1 Day Ise Grand Shrine and Mikimoto Pearl Island Tour from Nagoya (H0026)

Gifu Prefecture, Japan

Mikimoto Pearl Island

• The island is the birthplace of the world’s first cultured pearls. The Pearl Museum introduces you the mechanism of how pearls are made and how pearls are cultivated, along with numerous materials and videos. Also, at the museum, you can see a rich collection of antique jewelry using natural pearls and a variety of gorgeous arts and crafts using plenty of cultured pearls. You can also watch a diving demonstration performed by Ama (a woman who catches seaweed and other plants by bare diving) dressed in traditional white beach clothes.

Ise Grand Shrine

• This is the most saced shrine in Japan and filled with the charms of history, nature and architecture. Billions of people have been praying for their peace from the ancient times. Ise Grand Shrine includes 125 shrines around Mie, and in particular, Naiku and Geku, which is dedicated to Amaterasu-Omikami (the deity of Imperial family) and Toyo’uke-no-Omikami (a provider of sacred food of Amaterasu-Omikami) respectively, are the two main huge shrines.

Sengukan

• Sengukan is a museum which introduces Shikinen-Sengu (a festival of the shrine, an every-20-year reconstructing of buildings and carring of them to a new site). You can learn how the festival is conducted with various information displayed at the museum.

Okage-Yokocho

• Okage-Yokocho was born in 1993 near Ise Grand Shrine Naiku. The Edo and Meiji periods’ buildings along the Iseji Route have been relocated or recreated, where you can enjoy the atmosphere of the shrine street and learn the traditional culture of Ise. There are many shops and restaurants serving Ise specialties. Eating around Okage-Yokocho is one of choices to fully enjoy the Yokocho.