Day 3 START
Matsusaka Castle Ruins
Matsusaka Castle is a flatland castle built on a 38m high independent hill, Shigohyakumori. It has been recognized as one of Japan's 100 most famous castles and was designated a national historic site in 2011.
It was completed in just three years by Gamo Ujisato, who was granted approximately 120,000 koku of land in southern Ise by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1588. Although no buildings remain today, the magnificent stone walls remain, conveying the appearance of the castle in its former days to the present day.
5minutes on foot
Castle guard's residence
The former Matsusaka Castle Guard Tenement House, known as the "Castle Guard House," is a samurai residence where Kishu feudal lords moved to guard Matsusaka Castle at the end of the Edo period. Built in 1860, it was designated a nationally important cultural property in 2004. Such group tenement houses are extremely rare across the country, and people still live there today.
10 minutes on foot
Wadakin
Wadakin, the original Matsusaka beef restaurant in Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture.
You can enjoy a wide variety of dishes, including sukiyaki, that bring out the flavor of various cuts of meat. In addition, you can sit around the traditional vermilion-lacquered round table at Wadakin and enjoy the view of the alcove and courtyard garden in between meals, a feast for the eyes.
35 minutes by car
Tsu Castle Ruins
In 1570, Oda Nobunaga's younger brother, Nobukane, built Anotsu Castle. In 1610, Todo Takatora, who came to Tsu from Imabari, Iyo as the feudal lord of Iga and Ise provinces, carried out extensive renovations to Tsu Castle, laying the foundations for the town of Tsu as a full-fledged modern castle, castle town, and post town.
Currently, only the Honmaru, Nishinomaru and part of the inner moat remain and have been developed into a castle park.
25minutes by car
Sekijuku
Sekijuku is the 47th post town from Edo on the Tokaido road, and was bustling with people traveling to Edo for alternate attendance and pilgrimages to Ise Shrine.
As the only post town on the Tokaido that retains its historic streetscape, it has been designated as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings by the national government.
1minute on foot
It was called "Mochi Highway"
The Pilgrimage Route between Kuwana and Ise
Sekinoto (Fukagawaya)
Located at Sekijuku, the 53rd station on the Tokaido road, Fukagawaya, a Japanese confectionery shop that has been in business for over 380 years since the Edo period, is a 241-year-old shop with the only remaining "Iori" sign on the Tokaido road, still attracting the attention of travelers. Fukagawaya is a Japanese confectionery shop that was founded as a hideout for Iga ninja, and continues to make its signature confection, "Seki no To," which is said to have been used by ninjas for espionage.
Shiratama (Maedaya Confectionery Seki Branch)
Shiratama is a rice cake made from rice flour and wrapped in smooth bean paste, produced by Maedaya Seika in Sekimachi, Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture, the 47th post town on the Tokaido Road's 53 Stations. Its timeless flavor makes it a popular specialty of Sekijuku.
35 minutes by car
Aqua Ignis
Aqua Ignis is a complex hot spring resort facility with the themes of "healing" and "food."
The vast grounds are home to a 100% natural hot spring with water directly from the source, a restaurant serving delicious cuisine prepared by skilled artisans, an organic detached lodge, a strawberry farm and more, making it a spot that can be thoroughly enjoyed on both a day trip and overnight stay.
