Hiroshima & Miyajima

Itsukushima Shrine's own records trace its founding to 593, when the island's governor, Saeki no Kuramoto, is said to have chosen a site where the tide ebbs and flows. The island had long been revered as sacred, which is why the shrine's gate was placed offshore. In 1168 the powerful warlord Taira no Kiyomori rebuilt the shrine in the shinden-zukuri style of aristocratic residences; UNESCO notes that the present buildings date largely from the 13th century while preserving 12th-century styles. The shrine was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996.

The A-Bomb Dome was built as the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel and completed in 1915. When the first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, it was almost directly beneath the blast and one of the few structures left standing nearby. The city has kept it in its post-bombing state, with careful conservation work in 1967, 1989-1990 and 2002-2003, and UNESCO recognises it as a symbol of the hope for world peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima has rebuilt itself as a lively city with a strong civic commitment to peace; every 6 August the Peace Memorial Ceremony is held in the park, and lanterns are floated on the river that evening in memory of the victims. Miyajima, home to around 2,000 people, has been treated as a sacred island for centuries. Deer roam freely and should not be fed, and visitors are expected to behave respectfully within the shrine precincts. Itsukushima is a Shinto shrine, so the usual etiquette applies: bow at the torii, purify your hands and mouth at the water basin if you wish to pray, and keep voices low.