Caressed by snowflakes, my cable car glides high above a canopy of primeval forest to the summit of Mount Misen, the highest peak on Miyajima, a scenic island in Hiroshima Bay.
I have with me an amulet to protect against thunderbolts, purchased on impulse at a shrine. It works. There will be no lightning, just spectacular views of the Seto Inland Sea and, in the distance, Hiroshima City.
In Japan’s southwest, the Seto Inland Sea connects the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan and is home to some 3,000 islands. The region encompassing the eastern part of the sea, between Honshu