Nagoya, Ise-Shima, and the Kii Peninsula: Places to Explore

The wide ocean views of the coastal journey to Shingu give way to gorges and mountainsides of a deep mossy green when you pass through the tunnel five minutes north of the city. Up the Kumano River, the... Read more

Gifu's main attraction is its 1,300-year tradition of cormorant fishing. The city center spreads several blocks north from the JR and Meitetsu stations. Extensive rebuilding after World War II didn't create... Read more

This small city halfway between Nagoya and Nara has some interesting claims to fame. Noted haiku poet Matsuo Basho was born here in the 1640s, and it was home to one of Japan's leading ninja schools. Iga... Read more

Inuyama sits along the Kiso River, on the border between Aichi and Gifu prefectures. A historically strategic site, the city changed hands several times during the Edo period. You can see cormorant fishing... Read more

When you step off the train, you may feel that Ise is a drab city, but hidden in two forests of towering cedar trees are the most important and impressive Shinto shrines in Japan. Indeed, the city's income... Read more

This World Heritage Site is the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, founded by Kukai, also known as Kobo Daishi, in AD 816.... Read more

In 1612, shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa established Nagoya by permitting his ninth son to build a castle here. Industry and merchant houses sprang up in the shadow of this magnificent fortress, as did pleasure... Read more

Shingu is home to one of the three great shrines of the Kumano Kodo, Hayatama-taisha (daily 9-4:30). One of the few north-south roads penetrating the Kii Peninsula begins in town and continues inland to... Read more

Shirahama Rounding the peninsula, 54 km (34 mi) northwest of Shio-no-misaki, Shirahama is a small headland famous for its pure white-sand beach. If you're wondering why it looks and feels so different... Read more