Mie Prefecture Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines, Temples, and Travel | 47 Prefecture Guide

We now enter the Kinki region. Mie is a prefecture that has a place regarded as the center of Japan’s shrines. At the same time, it is also the prefecture that fires the earthenware pot in your home.

Specialties

Yokkaichi Banko ware is said to account for about 80% of Japan’s domestic earthenware pot market. By adding a mineral called petalite, the clay body became less likely to crack even when placed directly over a flame.

The name comes from the seal pressed by Nunami Rozan in the mid-Edo period: “Banko fueki,” meaning “unchanging forever.” seal. A ceramic named “unchanging” came to take 80% of the market in the form of a pot, one of the most breakable ways ceramics are used. It has lived up to its name.

Spiny lobster, abalone, and pearls (Ago Bay). Matsusaka beef is also from this prefecture. Ise tea has the third-largest production volume after Shizuoka and Kagoshima.

Souvenirs

Akafuku mochi is a sweet made by wrapping mochi in sweet bean paste. The three waves on the surface are said to represent the flow of the Isuzu River. It has long been made as a sweet for shrine visitors.

Ise udon, pearl accessories, and Banko ware teapots and earthenware pots.

Shrines and Temples

Ise Jingu (Ise City) is the collective name for 125 shrines centered on the Inner Shrine (Kotai Jingu) and Outer Shrine (Toyouke Daijingu). Officially, it is called simply “Jingu,” without adding a proper name.

The Shikinen Sengu, in which the shrine buildings are completely rebuilt once every twenty years, has continued for more than 1300 years. The same buildings are newly constructed on the adjacent site, the deity is moved, and the old buildings are dismantled. It is a way of preservation that leaves behind the skill to build, rather than the building itself. It comes from the same basic idea as the craft inheritance we have seen throughout this series.

Futami Okitama Shrine In Ise City, the sun rises between the two Meoto Iwa rocks around the summer solstice. In the past, people would purify themselves here before visiting Ise Jingu.

Senshuji Temple (Tsu City) and Kongoshoji Temple (Ise City) are also places that can be visited together with the Grand Shrine.

Sightseeing

Oharai-machi and Okage Yokocho, the castle town of Iga Ueno, and the Iseji route of the Kumano Kodo.

The Kumano Kodo was registered as a World Cultural Heritage site in 2004 as part of the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range." There are very few examples in the world where the road itself is a heritage site.

Traditional Crafts

Nationally designated crafts include Yokkaichi Banko ware, Iga braided cords, Suzuka ink, Iga ware, Ise katagami stencil paper, making 5 items in all.

Ise katagami is nationally designated not as a craft product, but as a tool used to make craft products. Neither Kyo-yuzen nor Tokyo komon could be dyed without this paper.

For details, see [VILLAGE Report vol.20] 80% of Japan’s Earthenware Pots Are Fired in This Town

Articles About This Prefecture

See all articles from Mie Prefecture　 ← List of 47 Prefectures

References: Mie Prefecture, Yokkaichi City, Ise City, Suzuka City, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries -- Value Village Editorial Department