Gastronomic tourism in Mie

Calling all foodies: Mie Prefecture, with its rich reserves of seafood and mountain produce, is a delectable destination filled with world-famous ingredients such as spiny lobster and Matsusaka beef, and the region's restaurants are turning these natural riches into something of an art form. In recent years, Mie has embraced the idea of gastronomic tourism, which means that you get to experience its culture and history through exquisite food. With local chefs preserving and sharing Mie's unique culinary traditions, this area is a must-visit for all food-lovers, so prepare to savor this rich culinary heritage as you explore and indulge.

１、Feast at a vast food resort 【VISON】

Guest rooms for every traveler

Set in Taki town in central Mie, this resort complex is about a 20-minute drive from Ise Grand Shrine and features around 70 shops across 10 distinct zones, offering everything from dining and markets to museums and hot springs.

The main lodging option is HOTEL VISON (from ¥43,000 per night for 2 people, including 2 meals), which boasts 6 detached villas and a 155-room main building. Choose from HATAGO VISON, with uniquely designed buildings, and HACIENDA VISON, overseen by The Conran Shop Japan. Families can opt for family suite rooms featuring loft-style beds, raised tatami areas and open-air baths, which include unlimited access to the Honzo-yu bathhouse and sauna.

【HATAGO VISON】

A relaxing modern Japanese inn

Spread across the 2nd floors of 4 buildings on San Sebastián Street, Hatago VISON (from ¥32,000) is a modern take on Edo-period inns.

Each building has its own unique concept, reflected in every detail from furniture to décor, and consists of a refined Japanese-style concept room of about 70 square meters along with twin rooms (6–10 per building) for comfort and variety.

You can find also cafés, restaurants, and shops on the 1st floor, so it's easy to grab a meal or take food back to your room. The breakfast plan gives you the option of dining in 8 different Japanese and Western-style dining spaces, including NOUNIYELL restaurant where you can enjoy fresh farm-to-table dishes.

【AMAGOYA NAKAGAWA】

Seafood delights of Ise-Shima

Run by the Nakagawa family of 3rd-generation ama divers from Toba in Mie Prefecture, this restaurant is modeled on the traditional huts used by these celebrated divers.

The chef, a fisherman with classical training in Western cuisine, grills freshly caught local seafood over charcoal on a hearth in the center of the hut. Ise lobster and abalone arrive straight from the tanks for maximum freshness.
The popular “ama” course (¥18,000, reservation required) showcases all the riches of the Ise-Shima Sea, from sashimi and charcoal-grilled shellfish to hijiki rice and lobster miso soup. You can also drop by without booking and eat grilled shellfish (¥3,800) or sashimi (¥2,000) on the terrace.

【San Sebastián Street】

The finest Basque bars in Mie

San Sebastián, Spain is known as one of the world’s great gastronomic cities, and in 2017 a "Gourmet Certificate of Friendship” was signed by Taki town and San Sebastián.
This area was named San Sebastián Street in commemoration of that friendship and features 3 renowned Basque bars offering authentic flavors from Spain’s foodie capital.
The award-winning Casa Urola serves creative twists on traditional dishes, while Zazpi, another award winner, blends French finesse with Basque flair, and ARATZ, a long-time local favorite endorsed by San Sebastián’s mayor, offers dishes ranging from seafood classics to paella. To really get into the spirit of things, why not try the pintxos at all 3 bars?

【WA VISON】

A Japanese food sensation

If you're on the lookout for a one-stop destination bringing together specialty shops that showcase the foundations of Japanese cuisine, this is the place for you.
Here you'll find soy sauce, miso, mirin, vinegar, dashi, sake, and more. Designed as a “warehouse of learning”, this facility lets you explore Japan’s traditional ingredients, food culture, and production methods through workshops and factory tours. At Fukuwakura, for example, you can sample freshly brewed sake made with Mie’s pure water and premium rice, while at MIKURA Vinegary, you can watch wooden barrel fermentation and try vinegar tastings or the popular red-vinegar soft serve ice cream. There are also restaurants nearby.

【KATACHI museum】

A world of culinary tools

This museum is the brainchild of ceramic artist and sculptor Koichi Uchida, whose studio is located in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture.
The barn-like building features one of Japan's largest earthen walls and displays culinary tools from different countries and eras. You might be surprised by how the wide-ranging exhibits are beautiful for their functionality as well as their form.
If you want to get in on the action, check out the museum shop to find high-quality cooking utensils crafted by contemporary artisans and essential kitchen tools showing the beauty of functional design. This is a unique space where culture is communicated through the lens of food. Admission is ¥800.

２、Restaurant with rooms【THE HIRAMATSU HOTELS & RESORTS Kashikojima】

A gourmet retreat with just 8 rooms

About 2 hours 10 minutes by limited express train from Nagoya, and about 2 hours 40 minutes from Osaka, this exclusive hotel perched on a hill overlooking Ago Bay on the Shima Peninsula has just 8 rooms.

Crafted by HIRAMATSU, a company renowned throughout Japan for its restaurants and cafes, the concept is more that of a "restaurant with lodging" than a standard hotel. Guest rooms and lounges provide serene ocean views, while the interior is refined beauty with paintings by Matisse and Yayoi Kusama, iconic Mackintosh chairs, and Iga-yaki ceramic vases. Having been awarded 1 Michelin Key for the past 2 years, this is the complete package, with excellent cuisine an added bonus.

【Restaurant】

Innovative Ise-Shima dishes

This French restaurant is a celebration of Ise-Shima's rich ingredient sources.
Since 2016, Chef Masato Imamura has championed “Mie gastronomy” here by visiting local producers and crafting dishes that showcase the region’s flavors.

Spiny lobster is served from autumn to spring, while abalone is a summer highlight. Also be sure to try that Matsusaka beef marinated in salted rice malt and grilled over binchotan charcoal. Imamura is a free spirit working outside the confines of tradition to create inventive dishes like a crystal-clear Matsusaka beef consommé, clarified with egg whites. Everything on the menu here combines precision and creativity to deliver incredible culinary experiences.

THE HIRAMATSU HOTELS & RESORTS Kashikojima

【Guest rooms】

Space where time stands still

Guest rooms in the main building are calm spaces cloaked in fine wood, with soft light filtering in through wooden blinds.
From the 2nd floor, you can gaze out across Ago Bay, then unwind in a lounge with a sofa and desk or a bath framed by wide windows. Rooms in the annex feature open layouts linking the bedroom, terrace, and hot spring bath, which turns semi-open-air when you slide the window open to let in the sea breeze.
After dinner, you can sink into the night with the warm terrace fireplace aglow. All rooms include Mikimoto bath amenities, and rooms in the main building also feature CLAYD SPA salts. Rates start at ¥154,000 for 2 persons (meals included).

THE HIRAMATSU HOTELS & RESORTS Kashikojima

【Hot springs and spas】

Hot springs and thalassotherapy

Water from the seas around Kashikojima in Shima, Mie Prefecture, is famous for its clarity and its skin-softening properties, so if you're feeling the fatigue of travel, this could be the ideal soothing remedy.
If you stay overnight, private open-air baths are available as 40-minute sessions for 2–3 people, and you can take in views of Ago Bay by day and magical illuminated scenery by night while bathing. THE THALASSO SPA features a private seawater pool from Kashikojima, while the CLAYD SPA combines mineral-rich clay from the West Coast of the United States with an Esalen® massage to help you achieve complete mind-body balance. Body treatments start at ¥25,300 for a 60-minute session.

THE HIRAMATSU HOTELS & RESORTS Kashikojima

３、A Gourmet Journey Welcomed in Kuwana, the Gateway to Ise 【MARUYO HOTEL】

An Ise art hotel for 1 group

Located close to Kuwana’s first torii gate to Ise Grand Shrine, this hotel is a private rental transformed from the 70-year-old home of a lumber merchant. Blending contemporary art and antiques, it hosts just 1 group per day, offering a serene escape for the lucky few.

In 2025, it was featured in the Michelin Guide Hotel Selection. The first floor has 2 impressive twin rooms and a lounge. Down in the garden, you can relax in a cypress open-air bath from morning to evening.

Upstairs, you'll find a spacious hall overlooking Ibigawa River and Sumiyoshi Shrine, as well as a library for some quiet time.
This unique stay combines art, nature, tradition, and modern sophistication.

【Artwork and antiques】

Luxury reserved for guests

This hotel blends contemporary art and antique furnishings to create a museum-like atmosphere where the history of each piece will give another dimension to your own sense of time.

Owner Takeshi Sato, who runs the members-only Pavillon MIWA in Paris, and his wife Nao Masaki, who directs design and art, have carefully crafted a worldview spanning history and cultures to offer guests a rare sense of luxurious tranquility. You can even rent the entire building to privately experience and enjoy its art, architecture and serenity.

Breakfast is included and rates start at ¥33,000 per person for 2 guests, or ¥22,000 per person for groups of 4 guests.

【Special dinner】

Famous chefs, Mie ingredients

Dinner options at MARUYO HOTEL range from multi-course meals at a partner restaurant to relaxed in-room dining. It also occasionally hosts 1-night-only events with top chefs visiting from across Japan to highlight the richness of Mie’s seasonal ingredients.
In January 2024, a 2-day sushi event was held with Fukuoka’s famous Yoshitomi Sushi restaurant. A cypress counter was set up in the 2nd-floor hall, where the Yoshitomi's 2nd-generation chef crafted Edo-style sushi with local fish as part of a special dinner for guests. The serene setting elevated an amazing meal into a timeless moment. (Rates are ¥50,000 per person, including dinner and breakfast, based on a group of 4 guests.)

【Kakiyasu Honten】

A celebration of Kakiyasu beef

Kakiyasu was founded in 1871 as a beef hotpot restaurant and carefully raises the ultimate Japanese Black beef, high-quality A5-grade female cattle equivalent to Matsusaka beef, which is served in-house as "Kakiyasu" beef.

The restaurant is set in a Japanese-style house harmonizing modernity and tradition, and a special partnership plan for MARUYO HOTEL guests offers a welcome drink, seasonal kaiseki cuisine, Kakiyasu beef grilled or prepared in sukiyaki, and a dessert. Private rooms have dedicated grill and hot pot equipment, so you can enjoy the luxury of having an exquisite meal cooked right before your eyes. (Meal price per person: ¥19,800; service charge separate.)

Kakiyasu Honten 36 Edomachi, Kuwana, Mie

【Clam Cuisine Hinode】

Kuwana seafood at its best

Kuwana has been famous for its clams since the Edo period and it remains Japan’s leading clam region today. The prized native Yamato clam, raised in calm brackish waters, was once presented to the Tokugawa shogunate.

At the century-old Hinode restaurant, the signature "Clam shabu-shabu" dish will wow you with its plump, delicious clams simmered in kombu and bonito broth, producing an incredible aroma as the shells open. You can even enjoy the umami-rich broth by mixing it with hot sake in a style known as dashi-wari.

Overnight guests at MARUYO HOTEL can take advantage of a special plan combined with a clam-focused kaiseki meal featuring shabu-shabu, grilled dishes, tempura, and more.

Clam Cuisine Hinode, 19 Kawaguchicho, Kuwana, Mie

【Walking through Kuwana】

A castle town by river and sea

The castle town of Kuwana thrived as the gateway to Ise and was once a lively post station on the old Tokaido highway for pilgrims heading to Ise Grand Shrine. The famous Shichiri ferry Crossing was the only sea route among the 53 stations, linking Atsuta and Kuwana across a passage of about 28 kilometers.

MARUYO HOTEL offers a special 1-hour cruise tracing this historic route along the Ibi and Nagara Rivers, and if the tide is favorable, you may even be able to visit the old landing site. (¥55,000 per boat, maximum 4 passengers.)

Along the riverside you can find restaurants like Kakiyasu Honten and Hinode, which are keeping alive the town’s history and warmth.

４、Ise-Shima's world-famous hotel【Shima Kanko Hotel The Classic】

Relax with refined hospitality

Standing at the top of a hill overlooking the Shima Peninsula and Ago Bay, this prestigious hotel has welcomed many distinguished guests since opening in 1951, including members of Japan's Imperial family.

In 2016, it was the venue for the G7 Ise-Shima Summit, and just prior to that, a full-scale renovation integrated 3 distinct buildings: The Classic, The Bay Suites, and The Club. The Classic is based on outstanding designs inspired by Ise-Shima's natural environment, with windows offering wide views of Ago Bay, allowing you to relax in a uniquely sophisticated yet nostalgic atmosphere. Rates start at ¥145,400 per night for 2 people sharing a room, including 2 meals.

【La Mer】

Superb French seafood cuisine

Opened in 1969, Le Mer The Classic is a now-legendary restaurant that serves the hotel’s signature French seafood cuisine. Its sister restaurant, La Mer in The Bay Suites, opened in 2008 and continues the La Mer legacy under 7th Executive Chef Hiroe Higuchi, who skillfully blends tradition with innovation.

Alongside classics like abalone steak and Ise lobster with American sauce, she crafts dishes using newly discovered ingredients from Mie Prefecture. She oversaw the 2016 G7 Summit dinner and earned France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole in 2023. The “Tradition” course (¥45,000) brings together La Mer's finest creations in one unforgettable meal.

La Mer

【Yamabuki】

Dining as a live performance

Yamabuki is a sophisticated teppanyaki restaurant that invites you to experience Ise-Shima’s rich sea and mountain produce through all 5 senses.

Chef Masaya Kurino blends Japanese and French sensibilities in his refined approach to the teppanyaki form, grilling ingredients such as abalone, spiny lobster, Matsusaka and Iga beef, wild mushrooms, and seasonal vegetables at their absolute best.

You can't help but be mesmerized as the sizzling aroma and flavors unfold in the live artistry on display here. The “Yamabuki” full-course meal (¥45,000 per person) features seared Ise tuna, Matsusaka beef shabu-shabu, sirloin or filet, and fragrant garlic rice, capturing Mie’s true culinary essence.

Yamabuki

【The Bay Suites】

Where every room is a suite

This hotel offers 50 luxurious 100-square-meter suites, each with its own balcony.

Stay in one of these rooms and you can live the mansion life, taking time out for reading, tea, bathing, or any other leisure pursuit. There's also a top-floor guest lounge overlooking Ago Bay where you can enjoy blissful moments savoring drinks and sweets. A large bathhouse for the exclusive use of guests at The Bay Suites includes a dry sauna, private shower rooms, and the tepidarium, a warm-air bath exclusively for women, to gently soothe your body and mind. Rates start at ¥126,000 per night for 2 people sharing a room, including 2 meals.

Shima Kanko Hotel The Bay Suites

【Kashikojima Espana Cruise】

Sail around Ago Bay

About a 10-minute walk from Shima Kanko Hotel The Classic, the Esperanza departing from Kashikojima is a 3-masted sailing ship modeled after a ship used during the Spanish Age of Exploration. Enjoy the beautiful scenery of the rias coastline on the Esperanza's leisurely 50-minute cruise around the tranquil Ago Bay.
The views are great from every aspect, but you might want to explore the spacious open deck on the 3rd floor or the café area and observation deck on the second floor. There are 6 trips daily, with hourly departures from Kashikojima Port from 9:30 am until 3:30 pm (excluding 12:30 pm). Fares are ¥1,900 for adults and ¥1,100 for children.