of booking. We can only recommend to book this tour with Hiroshi. We are sure you will have an amazing time with him, just as we did. Hiroshi-San went above and beyond. We had a wish to go on a specific (historical) street car in Hiroshima and he found out everything for us and texted us in the evening. And as an extra but historic significant little thing. He taught us to make an origami crane. THANK YOU!
Excellent tour in Miyajima today. Our tour guide, Hiroshi Tsuji, was exceptional. He walked us through the shrine explaining what we were seeing and what it meant. Thanks to Hiroshi, we were lucky enough to experience Japanese "fast food" Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki. Amazing! So many wonderful memories made today, from the ferry ride to the island, to the deer roaming the streets, to the maple leaf🍁 cookies, and of course, the iconic Torii Gate. A day to treasure. Thank you, Hiroshi
Excellent tour. Hiroshi Tsuji is a wonderful guide. He walked us through the Miyajima shrine explaining what we saw and what it meant. Thanks to Hiroshi, we got to try the local "fast food", Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki for lunch. Amazing! Wonderful day in Miyajima. Thanks, Hiroshi.
From the very first moment, communication with the Operator and the assigned tour-guide, Yuji-san, were great. Quick contact, quick replies. Fantastic and good for your peace of mind. We were met by Yuji-san at our hotel. He introduced the pre-arranged programme and gave us some personal information about him and his experience and his family. Throughout the 4-hours tour, he was informative, helpful, competent and new his way around. He shared his knowledge while giving us time to digest all the new impressions and information. The sharing of his personal believes and values made it very authentic and exceptional. We are very grateful and lucky having had Yuji-san as our guide. Best wishes to him and his family.
We had perfect weather and guide. Kyoko was knowledgeable, sense of humour, polite, helpful and considerate.
Our Miyajima Half-Day private tour was wonderful! Our guide, Yuki-San, was very knowledgeable and shared many of the island’s treasures. I had mentioned to her that I had a specific food I wanted to try, and she took us to her favorite lunch spot. It was great! I highly recommend the tour. I don’t think we would have had the same experience on Miyajima without it. 🎊
Hiroshi delivered an outstanding experience on the Miyajima Half-Day Private Tour. From the outset, his communication was prompt, thorough, and professional, which set the tone for what turned out to be a seamless and memorable day. During the tour, Hiroshi was engaging, personable, and deeply knowledgeable. His connection to the area—having grown up there—came through in the way he shared its history, culture, and hidden details that most visitors would never discover on their own. He struck the right balance between providing insight and allowing the experience to unfold naturally. What set Hiroshi apart was his attention to detail and willingness to go beyond expectations. He arranged a restaurant reservation at the end of the tour, which was both thoughtful and appreciated. He also guided me to local shops and dining spots that clearly reflected an insider’s perspective rather than a standard tourist itinerary. Overall, Hiroshi provided a first-rate experience. If you are looking for a knowledgeable and attentive guide who takes pride in delivering more than just a tour, Hiroshi is an excellent choice.
Minori was the perfect guide for us. Her knowledge of the area was outstanding and her consideration for our needs greatly appreciated.
Our tour guide, Yoko Shimada was wonderful. She guided us to Miyajima Island from our hotel, and took us to Itsukushima Shrine as well as Daishoin Temple (bonus points for an exciting walk through the temple tunnel). Additionally, she showed us a tasty okonomiyaki restaurant for lunch. She spoke good English and was very accommodating to my wife, who was pregnant. She was very knowledgeable about Miyajima and we learned a lot of b interesting facts during the tour.
This 4 hr tour was really nice. Hiroshi-san met us at our hotel and traveled with us to Miyajima island via train and ferry. He showed us some photo op spots but also showed the character and charm of Miyajima. He joined us for coffee at a local cafe, helped us to create origami cranes to place at the Peace memorial, and escorted us back to our hotel which we really appreciated. Great experience, highly recommend.
We had a wonderful half-day tour of Miyajima Island. Yoko was very friendly, knowledgeable, and had a great sense of humour. She met us at Hiroshima station and travelled with us by train to the ferry port. Yoko brought some origami figures for my son as well as teaching us all how to make Samurai helmets on the ferry back. The island itself was superb. As well as the iconic torii gate, there are many shrines and temples, along with beautiful scenery, atmospheric shopping streets, and wild deer. Yoko made sure we made the most of the experience, including an unexpected rebirth! It was invaluable to have a local guide and Yoko in particular made this trip fantastic. It's one of our highlights of Japan.
Mari was great! She really know her stuff and great tips all around. Highly recommend her.
We did this private tour with our guide Yuji. My wife and I have traveled extensively to several countries and Yuji was one the best guides that we have worked with. He gave us detailed information about Japan. He also showed us several hidden treasures of the island and took us to many spots with amazing views of the island. We covered a lot without feeling being rushed. We both really enjoyed our trip with him and would highly recommend him. If you plan to visit Miyajima, do ask for Yuji.
Lovely experience. Good knowledge of the area.
Our tour guide (Minori) was phenomenal. She was very kind, professional, and knowledgeable. Minori even at one point went out of her way to help us push the wheelchair for our 80yr old Aunt. The Japan Guide Agency (JGA) tour company and Minori responded timely to my many correspondences (prior to our arrive in Japan) and they diligently worked to ensure we visited the sights we had requested. We also hired their private transportation. The driver was friendly and her driving skills made us all feel very safe. As a result of their combined, we were able to fully enjoy the experience. I highly recommend Minori and the Japan Guide Agency.
Our guide Yuko is a very pleasant person and a good guide. She came well prepared and was able to answer lots of questions. We highly recommend her.
Our guide was wonderful and so friendly. I enjoyed talking to her. She contacted me after making the reservation and tailored the tour to what interested me.
Excellent tour with Yuji around the island. He provided all the information we were looking for, and more. He taught us about the island, Japanese culture, both dominant religions, and answered all our questions. Would strongly recommend this tour, and this guide specifically. We had a great day!
Had an amazing and beautiful day on Miyajima with tour guide Mari. It was our second tour with Mari and it was such a wonderful two days. She’s a Hiroshima local with a deep knowledge of the history and culture of the area. She’s friendly and inquisitive and catered the details of the island tour to our interests. Was a great few days together!
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
Reach us by phone
Reach us by email