There’s a very easy rule of thumb to follow when looking for chef Kenji Akai’s self-named restaurant on the coast of Hiroshima Prefecture. You head in the opposite direction from all the tourists.
Restaurant Akai lies less than a 10-minute walk from Miyajimaguchi Station. But most of the people alighting there make their way to the nearby port, the departure point for ferry services to the sacred island of Itsukushima. More commonly known as Miyajima, its shrine has been a focal point of Shinto devotion for over 1,000 years and is both a national treasure and a World Heritage Site.
Until 2020, some 4.5 million people a year were making the 10-minute crossing. Some go to pay their respects at the shrine; others just to view its classic vermilion torii, which at high tide is partially submerged by the waters of the Seto Inland Sea, seemingly afloat on its surface. More recently, though, visitors have been outnumbered by the wild deer that amble placidly through the unhurried streets of Miyajima’s only town.