Oharai Machi, Okage Yokocho

Oharai Machi is a street, as in other shrine towns, that stretches before Ise Shrine’s inner hall and gate. Many worshippers pass through here every year. From the Edo Period to early Meiji Period, many people called Onshi lived here and performed Shinto dance and music for their worshippers (Oharai), thus, the name Oharai Machi is believed to have come about.

The town declined for a time, but with the effort to bury electric lines and restore cobblestones to bring back the traditional townscape, it has been renovated into a very charming area now.

At the center of Oharai Machi, there is an area called Okage Yokocho, lined with Ise architecture, which was built from Edo to Meiji Periods and transferred and rebuilt here. Akafuku headquarters is a classic store that sells Akafuku rice cakes with more than 300 years of history. Fukusuke serves traditional Ise udon noodles.

Okage Yokocho has Okageza theater which allows you to experience the beginning of Ise and the world of Japanese mythology through videos and 3-D displays. You can visit Tomikichiro Tokuriki Print Museum filled with lovely prints of the Ise-Shima area, shop for Ise souvenirs, and explore more.