To Ise Shrine, I would recommend staying at Nagoya if you have lots of luggage and using the JR pass. If you can afford just bringing a small piece of luggage, perhaps you could explore other lodging options in Mie Prefecture. 三重県

• 8:05 am Took the JR tokkyu line from Nagoya station 名古屋駅 this had another 810 yen per person even with the JR pass. Or you could take the 8:37 am train which is the JR kaisoku mie no. 1 JR快速みえ1号 鳥羽行, which reaches at 10:18 am but you don’t have to worry about changing trains. You will still have to pay an extra 500 yen (collected on the train as well) as part of the track is owned by another company. Whichever train you take, go for the unreserved seats. (I love Japanese trains, they all have toilets lol)

• 9:56 am Reached Iseshi. This station brings you close to the geku of the ise shrine. 外宮 伊勢神宮 the walk is fast and pretty straightforward.

• Map taken from the shrine. You can’t take pictures of the shrine itself. But it’s unlike most other shrines you have seen. It has a long history dating as far back as 4 BC and is of the most important shrines in Japan. It is where the imperial family visits. Happen so that the imperial family visited the day before I did. The Ise Jingu consists of 125 jinjas. The Geku, my first stop, is dedicated to Toyo’uke-no-Omikami 豊受大神 or goddess for agriculture and industry. For more information you can visit the site.

• While I couldn’t take pictures of the shrine, I took pictures of the massive trees they have.

• 11:34 am After a walk round Geku, we proceeded to take the bus to Naiku 内宮.

• 11:47 am We alighted at the last stop, iseji busstop. Or you can alight one stop earlier and head to the old town first. But I’ve decided to head to the shrine first before lunch at the old town.

• Lovely walk in. The shrine is dedicated to Amaterasu and considered one of the most important shrines in Japan. You will not be able to take pictures of the shrine.
• After the shrine, have a nice walk down the old town. Okageyokocho おかげ横丁 Try the matsusaka beef 松坂牛丼 or udon. Abalone too.

• 1:51 pm Took the CAN bus to meoto Iwa. 夫婦岩 This was to maximize my time in Mie prefecture. You could choose a later time for the bus and stay in the ancient street longer.

• 2:28 pm journey was shorter than I had expected but good to reach early. Did some shopping at the 水族館. Small shrine with two rocks by the sea. I suppose the best time would be either sunrise or sunset, but nonetheless, we came and we saw. Then we did a slow walk to the futamino ura station 二見浦. One of the most remote stations I have seen. No one manning! And no gantry.

• 4.02 pm I think the walk was a good 20 mins for me. I wanted to take it slow and yet not miss the 4.02 pm kaisoku mie 20 line 快速みえ 20. Reaches Nagoya at 6.06 pm and you don’t have to transfer trains. You will need to pay an extra 500 yen per person as you did coming from Nagoya to Ise. It started with two cars at futami no ura station and joined up with other cars at iseshi. Quite cool.

• 6.06 pm Back in Nagoya. Here you are free to roam and grab dinner. I highly recommend chicken wings or hitsumabushi. ひつまぶし I really looked forward to chicken wings.