Things to do in Ise

Went to Toba Aquarium for Mei and Kira. There are feeding times you can look out for to see the interactions. You can only see Mei and Kira for 1 min at the front row otherwise you have to queue up again for more viewings. Overall the queue is moving and quite fast. While queuing you still can manage to see them on the live screen. There are other animals as well. It is a pleasant experience with animal shows. There are a few souvenirs shops as well to look around and we bought quite a bit of the merchandise.

Peaceful and spiritual experience, perfect on a weekday!I visited Ise Jingu on a weekday morning in November, and it was incredibly serene. Almost no foreign tourists, and even Japanese visitors weren’t too many during daytime on a weekday — it felt like I had the whole sacred forest to myself. The atmosphere is truly special, with huge ancient trees and pure air. Perfect for forest bathing and just slowing down.Started from Geku (Outer Shrine), which was very quiet and beautiful, then took the bus to Naiku (Inner Shrine). The bus between Geku and Naiku gets quite crowded (especially around 10-11am), and trains (Kintetsu or JR) don’t run very frequently, so transportation is honestly the weakest point. I recommend planning your schedule carefully or having some buffer time.But the best part? Everything is completely free! No entrance fee at all. You can spend hours walking the gravel paths, sitting on benches, listening to the wind and river — it’s incredibly healing. Oh, and don’t miss Oharai-machi and Okage-yokocho near Naiku — great for lunch and souvenirs.Highly recommend coming on a weekday if you want that peaceful, authentic Shinto experience without the crowds. Just be prepared for a bit of hassle with transportation.

It's a great spot for eating while walking around. The strawberry milk was sweet and delicious. The Snoopy Teahouse also had limited edition Snoopy goods.

It is a shrine located in Ise City, Mei Prefecture, Japan, and is the head shrine of the approximately 80,000 shrines in Japan. It is called one of the three major shrines of Japan.

I went there in the morning. It was a very pleasant shrine. It seems that many famous people come here. I had to queue for a while to get a goshuin.

After getting off the boat, we walked across a covered bridge to the Pearl Museum, where you can see exquisite pearl exhibits and shop for pearls if you need them. We also watched a female divers show, which was performed every hour regardless of the weather or season. The female divers did not use any diving equipment to dive to the bottom of the sea to salvage.

I always find it a little difficult to see animals through glass, but the place is very beautiful, and the staff seemed to take very good care of the animals. I was able to play fetch with dolphins, enjoy watching seals juggling, and touch the skin of a walrus that was roaming almost freely. The zero-distance concept was pretty well respected.

This shrine is famous for worshipping Tsukuyomi. Although it is not big, it has a very high status in Ise City. After all, it is the sister of Amaterasu, so it goes without saying that her status is very high. Because we arrived in Ise at night, it was already dark when we got here. In addition, there was no light in this place, and the Shinto looked a bit dark and creepy, so we took two photos at the door and left. Because the transportation here is quite convenient, you can still come and have a look if you have the chance.

I went there after the event, so it was very quiet. I heard the sunrise is very beautiful, so next time I'll go there to see the sunrise.