Day Trip to Miyajima Part 3

Welcome back to the Miyajima tour! (Catch up on part 1 and part 2!) After my journey exploring the many temples and shrines around the island, I found myself at the Miyajima ropeway to Mt. Misen.

Day Trip to Miyajima Shrine

Back in 2017, right before I left Japan, I took the time to revisit one of my favorite places: Hiroshima. (Yes, this absolutely has to do with Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, which I ate all three days). I had originally visited Hiroshima on a high school exchange trip several years earlier, but didn't have the chance to go to one of Hiroshima's most popular nearby attractions: Miyajima Shrine.

Located on Itsukushima island a short train trip south, Miyajima is home to under 2,000 residents and over 500 deer. There's an aquarium, several shrines, a resort, botanical garden, and even a ropeway offering stunning panoramic views.

How to Read Omikuji

A typical omikuji, or fortune slip, in Japan.

A popular thing to do when visiting a shrine or temple in Japan is to draw an “omikuji”, or fortune slip. These are not your average fortune printed at some factory sitting inside your fortune cookie (whose origins can be traced back to tsujiura senbei (辻占煎餅) in Kyoto, Japan).

Tsujiura senbei, the world's first fortune cookie

Omikuji are highly detailed fortunes with full explanations and analysis of love, health, business, and so forth, more akin to your daily horoscope. That being said, not all fortunes are good luck! Be prepared for some bad news, the kind predicting you’ll be having the worst year of your life. After all, omikuji aren’t rolled inside sweet vanilla-flavored cookies.

Once you’ve worked up the nerve to take on “your fate”, follow these steps for reading your omikuji.