Mie Prefecture is a region of Japan located in the Kansai area and is easily reachable by car, train or airplane from places such as Nagoya or Osaka. The most convenient way to explore Mie is with a vehicle and the roads are often quiet and quick. The highlight of the Mie Prefecture and the most famous place to visit is Ise Jingu (Ise Temple), which covers two very large areas of the Ise City. The first, and largest, otherwise known as Naiku is very famous and historic to all Japanese people. Much of the Naiku temple is off limits to visitors, but it is an important place of worship for the Japanese and has history emanating from Imperial reigns hundreds of years ago. The second, Geku, is a smaller area but equally beautiful and an important stop on your trip around Mie.
It is recommended to hire a car from either Osaka or Nagoya, to reach Mie. Visiting from Nagoya will mean an excellent journey through Matsusaka. This is an area of Japan most famous for its beef, but also the remnants of Matsusaka Castle. The quality of the beef in Matsusaka is considered second to none, whilst considered rather fatty to foreign visitors, it is delicious and some restaurants in this area will cater for a luxurious evening meal, whereby you can enjoy your beef as a steak or sukiyaki. Both are equally delicious and recommended.
If you time your trip well, you can capture the end of the day visiting the Matsusaka town area and then stop for dinner, before heading off to your next location which should be Ise. Nagoya to Ise via Matsusaka would take approximately two hours. It’s approximately 40 minutes by car to Ise from Matsusaka, and arriving there late would give you a whole day of exploration of the local sights.
As mentioned, Geku and Naiku are the most famous areas of Ise, but there is plenty elsewhere to see. A favorite spot is Oharaimachi, a long road of shops selling traditional gifts and souvenirs (omiyage), and you can enjoy plenty of snack food such as Ice Cream and food on a stick. You can even drive through this road, albeit it is frowned upon and generally too busy to make an easy drive through. We did this by accident and it was certainly amusing seeing the locals confused!
From there, a short journey out to the coast will take you to Futamiokitama Shrine (Meito Iwa). This is famous for its frog statues as well as a few rocks out at sea. Parking here at the right spot will cost 1000 yen but if you spend 2000 yen in the souvenir shop you will get your money back. Save your omiyage shopping for this spot!
A drive of around 45 minutes will then take you to Shima. At this point you will have an option to go through Toba, which would take an additional 30 minutes or so, but you could also plan that stop for the way back. Toba is a nice city with plenty to do, it is most famous for pearl farming (such as Mikimoto Island) but also has plenty of restaurants with excellent seafood.
Shima too is also famous for seafood, more specifically abelone, and it is also famous for the G7 Summit at which the likes of Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and David Cameron attended with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. The food at the hotel (The Classic) is excellent and highly recommended. This hotel is certainly a 5* establishment, so expect to pay a lot of money depending on the time and the season.
Shima also has Ago Bay, an island cluster off of the coast which is great for a photo opportunity and a nice drive around winding roads through Shima Peninsula.
Mie certainly makes for a great short trip. You also have the option of a visit to Wakayama Prefecture, one of our favorite places in Japan, or head into Kyoto for a history fuelled experience of the Far East.