Japan 2010, Day 05 - Futami, Toba, Mikimoto Pearl Island, Geku
Today was a relatively packed day, leaving little time for lazing about. Today we'd first head to Futami to see the infamous Husband and Wife rocks, then head to Toba to see Mikimoto Pearl Island (and buy some pearls!), and finally, if time permit, visit Ise Jingu's Geku.
After a 5 minute walk to Iseshi station, we took the train west to Futami. The place was practically deserted for two reasons:
1) It was a Sunday.
2) We were there at… 7 AM. x_x
Futami is basically a very small town that gets a lot of tourism for both the Meioto Iwa and the nearby Warring States reenactment park. The way to the rocks was about a 15 minute walk through the town from the station.
As we reached the sea, the path turned to a pine lined walkway protected from the sea by leveled barrier.
The rocks themselves are located on shrine grounds, which apparently are known for frogs.
So you know how all the pictures of the Meioto Iwa look humongous? Well, let me just set the record straight and say it's greatly exaggerated. It only looks huge because the torii onto of the husband rock, but in reality that torii a little larger than the chair I'm sitting on. -_-
Suffice to say… IT'S WAAAAAAAAY SMALLER *cry*
Well, that's not exactly true. It's a good size, but when you look at those postcard pictures you imagine this ginormous pair of rocks sitting amongst the crashing waves.
After gazing at the rocks for a while, we headed back to the station. However, the shops were beginning to open up!
One of the very expensive inns here at Futami.
I bought a few souvenirs at this one shop run by an old lady. She told me how around this time of year the elementary school kids come around to visit, and would line up with baskets to buy souvenirs. And I guess they don't have a lot of snow in this area, as she said the snow melts before it even reaches the ground. XD;
Unfortunately we missed the train to Toba by 5 minutes and had to wait a bit for the next departure. I took a few pictures of the area while waiting.
Toba is a port town on the very eastern tip of the Kii peninsula. Though it's famous for several things, the most prominent feature in the past century is Mikimoto Pearl Island.
By that time we were pretty hungry, so we stopped off at a coffee shop for breakfast. Totally reminded me of Japan in the 80's. Mom and Grandma ordered an-filled hotcakes and I ordered fruit hotcakes. It was soooo good!! T________T
After we had our fill, we headed down the street to the shore and Mikimoto Pearl Island!
The entrance fee is a bit expensive, but there's a lot to see on the island. With a pearl cultivation museum, a Mikimoto memorial hall, a display of the finest pearl jewelry in both the ancient and modern world, and the diver show, there was too much to do.
The first area we went to was where they showed the pearl cultivation process. All I can say is I feel bad for the oyster… getting something plugged up your butt, then later ripped open, the pearl taken, and you off to the kitchen. x_x
Upstairs was the display of jewelry, including some very impressive artistic models all made out of pearls, including several crowns, a pagoda, and the liberty bell.
After that was time to go see the women divers. It's mostly for show, but you get to see how they used to do it in the old days. Women would dive down for the oysters, then resurface to place it into the floating bucket that accompanied them.
Here are some videos too:
After the show we decided to go see about buying some cheap pearls. The shop was divided into 3 sections. The high end jewelry (devoid of people), the moderately expensive end jewelry (also devoid), and the cheap area (full of people). Here you could buy things like pearl pendants, or a pearl broach, or even a pearl phone strap. Prices ranged usually from 300 yen to maybe 10-20,000 yen. A single pearl pendant was about 2,100 yen.
Following the pearl binge, we headed to the memorial hall dedicated to the founder Mikimoto.
His story was actually quite touching, and it was not an easy life, but in essence he wanted to help his country. His devoted wife, Ume, passed away just before he made it big and he loved her so much that he never remarried. ;-;
We were getting hungry at this point, and headed back to Toba to grab some lunch. We stumbled upon this placed called Amame Koya run by 5 women.
It was a small place, but service took a while due to the place being understaffed, combined with lots of people coming in for lunch. The ladies were rushing around like crazy. XD;;
Mom and Grandma got a little mad since it was taking forever just to even get our order, but the food was well worth it as you can see.
We grabbed a train back to Ise (with me taking more pictures of the countryside) but decided we didn't want to head back to the hotel yet.
Since we didn't make it to the Geku yesterday, we decided to go take a look, but before that I wanted to go see Tsukiyomi-no-Miya, west of Iseshi station.
Tsukiyomi-no-Miya is a shrine dedicated to the kami of the moon, Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto. There are actually 2 shrines in Ise to Tsukiyomi, one near the Geku and one near the Naiku. This one housed both the Nigi and Aramitama.
Compared to other places, it was literally empty, cast in a bit of somber twilight due to the trees blocking out the majority of sunlight.
After leaving Tsukiyomi-no-Miya, we headed down the main drag to the Geku.
Compared to the Naiku, the Geku wasn't nearly as awe inspiring, but nevertheless beautiful.
In addition to the Goshogu, the 3 shrines here were: Kaze-no-Miya, Tsuchi-no-Miya, and Taka-no-Miya. To reach those 3 shrines you had to cross the turtle stone over a pond. There was a bit of a line at Taka-no-Miya to pray, but managed to hit up all 3. :)
Taka-no-Miya
Pond!
Mitsu-ishi… yes it vibrates, which is why people are holding their hands out to feel its energy.
At this point it was getting late, so we decided to go eat. In the Rurubu travel magazine, it recommended this small place located a minute from our hotel called Kishin.
The place was literally a hole in the wall, with a counter and a single table. However the food was D E L I C I O U S! The proprietress of the store uses all in-season vegetables, no meat, no sugars, no preservatives, etc. Not to mention genmai was substituted for regular rice. The daily special was 1000 yen, roughly and well worth every coin.
For anyone ever going to Ise and looking for a place to eat in town, I highly recommend this place. Appearance wise the restaurant may not look like much, but it's superb where it really matters. Not to mention the chef is awesome. Mom also got a tart for desert which was pretty nummy. :9
Afterwards we took a walk down the Kawasaki district to work off the meal.
There were a few cute cake shops on the way back. Once we got back to the hotel, there were several cooking shows to watch. Even better, Ryomaden was on that night! XD
That was pretty much if for Ise. Next we would head south towards Kumano!
After a 5 minute walk to Iseshi station, we took the train west to Futami. The place was practically deserted for two reasons:
1) It was a Sunday.
2) We were there at… 7 AM. x_x
Futami is basically a very small town that gets a lot of tourism for both the Meioto Iwa and the nearby Warring States reenactment park. The way to the rocks was about a 15 minute walk through the town from the station.
As we reached the sea, the path turned to a pine lined walkway protected from the sea by leveled barrier.
The rocks themselves are located on shrine grounds, which apparently are known for frogs.
So you know how all the pictures of the Meioto Iwa look humongous? Well, let me just set the record straight and say it's greatly exaggerated. It only looks huge because the torii onto of the husband rock, but in reality that torii a little larger than the chair I'm sitting on. -_-
Suffice to say… IT'S WAAAAAAAAY SMALLER *cry*
Well, that's not exactly true. It's a good size, but when you look at those postcard pictures you imagine this ginormous pair of rocks sitting amongst the crashing waves.
After gazing at the rocks for a while, we headed back to the station. However, the shops were beginning to open up!
One of the very expensive inns here at Futami.
I bought a few souvenirs at this one shop run by an old lady. She told me how around this time of year the elementary school kids come around to visit, and would line up with baskets to buy souvenirs. And I guess they don't have a lot of snow in this area, as she said the snow melts before it even reaches the ground. XD;
Unfortunately we missed the train to Toba by 5 minutes and had to wait a bit for the next departure. I took a few pictures of the area while waiting.
Toba is a port town on the very eastern tip of the Kii peninsula. Though it's famous for several things, the most prominent feature in the past century is Mikimoto Pearl Island.
By that time we were pretty hungry, so we stopped off at a coffee shop for breakfast. Totally reminded me of Japan in the 80's. Mom and Grandma ordered an-filled hotcakes and I ordered fruit hotcakes. It was soooo good!! T________T
After we had our fill, we headed down the street to the shore and Mikimoto Pearl Island!
The entrance fee is a bit expensive, but there's a lot to see on the island. With a pearl cultivation museum, a Mikimoto memorial hall, a display of the finest pearl jewelry in both the ancient and modern world, and the diver show, there was too much to do.
The first area we went to was where they showed the pearl cultivation process. All I can say is I feel bad for the oyster… getting something plugged up your butt, then later ripped open, the pearl taken, and you off to the kitchen. x_x
Upstairs was the display of jewelry, including some very impressive artistic models all made out of pearls, including several crowns, a pagoda, and the liberty bell.
After that was time to go see the women divers. It's mostly for show, but you get to see how they used to do it in the old days. Women would dive down for the oysters, then resurface to place it into the floating bucket that accompanied them.
Here are some videos too:
Click to viewAfter the show we decided to go see about buying some cheap pearls. The shop was divided into 3 sections. The high end jewelry (devoid of people), the moderately expensive end jewelry (also devoid), and the cheap area (full of people). Here you could buy things like pearl pendants, or a pearl broach, or even a pearl phone strap. Prices ranged usually from 300 yen to maybe 10-20,000 yen. A single pearl pendant was about 2,100 yen.
Following the pearl binge, we headed to the memorial hall dedicated to the founder Mikimoto.
His story was actually quite touching, and it was not an easy life, but in essence he wanted to help his country. His devoted wife, Ume, passed away just before he made it big and he loved her so much that he never remarried. ;-;
We were getting hungry at this point, and headed back to Toba to grab some lunch. We stumbled upon this placed called Amame Koya run by 5 women.
It was a small place, but service took a while due to the place being understaffed, combined with lots of people coming in for lunch. The ladies were rushing around like crazy. XD;;
Mom and Grandma got a little mad since it was taking forever just to even get our order, but the food was well worth it as you can see.
We grabbed a train back to Ise (with me taking more pictures of the countryside) but decided we didn't want to head back to the hotel yet.
Since we didn't make it to the Geku yesterday, we decided to go take a look, but before that I wanted to go see Tsukiyomi-no-Miya, west of Iseshi station.
Tsukiyomi-no-Miya is a shrine dedicated to the kami of the moon, Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto. There are actually 2 shrines in Ise to Tsukiyomi, one near the Geku and one near the Naiku. This one housed both the Nigi and Aramitama.
Compared to other places, it was literally empty, cast in a bit of somber twilight due to the trees blocking out the majority of sunlight.
After leaving Tsukiyomi-no-Miya, we headed down the main drag to the Geku.
Compared to the Naiku, the Geku wasn't nearly as awe inspiring, but nevertheless beautiful.
In addition to the Goshogu, the 3 shrines here were: Kaze-no-Miya, Tsuchi-no-Miya, and Taka-no-Miya. To reach those 3 shrines you had to cross the turtle stone over a pond. There was a bit of a line at Taka-no-Miya to pray, but managed to hit up all 3. :)
Taka-no-Miya
Pond!
Mitsu-ishi… yes it vibrates, which is why people are holding their hands out to feel its energy.
At this point it was getting late, so we decided to go eat. In the Rurubu travel magazine, it recommended this small place located a minute from our hotel called Kishin.
The place was literally a hole in the wall, with a counter and a single table. However the food was D E L I C I O U S! The proprietress of the store uses all in-season vegetables, no meat, no sugars, no preservatives, etc. Not to mention genmai was substituted for regular rice. The daily special was 1000 yen, roughly and well worth every coin.
For anyone ever going to Ise and looking for a place to eat in town, I highly recommend this place. Appearance wise the restaurant may not look like much, but it's superb where it really matters. Not to mention the chef is awesome. Mom also got a tart for desert which was pretty nummy. :9
Afterwards we took a walk down the Kawasaki district to work off the meal.
There were a few cute cake shops on the way back. Once we got back to the hotel, there were several cooking shows to watch. Even better, Ryomaden was on that night! XD
That was pretty much if for Ise. Next we would head south towards Kumano!