honshu34.46° N, 136.73° E
Ise-Shima
Ise-Shima is the peninsula of Mie on the Pacific coast, home to Ise Jingu, the most sacred shrine in Japan, and to the island-scattered coves of Ago Bay.
Ago Bay from Yokoyama
- Region
- Honshu
- Our journeys
- Created for you
Our tours stayA day on tourA Custom Tour of Japan
the place
The shrine of the sun goddess, and a bay of pearls.
The Inner Shrine of Ise Jingu is dedicated to Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and its halls of unpainted cypress are rebuilt beside their old sites every twenty years, as they have been for some thirteen centuries. The approach crosses the Uji Bridge into a forest of old cedar, and outside it the street of Oharai-machi keeps its timber shopfronts. On the coast at Futami, the two Meoto Iwa, the wedded rocks, stand in the sea joined by a sacred rope.
To the south, Ago Bay is a drowned coast of inlets and small green islands where the first cultured pearl was grown in 1893, and where the ama divers still work the sea. We plan Ise-Shima as a Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans the days for you.
what we do here
Ise-Shima, as we show it
The Inner Shrine
Halls of unpainted cypress in a forest of cedar, across the Uji Bridge.
Meoto Iwa
The wedded rocks in the sea at Futami, joined by a rope of rice straw.
Meoto Iwa, Futami Ago Bay
Inlets and islands seen from the height of Yokoyama.
Pearls
The pearl rafts of the bay, and the island where the first cultured pearl was grown.
questions
Questions about Ise-Shima
How do you reach Ise-Shima?
By the Kintetsu limited express from Nagoya, about an hour and a half, or from Osaka in about two hours.
Can Ise-Shima be combined with Kyoto?
Yes. It is about two and a half hours from Kyoto, and the Custom Tour of Japan can give it two or three nights on the way.
Can you plan a private journey to Ise-Shima?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans the days for you.
Ise-Shima, created for you alone.
The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, and Ise-Shima can be any part of it. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.