Cycling around Mie’s Historic Town: Meiwacho

For my first day in Mie, I visited the historic town of Meiwacho!

For a small town overshadowed between 2 big cities: Matsusaka and Ise, Meiwacho had so much to offer and played an incredibly important role in Japan’s history.

We rented some electric bicycles to explore the town and stopped by many different places. We started off the day with stretches at a historic gazebo, tried out the local specialties, visited a shrine and tried out some of its experiences, learned about Meiwacho’s past at the historical museum, and finally took a tour around a sake brewery and attempted a taste testing game with 3 of their finest produces.

We have a long day ahead of us so let’s get started!

During sake offseasons, they offer tours where you can take a look inside and see how everything is made. The tour started with a video introduction that explains the basic process of making sake.

After the video, we were taken inside the factory and given a walking tour of all the equipment used in the sake-making process. Once you walk inside, you can see the huge barrels used in the brewing process.

This tour was very interesting because the factory uses modern equipment, but they also kept the traditional ones and it felt like I was walking through a museum. The most interesting part was on the second floor.

With traditional equipment, you had to stir the mixture from above, so they built a second floor completely out of wooden removable planks. From above, you can move the bosrd to create a gab, from which you can use a wooden stick to mix the content inside the huge barrels.

Once the tour came to an end, there were 3 bottles of the factory’s proudest produce and I got to try a taste testing game.

Unfortunately, I failed to guess any correctly.

Conclusion

Today was a long day full of historical and cultural experiences. We started the day with stretches at Heian no Mori, historical replicas of the Heian period, rode the e-bicycle across town, had some Hijiki curry for lunch, and visited the Saiku Historical museum where I got to learn about Meiwacho’s relationship and its role in the Ise Jingu.

Then we returned the e-bicycles to Take Jinja and learned the proper way to visit a shrine. I also got to try out the flower arrangements and bamboo cutting, 2 activities offered during the Full Moon Festival every month.

Lastly, I got to visit a sake brewery, learn about the sake making process, and taste test 3 of their finest products. I had so much fun and whether you like to learn about Japan’s history or traverse off the beaten path, then you’ll definitely enjoy Meiwacho too!

However, the day wasn’t over and next I’ll be going to a campsite for bbq, trying out a tent sauna, and staying the night at possibly one of the best accommodations to stay in Meiwacho!

〇Saiku Historical Museum

https://www.bunka.pref.mie.lg.jp/saiku/

〇Heian no Mori

https://www.itukinomiya.com/heiannomori/

〇ROASTER & Café Penguin-dou
Tel：0596-67-4118

985-22、Umanoue,meiwa-cho.taki-gun.Mi

〇TakeShrine

e-bike ※Saturday &Sunday only

Tel：080-4224-6850

〇Meiwa Tourism Trading Company

https://dmo.hana-meiwa.jp/

〇Asahi Shuzo