World Heritage sites in Japan, Itsukushima Shrine

If you're visiting Japan just for a few days, I would like to recommend you a number of quintessential places for the extremely complex and varied Japanese culture. With this in mind, I started about six months ago a list of places to visit, beginning with the Nikko World Heritage site. Today, here's another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Itsukushima Shrine on the Miyajima Island, near Hiroshima.

The Itsukushima Shrine is a large complex built on pillars over the water, each of its buildings being representative for the old sacred Japanese architecture. Here you will find, connected by corridors, the main hall (best admired from the water), several smaller shrines, beautiful bridges, two Japanese court dance stages, and a Noh stage. Also, I must mention the spectacular Buddhist pagoda located nearby and the shrine's world famous Otorii (Grand Gate).