Top Reasons to Go to Nagoya, Ise-Shima, and the Kii Peninsula

The shrines: The Grand Shrines of Ise, rebuilt every two decades for the last 1,500 years, are the most sacred in Japan.

Shopping: Nagoya's Noritake is one of the world's largest porcelain makers. Seto, Tajimi, and Tokoname produce ceramics, Arimatsu tie-dyed fabrics, Gifu paper lanterns and umbrellas, and Seki samurai swords.

Japan at work and play: Tour the factories of Toyota and Noritake. See the sumo tournament in July, watch a Chunichi Dragons baseball game or take in a Grampus soccer match.

Fish from the bird's mouth: In ukai, cormorants snatch ayu (sweetfish) from the water, but rings around the birds' necks prevent them from swallowing their catch, which is taken by fishermen.

Japan's modernization: Meiji-mura holds more than 60 original Meiji-era buildings (1868–1912)—including the foyer of Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel—that were reconstructed here.