Daishoin

During my 2 days on the Island I visited the sites at various times, preferably in the early morning, sometimes even before breakfast, and in the late afternoon or evening. I did not climb Mt Misen as it was overcast mostly apart from the morning of my departure.
Located at the foot of the mountain and above Itsukushima shrine the Buddhist Daishoin temple
was easy accessible and with its many magnificient statues, grand halls and pituresque gardens at least as interesting as its more famous Shinto counterpart. The richness of the site lavishly decorated in gold was enhanced by its natural surroundings of colourful maple woods in autumn foilage.
I know too little about Buddhism to fully appreciate the treasures at Daishoin but I visited the temple often and always found something pleasing. Numerous Rakan statues lining the steps with their unique facial expressions were intriguing to me and most of all a little figurine laying asleep with a small animal on his back.