January 21, 2026

MIE: Things to do in Ise

If you are travelling to Nagoya, I highly recommend this place – Ise in Mie Prefecture for a day trip. Ise offers a laid-back travel experience. You may catch the scenic calming coastal view, visit the impressive Ise Jinggu, and enjoy delicious delicacies such as local seafood and Ise udon.

Alternately, here is also another place to check out when you are travelling in Nagoya- Nabanano no Sato , a flower theme park that is located on the Nagashima Island in Kuwana City, Mie; just about 35 minutes’ bus ride from Nagoya Meitetsu Bus Center.

We boarded the Kintetsu Limited Express (about ¥ 3,080 per way) that took us from Kintetsu Nagoya Station to Iseshi Station, and transferred on the JR to Futamino-Ura Station. The total train ride is about 1 hour 45 minutes.

Our day was glooming and raining. So we had to use umbrella throughout the day. We walked about 1.2km towards Futami Okitama Shrine side, as our first destination. And below were the things we did during our time in Ise, but I believe we could do a lot more if it wasn’t raining that day.

Things to do in Ise

1. Eat Ise Udon

Ise Udon is a famous Japanese noodle dish from Mie Prefecture. The udon is thick and soft, with light chewiness and served with dark sauce made of slightly sweet tamari soy sauce and soup stock. We had ours in Maruhama まるはま, an udon noodle shop that is located near to the Futami Okitama-jinja. We fueled up with some nice delicious udon before starting our tourist journey in Ise.

I highly recommend their Udon with Matsusaka Beef and served with the soft-boiled egg (¥ 1705 tax in), tender and flavourful beef with gooey egg-licious! They offer it as a set with a small seafood-topped rice bowl. Also try not to miss out the refreshing Sea Salt Soft Serve Ice cream that is made with salt produced from the sea off Futami. We were too full for ice cream on the gloomy day but we shopped off with many gifts and souvenirs that this place offer! Do locate some shopping time for the local souvenirs!

Ise Udon with Kitsune (¥ 880 tax in)

Ise Udon with Fresh Mekabu Seaweed (¥ 935 tax in)

Mini Shirasu Mentaiko Don (¥ 715 tax in)

Getting here:
Maruhama まるはま is about 15 minutes’ walk from Futamino-Ura Station

Maruhama まるはま
三重県伊勢市二見町茶屋569-14
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2. Futami Okitama Jinja 二見興玉神社

A very famous shrine by the sea, with a pair of sacred rock joined by a ceremonial rope; which is known as the Wedded rock (Meoto-iwa) 夫婦岩. The Wedded rock is the symbol of marital bliss. You may also find many frog statues here in Futami Okitama Jinja as frogs are considered auspicious and symbolize good fortune.

Say hello to my Prince Frog
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3. A visit to Japan’s most sacred shrine – Ise Jingu

The Inner Shrine (Naiku) is Japan’s most sacred shrine and is one of the two main shrines that make up the Ise Jingu in Ise City.

We walked through Uji Bridge that led us towards the inner sanctuary. To explore Ise Jingu, kindly allocate some time as there is some walking to do to reach the inner sanctuary.

Isuzu River

It was quite zen-ish inside the shrine area. If only the weather could be better, that would be perfect.

The visitors are only allowed to approach the gate of the outermost fence of the main sanctuary. The actual shrine building is blocked from view by multiple fences and curtain. Photography is strictly prohibited after this staircase that brought us up to the main sanctuary.

4. Stroll along Ohairamachi

Located in front of the Inner Shrine (Naiku) of Ise Jingu, Ohairamachi is a stone-paved street lined with traditional style buildings that offers a retro Ise atmosphere. There are restaurants, snack stores, beer stands, sake house and souvenir shops along the street. There are really a lot to see and to try in this place. One can easily spare more than two hours at this area.

5. Eat the famous “Gela Mochi” from Imonne

Imonne is a popular dessert shop in Ise, famous for its “Gela Mochi” – soft, chewy mochi filled with creamy rich gelato inside, offering a unique Japanese-western fusion dessert. You may mix and match the gelato and toppings to make up in a cup or cone. But do not miss checking out their sweet potato (imo) flavour as it is their signature flavour, very rich and flavourful as though eating the sweet potato by itself.

Imonne いもんね伊勢内宮前本店
54 Ujiimazaikecho, Ise, Mie 516-0024, Japan
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6. Dive into Snooy Chaya

If you are a big fan of snoopy, here you gotta BUY BUY BUY! This snoopy store offers a variety of Ise only limited-edition souvenirs!

SNOOPY茶屋
64 Ujiimazaikecho, Ise, Mie 516-0024, Japan
Opens daily from 9am to 5pm
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71. Sip craft beer and eat fried oyster in Ise Kadoya Beer

Beer and fried oyster (kaki) are definitely the best buddy! What’s more when the fried kaki is pairing with the award winning craft beer!

We sampled all 6 types of draft craft beer that were available on that day, and added on a few bigger cups that we fancied! American style PALE ALE, HIME WHITE: Belgian style Wit beer, NEKO NIHIKI, Hazy Double IPA, Pacific Dry Pilsner, Japanese Wheat and Barrel Aged Interzone.

I quite like that Japanese Wheat sake yeast wheat beer that is made with sake yeast from Mie Prefecture. It has the soft sweetness and quite refreshing.

Ise Kadoya Beer
34 Ujiimazaikecho, Ise, Mie 516-0024, Japan
Opens daily from 11am to 5pm
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8. Savour the ultra long skewer of juicy fried chicken

This has got to be the juiciest and the best karaage/ fried chicken we had throughout our trip. Got this from a snack stand – Katana Karaage, priced at ¥1,000. The fried chickens were huge, juicy, crispy and very flavourful!

Katana Karaage
Ujiimazaikecho, Ise City, Mie Prefecture 〒516-0024
Opens from 9am to 5pm
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9. Enjoy the doink doink milk pudding

Yamamura Mirukugakko is a nostalgia-looking milk stand offering dairy products such as purin bar, soft serve and puddings by Yamamura Dairy. I had this Yamamura Purin Soft which is the combination of pudding that is slowly baked at low temperature, and topped with rich soft ice cream made with 100% milk from Mie Prefecture.

Yamamura Miruku Gakko Naigu-mae Store 山村みるくがっこう
37-3 Nakaga Shuraku, Uji Imaya-cho, Ise City, Mie Prefecture 〒516-0024
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10. Drink drink drink in Iseman 伊勢萬

Happiest moment, I found Iseman and I dived straight into this place – Iseman 伊勢萬. I ordered the small size (¥ 370) of their Nama Genshu to taste first and … it wowed me. I then added on an Ichigo (¥ 740) that came in a bigger size ochoko, as huge as my palm. LOL. This Nama Genshu was very refreshing! I would love to chop down a whole bottle of Nama Genshu but it was available on pre-order basis only.

I continued to fork out more coins for their other products, such as Nigori Ume (¥ 270) and seasonal’s sake 大吟醸ひやおろし, also tried out their very limited release Junmai Daiginjo おかげさま浪穂 Namiho, with the rice polishing ration of 21%. It was very elegant on the palate with a gorgeous sweetness and fruity aroma.