I visited 3 out of the 8 inscribed components of this site on a day trip in early December, namely Hetsu-miya on Kyushu, and Nakatsu-miya and Okitsu-miya Yohaisho both on Oshima. I of course could not visit the main attraction of this site and its attendant islands. As for the tombs I found them to be a hassle to reach and so skipped those.

There are a few direct buses to Hetsu-miya from Fukuoka, and the first one of these on Saturdays (maybe on Sundays too but I did not check on that since I made the visit on a Saturday) goes all the way to the Konominato Port from where the ferry to Oshima can be taken.

Nakatsu-miya has an associated shrine all the way up on the summit of Mt Mitake. Although this is merely a hill a little over 200 m tall, it was still quite a lung-imploding and leg-vein-exploding climb for unfit me. The reward at the top is a little shrine and a lovely view of Kyushu and much of the very green island itself. If the weather is clear, the island of Okinoshima can also be spotted if one knows where to look.

The best place on the island to try to spot Okinoshima however is probably at the back of Okitsu-miya Yohaisho. After all, this shrine was built precisely for people to worship the sacred island without actually having to be there. The shrine therefore appeared to be empty (it was closed but I could peek inside) except for a window which opened out to the sea and in the direction of the sacred island.

Okinoshima was of course not immediately visible, but after straining my eyes a little I finally spotted it.

I have to say that the shrines are nothing visually spectacular, especially since I had been in Kyoto and Nara not long before this visit. Nevertheless, the whole trip was somewhat of an adventure for me, particularly on Oshima. I really did enjoy walking through the forests and being very much alone there. Surprisingly there were not too many visitors to the island even though it was a Saturday.