Mie

Mie ken 三重県

Mie ken Prefecture is located in the central region of the Japanese archipelago towards the Pacific Ocean. Extending 170 km in a north-south direction and 80 km in an east-west direction, it has an elongated area of 5,777 km2. The nature of Mie Prefecture is rich in diversity and the different geography make Mie ken presents beautiful and contrasting landscapes, with irregular beaches, forests, mountains, cultivable valleys and climates that vary from one region to another in the same prefecture.

With a population of 1,790,376, including about 52,087 foreign citizens, approximately 14,000 Brazilians, 8,310 Vietnam, 8,277 Chinese, 7,315 Philippines, 4,309 Koreans and 3,053 Peruvians.

From a historical and cultural point of view, Mie ken is one of the richest provinces in Japan. With ancient traditions that go back to the origins of Japanese history and people, the region was called Miketsukuni (Imperial meals Country) because it was there where food was produced for the Imperial Family. In the Middle Ages the province came to be called Umashiku-kuni (Land of Delights and Beauty) and even today Mie ken has the same fame among the Japanese.

More than 7 million pilgrims annually visit the Temple of Ise, which has a curious festival held for 1300 years, every 20 years the temple, which is made of wood, is destroyed and a new one just like it is built in the same place, following ancient techniques. construction crafts. Even though the temple is in a perfect state of conservation, it is demolished and rebuilt from scratch.

On the coast near the city of Toba, an exclusively female activity has survived for millennia. The Ama (woman of the sea) are deep-sea divers without the use of specialized equipment for oyster hunting. It is not known for sure when this activity began, but there are records in the literature from the 7th century that already described the profession of Ama.

History

After the Meiji Restoration, the former provinces of Ise, Shima e Iga, Shima, and Iga, as well as a portion of eastern Kii, were repeatedly organized and reorganized. In 1871, the area from the three Kiso Rivers in the north to present-day Tsu became Anōtsu Prefecture, and the area south of it became Watarai Prefecture. In 1872, the seat of Antsu Prefecture moved from Tsu to Yokkaichi, and the prefecture itself was renamed Mie. For various reasons, including the strong likelihood that Mie would eventually merge with Watarai, and the capital returned to Tsu the following year, and Mie Prefecture assumed its present form in 1876 when it merged with its southern neighbor.

Since the past, Mie has had numerous routes and one of Japan’s three great ports, the Port of Anotsu, and the Kumano and Ise regions in Mie are sacred sites tributaries of Japan’s spiritual culture.

The name Mie was supposedly taken from a commentary on the region made by Yamato Takeru on his way back from conquering the eastern regions.

Cities

Iga, Inabe, Ise, Kameyama, Kumano, Kuwana, Matsusaka, Nabari, Owase, Shima, Suzuka, Toba, Tsu (capital), Yokkaichi.

Informative