Regions & prefectures
JapanRegions & prefectures
Mie
Shinto’s most sacred shrine, the ama divers and Matsusaka beef.
- Capital
- Tsu
- Status
- Prefecture
- Region
- Kansai
- Must-see
- The Grand Shrine of Ise
- Local specialty
- Matsusaka beef, pearls, tekone-zushi
The Grand Shrine of Ise, dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu, has been rebuilt identically every twenty years since the seventh century on an adjoining plot kept empty for the purpose: the shikinen sengū rite was performed for the sixty-second time in 2013. Toba Bay saw the birth of pearl culture, and the ama, free-diving women, still harvest abalone and seaweed without tanks.
What to see there
Places, dishes and traditions tied to this territory.