Is The Miyajima Torii Gate Still Under Renovation?

What is still under way on the island is smaller in scale but very visible, repair work on the shrine's east corridor running to December 2026 and conservation of the five-story pagoda running into November 2027. The shrine stays open throughout, the torii can be seen and photographed as normal, and at low tide visitors still walk out across the seabed to its pillars. This page sets out what is finished, what is scaffolded, and how it affects a visit.

No. The Great Torii restoration finished in December 2022, so the gate itself is fully visible and walkable at low tide. Two other projects at Itsukushima Shrine are still running, east corridor reinforcement until December 2026 and five-story pagoda conservation until November 2027, but the shrine stays open, visitor passage is maintained, and neither project blocks the gate or closes the shrine.

The distinction matters because the word "Miyajima renovation" gets used loosely. The gate people mean when they ask this question is the Great Torii, the roughly 16.6-meter camphor-wood structure that is the island's silhouette. That one is done. The Miyajima Tourist Association's English page describes it as the ninth-generation gate, erected in 1875, and notes its designation as an Important Cultural Property in March 1952.

The east corridor reinforcement and the five-story pagoda conservation are both on the shrine's own construction page, which reports the corridor work from April 2024 to December 2026 and the pagoda work from January 2025 to November 2027, with the shrine open and visitor passage maintained. For the fuller picture of the gate itself, see why the Miyajima torii gate stands in the water.

When Did The Great Torii Restoration Finish?

The Great Torii's own restoration finished in December 2022, and the gate has stood clear of scaffolding since then. The current structure is the ninth generation, erected in 1875, standing roughly 16.6 meters tall and weighing about 60 tons, built mainly of camphor-wood pillars that rest on the seabed under their own weight rather than being fixed or deeply buried.

That last detail is the reason the gate survives tides and typhoons the way it does. The shrine's accounts describe a rare six-pillar Ryobu-torii arrangement that adds stability, with the main pillars about 13.4 meters tall and roughly 9.9 meters around, and a crossbeam about 24.2 meters long. Nothing in that structure is now hidden behind sheeting.

Visitors who saw photographs of the gate wrapped in earlier years are looking at archive images. Since the 2022 completion the gate appears as it does now: bare timber-red, standing offshore about 212.7 meters from the main worship hall, reachable on foot when the tide drops low enough. The tide question is its own subject, covered on when low tide falls at Miyajima.

What Work Is Still Under Way At Itsukushima Shrine On Miyajima?

East corridor structural reinforcement at Itsukushima Shrine is reported to run from 10 April 2024 to December 2026, and conservation of the five-story pagoda from 20 January 2025 to 20 November 2027; both leave the shrine open, with visitor passage along the corridor maintained throughout.

The corridor work sits inside the paid visitor route, so ticket holders walk past some of it. In practice a visit is unchanged in shape: enter at 300 yen for adults, walk the boardwalk corridors over the water, view the torii from the shrine's verandas, and climb to Senjokaku with the pagoda sheeted next to it.

The boardwalk itself has a permanent quirk worth knowing: the corridor floorboards carry gaps that let high-tide pressure through, and the shrine's admission page advises comfortable shoes. The current repairs do not change that. The practical details of the site, hours and tide behaviour are collected on the Itsukushima Shrine guide.

Can You Still See And Photograph The Great Torii During The Repairs?

Yes. The Great Torii is fully visible during the remaining shrine repairs, because the gate is offshore and none of the current work touches it; it can be viewed free from the shore at all times, from inside Itsukushima Shrine on a 300-yen adult ticket, and from the deck of the JR ferry on its close-pass Great Torii route, which the timetable shows on Miyajimaguchi departures between 9:10 and 16:10.

The tide still governs the two classic views. When the tide level rises above roughly 250 cm referenced to Hiroshima Port, the gate appears to float; when it falls below about 100 cm, the seabed is exposed and visitors walk out to the pillars and touch them. Both figures are guide figures tied to the live tide tables that the Miyajima Tourist Association and the ferry operators publish, so the day's plan should be checked against the tide block rather than a fixed rule of thumb. The rest of the planning pages sit on Hiroshima Travel Guide.

Night viewing is unaffected too. The torii, the shrine buildings, the pagoda and the stone lanterns along the approach are illuminated every evening from 30 minutes after sunset until 23:00, weather and shrine events permitting, and the illumination can be watched from land or from a boat if the tide is high enough to approach the gate. That evening scene is covered in detail on whether the Miyajima torii gate is lit up at night.

How Much Does A Miyajima Visit Cost While The Work Runs?

A Miyajima day from Hiroshima costs 200 yen each way on the adult ferry plus a separate 100 yen Miyajima visitor tax collected with the inbound ticket, 300 yen to enter Itsukushima Shrine itself, and 100 yen more for Senjokaku, which stays open beside the scaffolded pagoda; the repair work adds nothing to any of these figures.

The visitor tax applies to everyone arriving on the island, preschool children excepted, and it is collected with the ferry ticket rather than at a gate. Japan Rail Pass holders ride the JR West Miyajima ferry without a fare but still pay the 100 yen tax. A combined shrine and Treasure Hall ticket exists at 500 yen for adults, against 300 yen for the shrine alone.

For a full day that pairs the Peace Memorial Park in the city with Miyajima, a one-day Hiroshima and Miyajima itinerary sets out the sequencing, and staying over changes the arithmetic enough to be worth its own page, as an overnight on Miyajima explains with the last ferry times that shape the decision.

Should You Delay A Miyajima Trip Until The Work Ends?

No, there is no need to wait. The one structure the trip is usually built around, the Great Torii, has been finished since December 2022, and the remaining work wraps a corridor section and the pagoda without closing the shrine, blocking the shore view, or stopping the low-tide walk to the gate; a visit now sees the island fully functioning, with scaffolding as a backdrop detail rather than a barrier.

If the pagoda's uncovered appearance matters to your photographs, the reported end date is November 2027, which is a long way to push a Hiroshima trip for one wrapped building. Everything else the island offers is live: the shrine's 6:30 opening on every day except 1 January, when it opens at midnight, the ropeway up Mount Misen, the ferry's close pass by the gate through the middle of the day, and the nightly illumination until 23:00.

A guided visit also frames the work rather than hiding it. The private Miyajima floating-torii tour walks the island with a guide. For the wider decision between the city and the island, which is better to visit, Hiroshima or Miyajima weighs both.

Common Questions About The Miyajima Torii Renovation

Is The Miyajima Torii Gate Still Under Renovation?

No. The Great Torii's restoration finished in December 2022. Two other projects at Itsukushima Shrine, east corridor reinforcement to December 2026 and pagoda conservation to November 2027, are still under way, and the shrine stays open through both.

Can You Walk Out To The Great Torii While The Shrine Repairs Are Running?

Yes. When the tide falls below about 100 cm, referenced to Hiroshima Port, the seabed is exposed and visitors walk out to the gate's pillars. The repair work does not affect this.

Is The Five-Story Pagoda On Miyajima Covered Up?

Yes, it is wrapped in scaffolding and sheeting for conservation work reported to run to November 2027. Senjokaku hall beside it remains open on a separate 100-yen ticket.

Does The JR Ferry Still Pass Close To The Great Torii?

Yes. The JR West Miyajima ferry's Great Torii close-pass route runs on departures from Miyajimaguchi between 9:10 and 16:10, with the crossing taking about ten minutes.

Is The Miyajima Illumination Affected By The Repair Work?

No. The torii, the shrine buildings, the pagoda and the stone lanterns are illuminated every night from 30 minutes after sunset until 23:00, pausing only for weather or shrine events.

Do You Pay Extra On Miyajima Because Of The Construction?

No. Shrine entry stays at 300 yen for adults and the island's 100 yen visitor tax is unchanged, collected with the inbound ferry ticket. The repair projects add no fee.

The short version: the gate itself is done and standing clear, the wrapped pagoda is the one thing to expect in photographs until late 2027, and nothing about the repairs closes, prices out or obscures the reasons a Miyajima day from Hiroshima is worth planning around the tide table.