Mie

Mie has 74 onsen areas and 214 springs (Ministry of the Environment, FY2024), with more than 2.78 million overnight stays a year. Sakakibara, said to be named in Sei Shonagon's 'The Pillow Book', flourished as a place to purify oneself before visiting the Ise Grand Shrine. There is also Yunoyama at the foot of the Suzuka range and the Toba group on the Ise-Shima coast, and in the north, Nagashima is an onsen resort that is part of the Nagashima Resort leisure complex.

Main onsen areas

In the north are Yunoyama in Komono and Nagashima in Kuwana; in the centre, Sakakibara in Tsu. On the Ise-Shima coast, Toba has the Toba group and Toshijima, and Shima has Ago, Hamajima and Isobe Watakano. Akame near the Akame 48 Waterfalls lies in Nabari in the Iga region, and Yunokuchi is in Kumano in the far south.

Characteristic spring types

Simple and chloride springs are the most common in our records, followed by bicarbonate. Sakakibara is a lukewarm simple spring of around 31 °C with a smooth feel. Yunoyama and Akame are radon springs, and the coastal springs of Toba and Shima are mostly chloride or bicarbonate.

Reachable by public transport

Yunoyama is about 10 minutes by bus from Yunoyama-Onsen Station on the Kintetsu Yunoyama Line, arriving in front of the Gozaisho Ropeway. Sakakibara is reached by inn shuttle from Sakakibara-Onsenguchi on the Kintetsu Osaka Line, or by bus from Hisai. The Toba group's gateway is Toba Station (JR and Kintetsu), with Kintetsu limited expresses direct from Nagoya and Osaka-Namba. Nagashima is about 50 minutes by direct bus from the Meitetsu Bus Center in Nagoya.

For solo travellers

Sakakibara has an inn that explicitly accepts solo travellers.

Food & culture

A pilgrimage to the Ise Grand Shrine and a stay at Sakakibara have long gone together. Sakakibara was known as a place to purify oneself before worship, and its water is still offered to the shrine at the Kento-sai each June. Toba and Shima keep the culture of the ama women divers, and spiny lobster, abalone, Matsusaka beef and Ise udon are the flavours of Mie.