Thursday 9 May 2013

Miyajima Ropeway, Access to the Mountain of God


Momijidani Line (gondola lift) of Miyajima Ropeway
 
Following my blog on May 5th, 2013, I am going to show you the rest of our trip to Hiroshima.

After a visit to Itsukushima Shrine (see the following photo), we headed to the heartland of Itsukushima Island. Floating on the Seto Inland Sea and measuring 30 kilometers in circumference, Itsukushima Island features many tourist attractions including Mount Misen, which is covered with a primeval forest in the central part of the island. To get to this beautiful mountain, Miyajima Ropeway is convenient.

Miyajima Ropeway is an aerial lift, which opened in 1959. Connecting Momijidani and Shishiiwa via Kayadani Station, the total operating length is 1.6km. The route is composed of two sections, namely the Momijidani Line and the Shishiiwa Line.

The Momijidani Line is the lower section of Miyajima Ropeway connecting Momijidani and Kayadani stations. The total line length is 1.1km and is operated as a gondola lift. Eight-seater gondolas are operated every minute. It takes about ten minutes from Momijidani to Kayadani Station.

Even though they are operated quite frequently, we had to wait about 45 minutes because it was the peak spring holiday season. We saw many foreign tourists also waiting patiently for their gondolas to arrive. It was a good idea that the station attendants were handing out queue tickets to passengers which meant that they were able to spend their time as they pleased.

I am going to show you the upper section, the Shishiiwa Line, tomorrow. To be continued...
 
Itsukushima Shrine
 
More infomation about Miyajima Ropeway: