The island of Itsukushi­ma, in the Seto inland sea, has been a holy place of Shin­to­ism since the ear­li­est times. The first shrine build­ings here were prob­a­bly erect­ed in the 6th cen­tu­ry. The present shrine dates from the 12th cen­tu­ry and the har­mo­nious­ly arranged build­ings reveal great artis­tic and tech­ni­cal skill. The shrine plays on the con­trasts in colour and form between moun­tains and sea and illus­trates the Japan­ese con­cept of scenic beau­ty, which com­bines nature and human cre­ativ­i­ty.